Yemen coffee is regarded as superior class arabica coffee. It is the oldest cultivated coffee in the world, and it has a lot to offer the coffee coinoisseur, with a powerful, fruity acidity and of course that signature chocolate-like flavour. It has a heavy body, so much so that it feels quite creamy, and leaves a pleasant fruity chocolate aftertaste.
Yemen is technically on the Asian continent, but its location on the Arabian Peninsula, just across the Red Sea from Africa means that it really belongs more to the coffee family of North Africa in terms of character and flavours.
Probably the most obvious association to make with Yemen in terms of its coffee is Mokha. Interestingly, this name actually has pretty much nothing to do with the chocolate “Mocha” coffee beverage that is so popular with today’s coffee-drinkers. In fact, the name simply comes from the port town from which Yemeni coffee ships: Al Mokha, also spelled “Al-Mahka”. Rather than naming all the various sub-regions of coffee production, Yemen coffee gets called “Mocha”, or “Mocca”, or “Mokha”, or any number of other variations in the spelling of the name! However you choose to write it, Yemen coffees are some of the most unique and distinguished in the world.
The Yemen Mokha Sana’ani is a real treat for the senses, and is a good example of those prized Yemen coffees. Any coffee grown in the mountains around the capital of Yemen (Sana or Sana’a) gets the title “Sana’ani”, but they really do vary quite considerably from one lot to the next. There are a lot of “middlemen” in the Yemeni coffee industry, and so the beans change hands several times before they’re even exported, going through family farms, local collectors, collectors in Sana and so on before getting to their eventual destination. This means that every time you buy a particular Sana’ani coffee it’s most likely to be a different mix – it’s just the way it’s done there! The good news is that the variation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Sana’ani coffees are really quite something.
“Pooled” Sana’ani coffees like the Yemen Mokha Sana’ani are complex and powerful, with earthy flavours and strong aromas. This coffee contains bursts of flavour that are sweet and somewhat chocolatey but with fabulous spice tones like cinnamon and clove. It does well at both light and dark roasts. Light roasted Yemen Mokha Sana’ani is bright, fruity, and has hints of spices, while at a darker roast the coffee’s spicy flavours are more prominent, with smoky tobacco tones. The aftertaste of this sweet and winey Yemen coffee brings out traces of “mulled” flavours and nutmeg.
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