If you love coffee, you will find that the word "Mocha" is a hurdle you can't get around:

It appears on the menu of coffee shops, forming a echelon with latte and cappuccino;

When you are ready to buy coffee beans, you will find the word mocha in the catalogs of specialty coffee and single-origin coffee;

When choosing coffee brewing equipment, you will see a mocha coffee pot on the list of options...

If we could go back five hundred years, the name Mocha would definitely be well-known.

It is a port in Yemen, located in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, across the sea from the African continent.

For a long period of time from the 15th to the 17th century, it was the most important transit point for coffee trade.

Coffee grown in Yemen must pass through here before being shipped to Egypt, Europe and other places.

Yemeni coffee is also known as Mocha coffee.

The coffee plantations in Yemen are the first stop for coffee trees after they left Africa.

After the Ottoman Empire conquered Yemen in 1536, in order to prevent the secrets of coffee cultivation from leaking out, it stipulated that coffee beans could only leave the port of Mocha after being cooked or roasted.

This made Mocha coffee dominate the world for a long time.

Not only that, it was also in the port of Mocha that drinking coffee became a popular drink for the masses, which in turn led to a coffee craze in the Middle East and North Africa, and later affected Europe.

Therefore, if you see the word "mocha coffee" when you are shopping for coffee beans, you can be excited, feel the echo of the early stages of coffee culture, get in touch with the ancient coffee growing tradition, and immerse yourself in the unique regional flavor.

The mocha coffee that appears on the menu of a coffee shop is a type of fancy milk coffee.

Like latte and cappuccino, mocha coffee is based on espresso, then steamed milk is added. In addition, hot chocolate syrup is added, and sometimes chocolate powder is sprinkled as decoration.

Milk coffee is undoubtedly an important component and distinctive feature of European coffee culture.

There are various versions of milk and coffee in Italy, Spain, France and other places. The latte and cappuccino that you are familiar with are just two of the vast army of milk coffee.

As the first people in the Middle East to promote the development of coffee culture, especially the Mocha people, their most classic way of drinking coffee is to add sugar and spices but no milk.

So, why is a milk coffee called mocha coffee?

Maybe it’s because mocha coffee beans have a chocolate flavor.

Speaking of the Mocha coffee pot among coffee brewing utensils, there is actually no necessary connection between it and Mocha coffee.

It was invented by an Italian craftsman, Bialetti, in 1933 to allow people to easily make espresso at home.

He started his own metal products company, making aluminum kitchen utensils.

By then Italians had begun enjoying espresso, and various espresso machines were used in cafés.

Bialetti wanted to develop a simple and compact espresso machine for home use.

Innovation requires thinking outside the box.

One day, Baierlati saw an interesting phenomenon.

A laundry shop, where dirty clothes are placed in a sink, and below the sink is a device that holds soapy water.

When washing clothes, the detergent below will be pumped up through the pipe in the center of the sink to soak the dirty clothes.

He was inspired and eventually developed an instrument for making espresso, which used the principle of water vapor to allow boiling water to soak the coffee powder from bottom to top and extract the coffee liquid.

This device is called a moka pot.

Unlike expensive and complicated coffee machines, a moka pot is cheap and easy to operate, and you can get a cup of espresso in just a few minutes.

This design was very successful. However, Italians at the time were accustomed to enjoying coffee in cafes, so making coffee at home was a bit ahead of its time. In addition, the situation in Europe was turbulent and World War II was imminent, so this product did not become popular.

1957 Mocha Coffee Pot Ad

After the end of World War II in 1950, Italy's economy began to enter a recovery phase, middle-class families began to grow, and people began to accept the way of making espresso at home. Moka pots suddenly became popular and eventually became a phenomenal product in Italian coffee culture.

It is said that in 2016, 90% of Italian families had a moka pot; and Italian immigrant families in the United States, Australia, Argentina and other countries also often own a moka pot.

You may have seen various brands of moka pots on the market. The moka pot invented by Bialetti is named after his surname Bialetti and is still the most classic product among moka pots.

The four words "Mocha Coffee" bring out several aspects of coffee culture. When you see this phrase again, which impression of coffee culture will come to your mind?