There was a time when most of the coffee drunk in Europe came from Yemen, but now Yemen accounts for less than 1% of global coffee exports.

While other coffee-producing countries have produced more coffee, Yemen’s influence on our coffee culture and coffee varieties today cannot be underestimated. The coffee you drank this morning may have originated from plants that were grown in Yemen hundreds of years ago.

In addition, coffee remains important to many rural Yemeni communities, and producers are struggling to overcome the economic and personal security challenges brought on by the civil war. However, some locals also make a living by producing unique and complex coffees through professional evaluation.

Cornerstone of Coffee History: Yemen

Starting in 1536, most of the coffee sold to Europe and Turkey came from coffee produced in Yemen.

Historians are unsure when coffee was first grown in Yemen. Ethiopia is generally considered the birthplace of coffee, although it has not been confirmed whether Arabica originated entirely in Yemen. However, some historians have speculated that Arabs may have introduced coffee to Yemen in the 13th or 14th century, perhaps because monks needed caffeine to keep themselves awake during nightly religious ceremonies.

When the Ottoman Empire took control of Yemen in 1536, coffee became an important part of the local economy. The Ottomans realized that Yemen could also export large quantities of coffee, and this was the first time coffee was traded globally. As merchants shipped this newfound beverage to the Ottoman Empire and Europe, coffee shops began to appear and consumer demand increased.

Mocha supplied coffee to the world at that time

Yemeni coffee is exported to Europe via the Red Sea port town of Mocha. When the ship docks, the coffee is carried on camels and then transported to Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, on the Mediterranean coast.

During this phase, European merchants like the Dutch East India Company would haul coffee onto wooden ships and ship it to European markets. The Dutch named this new drink Mocha Coffee after it was initially shipped out of the city. Over time, coffee and mocha have become inseparable.

Yemeni coffee was a huge business opportunity for the Ottomans, who carefully protected its production process from being exported in order to maintain the wealth of their empire.

In fact, to ensure that no other country could grow coffee, they heated all exported coffee beans by either soaking them in boiling water or lightly roasting them first. This stopped the beans from germinating, discouraging buyers from growing their own coffee.

This practice lasted for more than 150 years at the time, but with the rise of the European coffee market, it was only a matter of time before the Ottoman Empire failed to monopolize the coffee market.

The changing meaning of mocha: from export port to smoothie

In the 17th century, the Muslim pilgrim Baba Budan is often credited with breaking the Ottoman stranglehold on coffee production. He is said to have smuggled seven seeds and successfully planted them in the Mysore Mountains (then known as the Malabar Mountains) in southern India. Soon after, the Dutch began growing coffee in their colony on the Indonesian island of Java.

It wasn’t long before Yemen and the Ottoman Empire lost their monopoly on the global coffee trade. In 1721, it was estimated that 90% of the coffee consumed in Amsterdam came from Yemen. However, just five years later, 90% came from Java.

As the decades passed and coffee was grown in more colonized countries, people began to forget about this everyday drink, and that mocha was actually originally grown in Yemen. However, Yemen’s importance to coffee history remains in two important ways.

First, let's look at the two main coffee varieties that circulate around the world: Typica and Bourbon. The World Coffee Research Institute (WCR) considers them to be "the most culturally and genetically important Arabica coffees in the world." From these two varieties, we can find different varieties of coffee in countries across continents such as Brazil, El Salvador, Burundi and Indonesia. Caturra, Pacamara, SL28, Blue Mountain... These varieties are all descendants of these two varieties.

Typica and Bourbon seeds were also transplanted from Yemen to India, Indonesia and South America for cultivation, and although many variants and cultivars have emerged, the two basic varieties that have been grown in Yemen for many years remain unchanged and are still loved by consumers around the world.

In other words, the Arabica coffee you drink may be a descendant of coffee trees grown in Yemen.

Secondly, the word mocha has become popular in Western culture, from the mocha pot produced in Italy to the chocolate mocha frappuccino at Starbucks. When people began to use "mocha coffee" to refer to the combination of chocolate and coffee, it still did not have an official synonym, although it seems that the first recorded mention of the word mocha was in Betty Crocker's mocha cake recipe in 1892, which was a cake made with coffee frosting.

Later, the word Mocha still represented many types of coffee, but it tended to refer to different types of drinks, which deviated from the original meaning, that is, coffee originated from the trade in the port of Mocha. This gradually eroded Yemen's important position in coffee history and culture.

Yemeni coffee reappears on the world stage

Over the centuries, most people have focused on coffee produced in Africa, South America and many countries in Asia, ignoring Yemen, but Yemeni farmers have never stopped growing coffee.

At first glance at Yemen’s relatively dry, rocky environment, you might wonder how coffee trees can thrive. However, with careful cultivation, Yemeni coffee’s complex flavors of fruit, dried figs, and berries have captured the taste buds of many.

Although Yemeni farmers today use organic cultivation methods passed down from their ancestors, these techniques include planting seeds in ash, keeping the soil low in moisture before planting, and using organic fertilizers derived from local livestock. This requires precise manual work and rigorous processes.

The most obvious feature of Yemeni coffee is the terraces planted on the mountainside. Abdulrahman said that the terraces help save water in this dry climate. Take Yemen's Amada as an example. This is a coffee-growing community in southwest Yemen, located in the mountains. Sabcomeed works with 90 local villagers who use terraces with hoses provided by Sabcomeed to combat the drought.

Today, Yemen is struggling with geopolitical conflict. Abdulrahman said this has increased the challenges farmers face when trying to access international markets, many of which require infrastructure such as water and electricity. This has made Yemeni coffee production even more scarce than before.

However, despite these challenges, he stressed that the country has the potential to produce excellent and unique coffees that will only get better with time. The best coffees from Yemen will have fruity flavors, raspberry and jasmine notes.

The return of the word Mocha

One of the biggest challenges facing Yemeni coffee farmers today is disconnection from international markets.

"Without international trade, even if farmers produce coffee, they will sell it at a low price of $1-2 per kilogram in the local market, not just for coffee, but for many other crops," Abdulrahman said. Converted to international prices in pounds, this is lower than the current global price of coffee and is considered insufficient for coffee farmers to feed themselves and their families.

However, Abdulrahman said that if they are able to export their coffee abroad, their income can rise to more than $8 per kilogram of green beans. With these economic incentives, farmers focus on producing coffee with complex flavors. And with the production of higher quality coffee, the world's spotlight on coffee may return to Yemen, and everyone may start to pay attention to the original meaning of mocha.

Abdulrahman said: "Ultimately, it all comes down to Yemen's international position and the joint efforts of its people. After all, the word mocha is a common link for many coffees."