Yemen Times, Yemen
May 29 2006
Mocha…Yemeni coffee
Mozi Bayer Los Angeles, USA [email protected]
Most of the Americans know very little about Yemen but most of them
knows the word: Mocha, very well. Americans love to drink coffee. In
recent years Starbucks Coffee shops were open in all over the United
States. They became so popular that they even established branches in
European countries and even in Middle East. Most of the Americans
stop in one of the coffee shops on the way to work and they sip their
coffee while they drive.
When you are in Starbucks Coffee Shop, you will see lots of varieties
of coffees. Coffee from Brazil, from Colombia and Mocha Coffee. In
fact the Mocha coffee is one of the most popular ones.
The Americans who drink Mocha coffee don’t know that the name comes
from Yemen. Al Mucha, the historical port city of Yemen had given its
name to this popular coffee. When Yemen was ruled by Turks, coffee
was brought to Ottoman Empire from the port of Al Mucha. Turks
invented a cooking style of coffee and for many centuries it is known
as Turkish Coffee. Armenians and Greeks cook coffee exactly at the
same way, but for nationalistic purposes, they call the coffee;
Armenian Coffee, or Greek Coffee.
These days in my home country, Turkey, tea is drank much more than
the Turkish Coffee. First of all coffee is imported from South
America and it is much more expensive than tea which is grown in
Turkey. Secondly most of the young people finds coffee very strong
and they prefer the soothing taste of brewed tea. It is great to
drink a cup of tea flavored with a slice of lemon either in a cold
winter day, or in a hot summer night. Nevertheless Turkish coffee is
drank in some occasions, such as in engagement and wedding
ceremonies. The young people who prefer to drink coffee use the
instant coffee instead of traditional Turkish Coffee. Nescafe is the
most popular instant coffee brand and even when the people uses other
brands, they still call instant coffee as Nescafe!
Mocha gives its name not only to coffee, but also to coffee flavored
ice cream and chocolates.
I regret that Yemen today is producing much less coffee than a
century ago. I heard that Qat plants is replacing the coffee ones. I
hope the Yemeni farmers will show more interest to their legendary
coffee and they will give more chance to coffee lovers in the world
to taste their Mocha coffee.
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