The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-11-24
Mocha and Mocha Coffee.


Mocha and Mocha Coffee.
No Arabian town has so fragrant ar
odor around its name as Mocha. which
for so many years was known as the
port from which most of the coffee Of
Yemen was shipped. That Mo ha itsel
does not lie in coffee region is proba
bly, known to few of those who honor
the noble beverage. Indeed, it ha:
long been known that these beans,
which enjoy a worldwide reputation,
reach the Western markets in increas-
ingly small quantities, for the product
i've region of Yemen is comparatively
limited in area, and the crop scarcely
suffices to supply the demand in the
East itself. Certain it is that consid-
cradle part of the crop finds its way by
land over the Hedjaz, and only frac-
tion reaches the export harbors. The
most important of these, according
to the Austrian Mondtsehrif fur den
Orient, at the present time is undoubt-
edly Alden. In former times it was
quite otherwise. After the introduction
of coffee-culture and the taste for coffee
into Arabia, an event by nc means OF
ancient date, Mocha was certainly the
only port from which it was shipped.
At the beginning of the sixteenth CEN
tury only one hut stood on the site of
Mocha, that of the Sheik Shadeli. who
on account of his honest dealings was
mach sought after by the shippers He
was an honorable and hospitable man,
who RECALLED his guests with cup of
che beverage which he himself greatly
loved and commended. This drink was
no other than coffee, a knowledge of the
virtues of which soon spread through
the whole of Yemen. The Sheik had
many visitors, and out of his hospitality
profitable business was developed; the
settlers hut soon expanded into vii
lage, and the village into a town, which
in short time was crowded with spec
ulators and rich merchants.
Such is the legend of the founding and
growth of Mocha. In what year the
event took place there is no means of as
pertaining, for the Turkish and Arabic
chroniclers are shy of figures and dates,
and leave to their successors the filling
in of the blanks. But no doubt the
story is essentially authentic, for after
Mocha became tiourishing town Sheik
Shadeli was honored with sepulchral
mosque, which is to-day pointed out
with pride, and the principal wells of
the existing town and also the land-gate
bear the name of its worthy bene actor.
'.By Sheik Shadeli'' the. people of
Mocha swear more than by the Prophet
himself. who receives scarcely more
honor than is paid to the patron of the
town and of all the coffee farmers of
Yemen. Coffee could not be grown at
all, as we have said. in the region around
Mocha, itself, which is known as the
''Tehama," low, fat, sandy district,
with sparse vegetation. The climate is
necessarily hot, fever is endemic. and
water scarce. No coffee could be grown
in such a region. although it contains
the chief warehouses and export harbors
for the product of Yemen. For a whole
century Mocha was the leading coffee
port, but about the middle of the seven
teenth century Hodeida, to the north of
Mocha, took its place. Latterly. how
ever, for yariousreasonsc connected with
co-Egyptian politics, Hodeida has
declined. So long as it was the chief
export harbor, the inland town of Belt
el-Fakhi was the chief transit center,
the leading port o: which was and is
still Ghalefka, which sent out almost as
much coffee as Hodeida itself. After
the Turco Egyptian domestic politics
had ruined these ports the coffee trade
sought another outlet. by Alden, which
now is the leading center and place of
export for the coffee OF Yemen.
The coffee tree is no wild plant in
Yemen, its successful growth depend
ing on great variety of natural and
conditions. In terraces among
the mountain ravines, carefully protect
ed from the chilly mountain breezes. on
a soil composed of clay, porphyry and
trap. is the cultivation of the best sorts
carried on. Thus it is only certain ia
vored spoils that are suited for the
growth of coffee in Yemen. and the
culture is essentially that of compare
lively small gardens. The best coffee
garden of Yemen is that of Uddein, in
the northeast of Mocha; it yields the |
Uddein bean, the finest coffee bean the |
world produces. This estate lies in the !
Valley of the Zebid, and in area is by |
no means extensive. The second most |
important district is that of Belt ell |
Fakhi, in which are Bulios, Hadie and |
Kusmai, estates on the mountain ter
races, which stretch from the Tehama
to the mountains of Central Yemen;
many of the hamlets which used to nes-
tie in the midst of the coffee plantations
looking out from the hill-sides on the
sterile plain below are now in ruins. In
the direction of Hodeida lies the third
Of the great coffee gardens, that of Moi
max, and Harraz. on the TANKS of the
Yemen Mountains, which inclose the
Wadi Seichan. Smaller and less pro-
luctive gardens are found at Jenaad.
On the north foot of the Saber Mount
hin to the east of Mocha. Others of
ess importance are scattered about in
various parts of the region, as far as the
eastern plateau of Yemen, the heights
varying from 1900 to 1000 feet above
he sea. The entire productive region
S. after all, only comparatively small
section of Yemen, and even in this Sec
ion itself there are many unproductive
,aps-gaps which are much more ex-
ensive than are the coffee gardens