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Yemen's coffee revival

I have never been in Sub-Saharan Africa outside of Kenya and Tanzania (holidays years ago). So I know very little about African coffee other than Ethiopian one which I have tried a few times in Ethiopian restaurants in the GCC and the West. What stroke me is that Ethiopians take great pride in coffee culture and the preparation of coffee like we Arabs (Arabians in particular) do. Coffee is an important cultural culinary item for them too.

I would love to visit Ethiopia though and probably also Somalia.
You will like Addis, there is a lot to see especially towards north and get to see Aksum. They take time with their coffee preparation. Frankly i dont like Saudi way of preparing coffee, it is too weak. North african countries like Morocco are mostly tea drinkers (green/mint tea).
In Tanzania, the preparation of coffee is usually best around zanzibar, dar where there is a large diaspora of sherazi/yemeni/baluch people. I love Tanzania. If you get a chance, travel on Tazara going towards zambia. Spectacular scenary.
Frankly except for Mombasa - it is more akin Zanzibar/Pemba and Dar vs rest of kenya, i dont like Kenya much very unsafe and people are not good.
Well i hope you had some good miskaki. Food in tanzania especially fruits are excellent.
I would avoid somalia. People are mad there. Here we have Somalis who have taken over part of Johannesburg and they are thieves and gangsters. Govt should round them up and deport them back out of this place. Same for Nigerians.

Interestingly, i love kabsa spice mix. i was given by a friend here in zeerust who went to Saudi. he brought me around 300gm of it. I tried to get receipe from internet, all terrible compared to what i have been given. if you have family receipe, please do share. Same friend also brought me a couple of saudi coffee. I think he made a mistake - it is just spice power. I will post the photo of it may be you can tell me. it is whitish in colour.
 
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You will like Addis, there is a lot to see especially towards north and get to see Aksum. They take time with their coffee preparation. Frankly i dont like Saudi way of preparing coffee, it is too weak. North african countries like Morocco are mostly tea drinkers (green/mint tea).
In Tanzania, the preparation of coffee is usually best around zanzibar, dar where there is a large diaspora of sherazi/yemeni/baluch people. I love Tanzania. If you get a chance, travel on Tazara going towards zambia. Spectacular scenary.
Frankly except for Mombasa - it is more akin Zanzibar/Pemba and Dar vs rest of kenya, i dont like Kenya much very unsafe and people are not good.
Well i hope you had some good miskaki. Food in tanzania especially fruits are excellent.
I would avoid somalia. People are mad there. Here we have Somalis who have taken over part of Johannesburg and they are thieves and gangsters. Govt should round them up and deport them back out of this place. Same for Nigerians.

Interestingly, i love kabsa spice mix. i was given by a friend here in zeerust who went to Saudi. he brought me around 300gm of it. I tried to get receipe from internet, all terrible compared to what i have been given. if you have family receipe, please do share. Same friend also brought me a couple of saudi coffee. I think he made a mistake - it is just spice power. I will post the photo of it may be you can tell me. it is whitish in colour.

Sorry for the late reply. I was busy for the past few days.

Addis Ababa is probably similar to Southern Arabian mountain cities. For instance it is one of the most elevated capital cities in the world along with Sana'a. Same with Asmara (capital of Eritrea). The climate (one of the best in the world and most pleasant) is also the same. So no wonder that coffee grows in all 3 countries. In fact only the capitals of Bolivia, Ecuador, Bhutan and Colombia have capitals that are located on a higher elevation than Sana'a, Addis Ababa and Asmara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_capital_cities_by_altitude

Saudi Arabian coffee (Arabian) is essentially identical to Yemeni other than more different sorts being found in Yemen and slightly different spices although they are more or less the same. Of course this also depends on the region in KSA (KSA being a huge country). Southern KSA for instance has the exact same coffee as Yemen and is home to coffee regions as well while other areas of KSA have their own varieties of coffee.

One such example:


We visited Zanzibar, Mombassa, Dar es Salaam, Moshi, Kilimanjaro and Serengeti. I/we saw little of Kenya other than Mombassa. However I would really love to visit the Swahili coastline once again. When we visited I was still a kid. It is region of Eastern Africa heavily influenced by Arabic culture, architecture, language, cuisine etc. Very cool for any Arab visiting.

