Mocha coffee

Ingredients

Coffee

• 40 gYemeni arabica beans (Udaini, Dawairi or Tuffahi heirloom varieties), roasted medium-dark
• 500 mlcold water
• 4 tspsugar, or to taste
• 4green cardamom pods, cracked
• 1thin slice fresh ginger (optional, Tihama style)

Qishr, the husk drink often served alongside

• 3 tbspdried coffee husk (qishr)
• 500 mlwater
• 1 tspground ginger
• 1 tbspsugar

Directions

1. Know the bean: Yemeni coffee grows on hand-built stone terraces between 1,500 and 2,400 m, on ungrafted heirloom trees, and is dried whole in the fruit on rooftops for two to three weeks, which is where its dried-fruit and cocoa depth comes from.
2. Grind the beans finer than filter and slightly coarser than Turkish, so the powder feels like caster sugar between your fingers.
3. Put the water, sugar and cardamom into a long-handled dallah or a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Pull the pan off the heat, stir in the ground coffee, and return it to a low flame.
5. Let it rise into a foam three times, lifting the pan away each time before it climbs over the rim; this triple rise is the traditional signal that the brew is done.
6. Rest it 1 minute off the heat so the grounds drop, then pour slowly into small handleless finjan cups, sharing the crema between them and stopping before the sludge comes over.
7. For qishr, simmer the husks with ginger and sugar for 8 to 10 minutes until the liquid is the colour of weak tea and smells of hibiscus and dried apricot, then strain and serve hot in the same small cups.
8. Serve either drink with dates, and refill the cup two or three times; refusing the second cup is read as rudeness in most Yemeni houses.

Technique

• Mocha is not a chocolate drink. The word is al-Makha, the Red Sea port that shipped the world’s first commercial coffee from the fifteenth century onwards, and European traders attached the name to the bean, not to cocoa.
• Yemeni households drink qishr, the dried cherry husk, more often than the bean itself, partly because the bean has always been the export cash crop.
• The grind never settles fully. Yemeni coffee is drunk with a little sediment in the cup and the last centimetre is left behind.

Substitutions

• If you cannot source Yemeni beans, an Ethiopian Harrar natural is the closest relative in flavour and processing. Cascara from any origin substitutes for qishr husk.

Variations

• Qahwa bayda, the pale coffee of the northern highlands, is brewed very weak with heavy cardamom.
• Some Sanaa cooks add a splinter of cinnamon and a clove to the pot in winter.

History

The Red Sea port of Mokha shipped the world’s coffee from the 1500s and gave the drink the name mocha.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mocha coffee?

Mocha coffee is a drink from Yemen: small-bean arabica grown on terraces, roasted dark and brewed sweet. The Red Sea port of Mokha shipped the world’s coffee from the 1500s and gave the drink the name mocha.

How long does Mocha coffee take to make?

Mocha coffee takes 5 min of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 small cups. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mocha coffee?

Yes, within limits. If you cannot source Yemeni beans, an Ethiopian Harrar natural is the closest relative in flavour and processing. Cascara from any origin substitutes for qishr husk.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mocha coffee?

The grind never settles fully. Yemeni coffee is drunk with a little sediment in the cup and the last centimetre is left behind.