Billions of cups of coffee are consumed worldwide every single morning. Coffee is today’s favorite beverage without a doubt. And yet, everyone’s coffee is unique. It is influenced by their unique tastes as well as the coffee culture of the country they are from.
Coffee was first discovered in Africa, then imported to the Middle East. Here, it flourished for quite some time before Europe caught on to the existence of this wonderful drink.
Many countries evolved their own coffee culture, and the 15th century even saw some of the first ever coffee houses in the world, where people would meet to share a cup of coffee. It really wasn’t that much different from today’s Starbucks—and the quality of the coffee was probably better. Jay, M. (2010). High society: The central role of mind-altering drugs in history, science, and culture. Simon and Schuster.
At the epicenter of this nascent coffee culture was Yemen. It was closest to Africa, and merchants needed only a short trip by boat to get to Yemen from Africa. They were the first to welcome and adopt coffee. In many aspects, Yemeni coffee culture is the oldest in the world. And so their beverages are the product of centuries of knowledge.
So what makes Yemeni coffee so special? Here’s a few reasons why:
Best Quality in the World
Yemen is perhaps the first country in the world where coffee was grown for actually making coffee. Before Yemen, it grew naturally in Ethiopia (still does) and was harvested there. But the Yemeni people took matters into their own hands and started figuring out the secrets of coffee.
Despite this, their culture was never tainted by commercial purposes. Most Yemeni coffee farms are very small,family-owned farms—the same families that have been tending to the land for generations. They are small operations run by people who genuinely love coffee, and not simply as a product.
This made Yemeni coffee the most sought-after in the old world. Yemen started sharing their coffee with the world, mostly Europe. And Europeans loved it! They loved it so much, in fact, that they would start referring to it as mocha. Mocha was in fact the name of the Yemeni port where coffee was shipped out from. The name mocha still lives on to this day, although it is mostly used to refer to one particular coffee drink. Weinberg, B. A., & Bealer, B. K. (2004). The world of caffeine: The science and culture of the world’s most popular drug. Routledge.
Mocha beans, however, have an almost legendary status in the coffee world. Since there is a lack of big farms, Mocha beans come and go depending on the harvest. Yemen is also a country that has seen a lot of conflict, so this coffee has gone years unseen. Thus their legendary status, those who tried it would swear that it was the best coffee they’d ever had. Yemen: A brief background. (n.d.). Unfoundation.Org. Retrieved October 22, 2021, from https://unfoundation.org/what-we-do/issues/peace-human-rights-and-humanitarian-response/yemen-a-brief-background/
Nowadays, Yemeni coffee is more available than ever. Thanks to the ever-increasing coffee community, many centuries-old farms are able to receive funding to stay afloat and grow enough coffee not just for themselves, but to share with the world. And for that we are grateful!
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