As for Somalia I am mostly talking about the landscapes (beaches), hunting and safari and I do not really have anything against Somali people. All the ones that I have met/interacted with have been mostly cheerful and friendly people although they have their negatives as every people. I know that the Somali community in Europe for instance struggles with certain problems but I can only speak for the Somalis that I have met/know in person. What others do among them have nothing to do with the ones I know.

There are as many different spice mixes as there are different kinds of kabsa. However some "standard" spice mixes are more popular than others.

I don't know if you speak/understand Arabic but here is one recipe.

http://mawdoo3.com/ما_هي_بهارات_الكبسة

LOL, he might have given you frankincense water (or rose water from Ta'if for instance) and not coffee judging from your description.:lol:
 
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Sorry for the late reply. I was busy for the past few days.

Addis Ababa is probably similar to Southern Arabian mountain cities. For instance it is one of the most elevated capital cities in the world along with Sana'a. Same with Asmara (capital of Eritrea). The climate (one of the best in the world and most pleasant) is also the same. So no wonder that coffee grows in all 3 countries. In fact only the capitals of Bolivia, Ecuador, Bhutan and Colombia have capitals that are located on a higher elevation than Sana'a, Addis Ababa and Asmara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_capital_cities_by_altitude

Saudi Arabian coffee (Arabian) is essentially identical to Yemeni other than more different sorts being found in Yemen and slightly different spices although they are more or less the same. Of course this also depends on the region in KSA (KSA being a huge country). Southern KSA for instance has the exact same coffee as Yemen and is home to coffee regions as well while other areas of KSA have their own varieties of coffee.

One such example:


We visited Zanzibar, Mombassa, Dar es Salaam, Moshi, Kilimanjaro and Serengeti. I/we saw little of Kenya other than Mombassa. However I would really love to visit the Swahili coastline once again. When we visited I was still a kid. It is region of Eastern Africa heavily influenced by Arabic culture, architecture, language, cuisine etc. Very cool for any Arab visiting.

As for Somalia I am mostly talking about the landscapes (beaches), hunting and safari and I do not really have anything against Somali people. All the ones that I have met/interacted with have been mostly cheerful and friendly people although they have their negatives as every people. I know that the Somali community in Europe for instance struggles with certain problems but I can only speak for the Somalis that I have met/know in person. What others do among them have nothing to do with the ones I know.

There are as many different spice mixes as there are different kinds of kabsa. However some "standard" spice mixes are more popular than others.

I don't know if you speak/understand Arabic but here is one recipe.

http://mawdoo3.com/ما_هي_بهارات_الكبسة

LOL, he might have given you frankincense water (or rose water from Ta'if for instance) and not coffee judging from your description.:lol:
Yes, east africa is just beautiful probably most beautiful place in the world. zanzibar in particular. my late father was guest of sultan of zanzibar's family as his principal structural engineering research areas was the ancient arab architecture designs especially dome structures and their original construction and restoration techniques. I dont know if you ever saw the construction of old city of mombasa as well as zanzibar, bagamoyo uses a unique local mortar and construction technique - if you try to fix with concrete, it will destroy it because of acidity.

Because i do know swahili i find it easy to understand arabic and probably you may have found vice versa. e.g. kalamu - pen, sandook, samaki - fish, saa (time), counting partial remains arabic based - mia, thamnini, sitini, arba, khamsin etc, water - maji (i think in arabic is it moya),. Food too is a fusion. Tanzania uses a different time counting - from dawn onwards is 1 hour starts onwards; i believe that used to be same time in the city of Medina.

for the coffee, i meant preparation - the video is different. The coffee i got even though written says coffee, i cant read anything else as it is not in english. There is no hint of coffee; i suspect is it the spice to add e.g. carrdamom, saffron etc.

In dar or zanzibar, no milk is added except a bit of clove only as it is all over the island as you will remember.

one city i will suggest you visit is Tabora - it is the last outpost deep in Tanzania; you will think time as stood still. I can understand when you are in zanzibar you do get transported back in time especially the doors. You must remember zanzibar, pemba and shorelines including bagamoyo were part of the Omani territory infact, Zanzibar was the capital of Oman and ruled from there. if you look at old texts before 1964, swahili in zanzibar was written in arabic script. The other is in the south and spectacular beaches - kiswa Kisnijani. there is an old fortress which portugese took over and a two year siege by the Zanzibari forces who were mostly baloch people. thereafter portugese never engages on the east africa side and remained south in mozambique area - people forget northern mozambique also speaks swahili not portguese.

