Behind the Cup
The Yemen Mocha Hamadi is the most famous of the Yemeni coffees. It is also the most expensive, because of the quantity produced, its quality and its taste. The Yemen Mocha is cultivated in the Arabic village of Hamadi in western Asia, that covers the south-western region of the southern extremity of the Arabian Peninsula. It is surrounded by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Gulf of Aden and Arabian sea to the South and Oman to the East. The majority of coffees from this country are grown in valleys, where the climate is hot and humid or “cultivated in terraces” on mountain slopes at altitudes varying between 700 and 2,400 metres.
Yemen has always been known for its production of coffee. Some even say that it was the birthplace of coffee before it travelled to other countries. One way or another, Yemen is well worth discovering because its Arabic coffee is sure to please the varied tastes of one and all.
Also known as Arabic wine (qahwa), it has been cultivated for over a thousand years, using the same very traditional methods even today. History was made when Yemeni coffee was the first to be shipped all over the world from the harbour city of Mocha centuries ago. What characterizes the Yemen Mocha, apart from its lovely hints of chocolate, is that it is 100 % hand picked, sun dried and left to the soft, mysterious spell of the moon. The combination of these environments gives this coffee a very concentrated flavour and aroma.
Since the Yemen Mocha Hamadi is growing in an environment not at all favourable to agriculture due to its lack of water, coffee growers and their harvest rely heavily on the rainy season, which happens only a few months a year. Consequently, the minerals contained in the soil make the Yemen Mocha extremely rich. And to enhance their production, growers created a project to collect rain water in coffee producing regions, to help improve the quality and the quantity of their crops.
Hannah Bockholt (verified owner) –
Absolutely delicious. I’m no coffee expert by any means but the chocolate notes on the aftertaste with this one really amazed me. I finished the bag so quickly I surprised myself!! Definitely will repurchase.
Adam Rock (verified owner) –
By far best coffee I have tried from anywhere, I usually like a darker roast because I find medium roasts too sweet. This one roasted medium is a perfect balanced flavour and my new favourite, definitely pricier but worth the cost.