Arabian coffee is the quintessential coffee of the world. Arabia lends its name to
the highest quality coffee plant in the world, Coffea Arabica. Arabian coffee accounts for about 80% of
all coffee produced in the world. It prefers higher elevations and drier climates than its cousin C.
robusta. The tropics of South America provide ideal conditions for growing Arabian coffee which grows
best between 3,000 and 6,500 feet but has been grown as high as 9,000 feet. Generally, the higher the
plant is grown the slower it matures. This gives it time to develop the internal elements and oils that
give coffee its aromatic flavor.
Coffee was originally discovered in Ethiopia, just across the Red Sea from Arabia. Coffee soon made its way to Yemen where it was embraced by the Islamic people. Soon it became a beverage endorsed by the Islamic clerics as drinking alcohol was prohibited in their religion. Arabian coffee soon came to be known as an Islamic beverage. Arabian coffee is still a part of the Islamic faith and is use in ritualistic ceremonies.
It is said that all the Arabica coffee grown in the world started from this plant as cuttings were
transplanted all over the world. Arabian coffee is truly the source of coffee throughout the world.
The word mocha comes from the name Mokha, the shipping port in Yemen where all Arabian coffee was exported.
Mocha has become a term used for describing a coffee beverage in which chocolate is added. But originally
it had nothing to do with chocolate.