Swahili is a very special language. We say you need a combination of 4 languages if you want to traverse the continent. English, Arabic, French and Swahili. You get perfect pairs e.g. east africa - in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, you just need swahili including eastern part of DRC. North you need Arabic or French. West is just English and South also English. I dont know if you ever went to a local concert - it is called T'arb, music style is similar to old arabic music.

If you want to see spectacular beaches just leave dar and travel north to Bagamoyo and up . It is pristine beaches - silver sand and beautiful ocean. however if you like to dive, the best reefs to dive are off zanzibar as well Mafia island. You just need to drive around zanzibar and you will see amazing beaches everywhere. but now lot of hotels are there which to me are a no no they bring in wrong crowd of people.

I had taken a dowh journey up to Oman back in early 80s' from Zanzibar - the best memory every. We had stopped over in Mogadishu when it was still normal.

Unfortunately, here we are blessed with the rubbish of the entire continent after 1994 - 900,000+ of Nigerians, over 300,000 somalis, over 600,000 from south asia, over 2 mil from Zimbabwe. Nigerians and somalis - They have brought their gang, crime culture and hence you will see the news about this. There were last year running gun battles in a suburb by these somalis. Nigerians are trafficking humans, kids & women have disappeared; they were involved with other serioes crimes but our police is corrupt with these people having bribed them left right and center. Our govt needs to take a hard line and just throw them out all at one time.

For Khabsa, yes you are correct there are differences - some use dried lemon etc. the one i got did not have dried lemon and more fennel; but because it was powder i could not figure out. the other packet i was given was an unblended mix. I did see one lebanese spice packet in johannesburg - but i am not interest in their pre-mix ; their food is so so for me. I like yemeni, ethiopian, moroccan, and of course swahili more so the zanzibari food.

Life and time... never enough of both.
 
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Yes, east africa is just beautiful probably most beautiful place in the world. zanzibar in particular. my late father was guest of sultan of zanzibar's family as his principal structural engineering research areas was the ancient arab architecture designs especially dome structures and their original construction and restoration techniques. I dont know if you ever saw the construction of old city of mombasa as well as zanzibar, bagamoyo uses a unique local mortar and construction technique - if you try to fix with concrete, it will destroy it because of acidity.

Because i do know swahili i find it easy to understand arabic and probably you may have found vice versa. e.g. kalamu - pen, sandook, samaki - fish, saa (time), counting partial remains arabic based - mia, thamnini, sitini, arba, khamsin etc, water - maji (i think in arabic is it moya),. Food too is a fusion. Tanzania uses a different time counting - from dawn onwards is 1 hour starts onwards; i believe that used to be same time in the city of Medina.

for the coffee, i meant preparation - the video is different. The coffee i got even though written says coffee, i cant read anything else as it is not in english. There is no hint of coffee; i suspect is it the spice to add e.g. carrdamom, saffron etc.

In dar or zanzibar, no milk is added except a bit of clove only as it is all over the island as you will remember.

one city i will suggest you visit is Tabora - it is the last outpost deep in Tanzania; you will think time as stood still. I can understand when you are in zanzibar you do get transported back in time especially the doors. You must remember zanzibar, pemba and shorelines including bagamoyo were part of the Omani territory infact, Zanzibar was the capital of Oman and ruled from there. if you look at old texts before 1964, swahili in zanzibar was written in arabic script. The other is in the south and spectacular beaches - kiswa Kisnijani. there is an old fortress which portugese took over and a two year siege by the Zanzibari forces who were mostly baloch people. thereafter portugese never engages on the east africa side and remained south in mozambique area - people forget northern mozambique also speaks swahili not portguese.

Swahili is a very special language. We say you need a combination of 4 languages if you want to traverse the continent. English, Arabic, French and Swahili. You get perfect pairs e.g. east africa - in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, you just need swahili including eastern part of DRC. North you need Arabic or French. West is just English and South also English. I dont know if you ever went to a local concert - it is called T'arb, music style is similar to old arabic music.

