Mocha, the Yemeni lost treasure

By Anis

When I wander in Europe’s streets, markets, malls and stations, I run across the word ‘Mocha’ in bars or coffee houses’ front illuminated signs. It is definitely a way to entice customers through the doors of these places; they use this word as a sign of the high quality of the coffee they serve. Honestly speaking, I am not a coffee addict. But when I see the word Mocha, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride. This is because Mocha is a Yemeni name of an ancient seaport in my country. Driven by this feeling, I ask people around me with a tone of pride: “Do you know the origin of this word?”  To my surprise, the answer is always “No!”Then, my sense of pride turns into an overwhelming sense of frustration.

What raises my anger is seeing that Yemen is very-well known for Qat; sadly, Yemeni people chew this damned green plant daily! Many of my western friends know about Qat and ask me about it! Regrettably, this is because Yemenis now waste their time and effort in planting and chewing this malignant plant and do not care any longer about planting and producing Coffee. There are no efforts to export this important product to the world as there used to be several centuries ago. As a normal result of this disregard, among the top 40 coffee exporting countries, Yemen is not even included!

According to Wikipedia, “Mocha is famous for being the major marketplace for coffee from the 15th century until the early 18th century. Even after other sources of coffee were found, Mocha beans continued to be prized for their distinctive flavor—and remain so even today.”

Yemen has been always described in the Media as “the poorest country in the region.” This is absolutely not true as Yemen is full of resources. Yemeni famous coffee Mocha is one of the valuable resources the country possesses. However, until Yemeni coffee regains its glory and re-invades global markets, I will keep telling the story of Mocha Coffee. Hopefully, one day Yemen will take care of its coffee and regain the global reputation of its missing treasure.