TheMocha coffee bean is a variety ofcoffee bean originally fromYemen. It is harvested from the coffee-plant speciesCoffea arabica, which is native to Yemen. Mocha coffee beans are very small, hard, have an irregular round shape, and are olive green to pale yellow in color.[1]
The name "Mocha" comes from the port ofMocha (al-Mukhā) through which most Yemeni coffee was exported before the 20th century.[2] As of 1911[update], the export market had mostly moved toAden andHodeida.[3] The current central market for Yemeni coffee is atBayt al-Faqih, about 140 km north of Mocha.[4] This coffee is grown in the mountain districts ofJabal Haraz,al-Udayn (sometimes written Uden), andTa'izz, to the east.[3]