If you want to see spectacular beaches just leave dar and travel north to Bagamoyo and up . It is pristine beaches - silver sand and beautiful ocean. however if you like to dive, the best reefs to dive are off zanzibar as well Mafia island. You just need to drive around zanzibar and you will see amazing beaches everywhere. but now lot of hotels are there which to me are a no no they bring in wrong crowd of people.

I had taken a dowh journey up to Oman back in early 80s' from Zanzibar - the best memory every. We had stopped over in Mogadishu when it was still normal.

Unfortunately, here we are blessed with the rubbish of the entire continent after 1994 - 900,000+ of Nigerians, over 300,000 somalis, over 600,000 from south asia, over 2 mil from Zimbabwe. Nigerians and somalis - They have brought their gang, crime culture and hence you will see the news about this. There were last year running gun battles in a suburb by these somalis. Nigerians are trafficking humans, kids & women have disappeared; they were involved with other serioes crimes but our police is corrupt with these people having bribed them left right and center. Our govt needs to take a hard line and just throw them out all at one time.

For Khabsa, yes you are correct there are differences - some use dried lemon etc. the one i got did not have dried lemon and more fennel; but because it was powder i could not figure out. the other packet i was given was an unblended mix. I did see one lebanese spice packet in johannesburg - but i am not interest in their pre-mix ; their food is so so for me. I like yemeni, ethiopian, moroccan, and of course swahili more so the zanzibari food.

Life and time... never enough of both.

This might interest you.


Sunset over Stone Town - Zanzibar
by Richard Davies Photography, on Flickr

The Sultans old palace next to the coastline:


the sultans palace
by _pollux, on Flickr


Sultan of Zanzibar's Palace
by Kevin H., on Flickr


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@denel


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Sultan's Parlor
by Kevin H., on Flickr


Sultan's Balcony
by Kevin H., on Flickr


Sultan Seyyid Said, the first sultan of Zanzibar
by jamisonshuck, on Flickr


Stone Town from Beit el-Ajaib
by khowaga1, on Flickr


Stone Town from Beit el-Ajaib
by khowaga1, on Flickr

Short video about the Arab Mazrui family that used to rule Mombasa in Kenya.


Most Arabs would be able to understand quite a fair bit of Swahili and vice versa. Also there is a significant community of people from the Swahili coastline in Arabia in particular Oman. The current Sultan of Oman is partially from the Swahili region originally as the current Omani royal family (House of Al Said) intermarried with local Swahili nobles in previous generations.




My prediction is that the Arab world will look towards Sub-Saharan Africa and Horn of Africa more and more and vice versa which is a good thing. Tons of potential and huge populations in all those regions in the future.
 
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@denel


4410114308_eb890dfcd4_b.jpg


4265176323_2c5875dde6_b.jpg


4325149858_75590071c6_b.jpg


4325151280_6e88f5805d_b.jpg



848200220_4c58340a4e_b.jpg


332617868_c2a5618332_b.jpg




Sultan's Parlor
by Kevin H., on Flickr


Sultan's Balcony
by Kevin H., on Flickr


Sultan Seyyid Said, the first sultan of Zanzibar
by jamisonshuck, on Flickr


Stone Town from Beit el-Ajaib
by khowaga1, on Flickr


Stone Town from Beit el-Ajaib
by khowaga1, on Flickr

Short video about the Arab Mazrui family that used to rule Mombasa in Kenya.


Most Arabs would be able to understand quite a fair bit of Swahili and vice versa. Also there is a significant community of people from the Swahili coastline in Arabia in particular Oman. The current Sultan of Oman is partially from the Swahili region originally as the current Omani royal family (House of Al Said) intermarried with local Swahili nobles in previous generations.




My prediction is that the Arab world will look towards Sub-Saharan Africa and Horn of Africa more and more and vice versa which is a good thing. Tons of potential and huge populations in all those regions in the future.

thank you. this is fantastic. this bring back lot of memories. i remember the stone town. i have the photos in album of the restoration work done on the sultan palace as well as some of the architectural drawings in my late father's cabinet. Incidentally Sultan Syed Seyyed image is an exact match to his great grandson Sultan Qaboos. In Oman, i had no issues as swahili is widely spoken. Noted on the video - I met late Professor Ali Mazuri once, a great scholar and mind - there is actually if i recall a BBC documentary worth watching from the 80s' - the africans. Professor Gates tried to copy some of his ideas in a more recent documentary but it does not match the depth of Professor Mazuri.

the historical context is as such, after afro shirazi party came into power, many people in Zanzibar went relocated to Oman and also historically swahili was 2nd language by defacto in Oman for centuries because of it being part of the entire territory. Then later many have relocated back in the 90s. Zanzibar/Pemba and Oman remain part of each other's fabric despite attempts by the mainland to continue to sway them into their sphere of influence. When i visited Oman, I was very surprised to see how much swahili was spoken across muscat and it was easy to get by. The funny part was if you spoke swahili, you were given preference vs english and many were taken by surprise. Fortunately, languages were very easy for me to pick up; right now I speak 8 languages fluently like native.

http://omniglot.com/writing/swahili.htm

http://org.uib.no/smi/sa/15/15Zhukov.pdf

This gives me one great opportunity to take a trip north again. This time by plane :)..... Last time, it was a 4 month long trek. Car and buses up to Lusaka. Then from there to Kapiri Mposi to catch TAZARA railway (I encourage anyone to take this trip, it is phenomenal) to Dar. 2 weeks in Dar then Zanzibar, back to Dar, then to Moshi to climb kilimanjaro, arusha, visit lake manyara to Ngorongoro crater/serengeti. Back to Dar-> Zanzibar then on dhow to Muscat. Those were the days without any cellphone etc. only way to send message back was either via telegram or find a ham radio operator to send a message back.
 
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@denel


4410114308_eb890dfcd4_b.jpg


4265176323_2c5875dde6_b.jpg


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4325151280_6e88f5805d_b.jpg



848200220_4c58340a4e_b.jpg


332617868_c2a5618332_b.jpg




Sultan's Parlor
by Kevin H., on Flickr


Sultan's Balcony
by Kevin H., on Flickr


Sultan Seyyid Said, the first sultan of Zanzibar
by jamisonshuck, on Flickr


Stone Town from Beit el-Ajaib
by khowaga1, on Flickr


Stone Town from Beit el-Ajaib
by khowaga1, on Flickr

Short video about the Arab Mazrui family that used to rule Mombasa in Kenya.


Most Arabs would be able to understand quite a fair bit of Swahili and vice versa. Also there is a significant community of people from the Swahili coastline in Arabia in particular Oman. The current Sultan of Oman is partially from the Swahili region originally as the current Omani royal family (House of Al Said) intermarried with local Swahili nobles in previous generations.




My prediction is that the Arab world will look towards Sub-Saharan Africa and Horn of Africa more and more and vice versa which is a good thing. Tons of potential and huge populations in all those regions in the future.

The 2nd last video towards end about swahili - it shows the map. It forgets several things- swahili is the language across northern moz, tanganiyika/zanzibar/pemba, kenya, uganda; in rwanda, burundi - widely spoken as as commercial language. eastern zaire/drc is swahili speaking - in fact if you go to the town of goma, swahili is predominant over french. Lastly comores speaks it as well. I remember seeing Oman Tv just last year over the C-band dish; there is an entire news in swahili. You can immediately pickup a lot of Omani TV presenters are of Zanzibari background because of their accent - swahili even though they are speaking arabic. I dont know now but Radio Pakistan used to in the mornings have a shortwave broadcast in Swahili as still does AIR.

In tanzania, credit goes to Julius Nyerere - he made it compulsory for everyone to learn Swahili and hence first official language; english hardly features.
 
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The 2nd last video towards end about swahili - it shows the map. It forgets several things- swahili is the language across northern moz, tanganiyika/zanzibar/pemba, kenya, uganda; in rwanda, burundi - widely spoken as as commercial language. eastern zaire/drc is swahili speaking - in fact if you go to the town of goma, swahili is predominant over french. Lastly comores speaks it as well. I remember seeing Oman Tv just last year over the C-band dish; there is an entire news in swahili. You can immediately pickup a lot of Omani TV presenters are of Zanzibari background because of their accent - swahili even though they are speaking arabic. I dont know now but Radio Pakistan used to in the mornings have a shortwave broadcast in Swahili as still does AIR.

In tanzania, credit goes to Julius Nyerere - he made it compulsory for everyone to learn Swahili and hence first official language; english hardly features.

Yes, there is a sizable community of native Omanis of Zanzibari or partial Zanzibari origins. They can be found in KSA, other GCC states and Yemen as well but not only from Zanzibar but the entire Swahili coastline. Our Afro-Arab lot is mostly from Horn of Africa, the Swahili Coast, Sahel and Western Africa originally. Mostly the Horn of Africa and the Swahili coastline.

I think, as I wrote earlier, that most Arabs could pick up Swahili and vice versa faster than most others due to the similarities and the many loanwords.

In general I am of the firm believe that the future of the Arab world and Arabia/GCC is more closely tied to Africa (Horn of Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa) than most people are aware of or understand. This is why I support Arab-Africa cooperation on all fields. We have many of the same challenges and also many of the same future positives and potential. It would be only natural to work closer together especially due to history which cannot be underestimated.

Anyway back to topic:

 
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Yes, there is a sizable community of native Omanis of Zanzibari or partial Zanzibari origins. They can be found in KSA, other GCC states and Yemen as well but not only from Zanzibar but the entire Swahili coastline. Our Afro-Arab lot is mostly from Horn of Africa, the Swahili Coast, Sahel and Western Africa originally. Mostly the Horn of Africa and the Swahili coastline.

I think, as I wrote earlier, that most Arabs could pick up Swahili and vice versa faster than most others due to the similarities and the many loanwords.

In general I am of the firm believe that the future of the Arab world and Arabia/GCC is more closely tied to Africa (Horn of Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa) than most people are aware of or understand. This is why I support Arab-Africa cooperation on all fields. We have many of the same challenges and also many of the same future positives and potential. It would be only natural to work closer together especially due to history which cannot be underestimated.

Anyway back to topic:


Did not get a chance to upload the coffee bottle picture, some issue with connecting camera to machine via usb. I even tasted this 'coffee' it is definitely just a spice blend probably to add to coffee; i had put in expresso but it blocked it up.

See if you cannot find any zanzibari person, they will know africafe - it is just beautiful coffee from Arusha/Moshi area. I told this to a mauritanian friend who travelled to Kenya and he was converted and does not drink anything else.

Problem with my country is that we dont get much products from the rest of the continent especially tea or coffee. Tea here is a blend of local and sri-lanka tea. Actually it is pretty darn good - Joko brand or five roses. We had some very good tea from Zimbabwe until uncle Tim decided to ransack what was left of it. I recall seeing coffee in Zimbabwe and Malawi as well but not as good as what East Africa produces.

With Ethiopian coffee you have to remember that the government has a coffee board that buys all the coffee and mixes it up. but every area produces distinct type of beans which have different tastes.

I love injera with their local stew and have ethiopian coffee after. i was not brave to eat raw beef :) even though i make biltong - cured dried raw meat from beef or impala or kudu.
 
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How Yemen once introduced the world to mocha coffee
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A vendor pours coffee into a cup for customers inside his cafe in the old city of al-Masnaah in al-Mahaweet, north west of Sanaa June 27, 2013. (File photo: Reuters)​


By Rua’a Alameri

Al Arabiya English, Sunday, 1 October 2017

Mocha, that sweet chocolaty coffee we enjoy in winter months, has a history far richer than the drink itself.

Most mocha drinkers know the hot brew to be a mix of chocolate syrup, or powder with coffee, but to coffee connoisseurs – that is the equivalent of a fake Louis Vuitton bag.

To get the real taste of mocha coffee, you will have to pay around two to four times the price of specialty coffee. Last year, Yemeni coffee was priced in the US at $173 a pound. Or you can go back to the roots of the hard-to-find beans in the coastal city Mokha in war-torn Yemen.

Port of Mokha
In recent months, the port city of Mokha has made headlines due to the ongoing conflict in Yemen between Iran-backed Houthi militias and forces loyal to the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, backed by the Arab coalition.

However, Mokha is better remembered as the heart of Yemen’s 200-year trade monopoly over the sale of coffee. It was from this port - its point of origin - that the chocolate coffee cocktail popular in the West and the rest of the world got its name.

“Yemen exported all its coffee from the Port of Mokha and it traveled around the world known as mocha coffee…the port was very attached to the product it was shipping,” Anda Greeney, a Harvard researcher in Yemen’s coffee sector and founder of coffee startup Al Mokha, says.

Ethiopian nomadic mountain people are believed to be the first to identify coffee’s stimulating effect. However, it is estimated that the use of coffee brewing as known today would have started in the Middle Ages in Yemen.




View of the Port of Mokha during the second half of the 17th century by Dutch geographer-mapmaker Olfert Dapper made in 1680.

According to the World Coffee Research, the first archaeological evidence of beverage coffee consumption was found in the Yemeni city of Zabid.

During the 15th century, coffee cultivation started within Yemen to meet local needs. In 1450, Islamic Sufis of Yemen first began drinking coffee to stay awake during late night prayer. This led to the transformation of mountainsides into terraced hillsides and people inventing farming techniques to grow coffee.

The love of the dark infusion spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula and Red Sea where traders and merchants met from across the world.

Yemen shipped tons of sterile beans from the Port of Mokha and drinking coffee gained popularity worldwide, with coffee shops opening in Europe beginning in 1650.

‘Wild, rustic and winey’
“If you have never had Yemeni coffee before and you’re having it for the first time, it is like a very bright, unique coffee experience,” Yemeni coffee researcher Greeney said.

Grown traditionally without chemicals in Yemen, the coffee is said to be wild and usually full-bodied with a rich, winey acidity.

Greeney says that the uniqueness of Yemeni coffee is that it is dry processed. Also known as “the natural process,” it is the oldest method and considered the simplest and most organic method.

After picking the cherries from the coffee trees, they are left to dry under the sun. Once the soft juice cherry turns hard to the touch, it shrinks and becomes dark brown to black. The fruit is removed and you are left with the bean.




A farmer walks past trees of qat, a mild stimulant, cut down as part of a local campaign aimed at uprooting qat and replacing it with coffee plants in Haraz mountains, west of Sanaa, 2013. (Reuters)

Some believe that the drying process gives the coffee sweet and intense fruity notes. The flavor is often described as complex, very earthy and deep with a distinct taste.

“In Yemen, there is a variety of coffee, and is a field of emerging research. There are varieties that you don’t have anywhere else in the world and that certainly has an impact on this unique Yemeni flavor profile,” Greeney explains.

The World Coffee Research says that while the Arabica coffee beans originate from Ethiopia, the Bourbon genetic base originates from coffee trees found in the city of Mokha. Bourbon beans are said to be known for their deep, buttery chocolate flavors, as well as their sweetness and very light fruit overtones.

From Mokha to Mocha
From the coffee bean in Yemen, to those served at local cafes, there is still no real evidence show where the name Mokha came to represent the drink as we know it today. A possibility for confusion derives from what has been described as the occasional chocolate tones of Yemeni coffee.

From extensive research, Greeney says it could be down to a change in meaning of what Mocha is.

“There was a linguistic shift at the turn of the 20th century,” he said. Greeney explained that the first recorded reference of mixing coffee and chocolate comes from a Betty Crocker recipe of a “Mocha Cake” with a coffee frosting, using mocha coffee dated from 1892.




A sign advertising an Iced Mocha beverage is seen at a McDonald's restaurant in Kansas City, 2007. (AP)

The second reference appears in 1920 when the Washington Post published a recipe for a “Chilled Mocha” which had milk, coffee, cocoa, sugar and vanilla.

Up until the 1900s, Greeney says old coffee publications such as the Tea and Coffee Trade Journalreferred to mocha coffee coming from Yemen, and at the same time, recipes of coffee and chocolate mixed together began to emerge.

However, as Yemeni coffee production declined, and other parts of the world began their own production, Yemen’s monopoly over coffee trade ended.

Yet consumers continue to crave recipes that mix coffee and chocolate, and it is this Yemeni-born mix that made the drink so legendary.

Last Update: Sunday, 1 October 2017 KSA 20:50 - GMT 17:50

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/fe...ce-introduced-the-world-to-mocha-coffee-.html
 
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Not coffee but i do like Adani chai a lot..

You are missing out big time IMO! There is nothing like real original Arabic coffee and its many variants.

Adani chai is great too. A good quality cardamom is necessary though and it must not be old otherwise it risks losing its taste.
 
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