Do you folks like coffee?

[Chankgeez]

Arabica is the species. All good coffee is arabica. Robusta (a different species) is the schwag.

Most places in the world grow arabica. Brazil and Vietnam grow most of the robusta.

When people talk of "Arabic coffee" they're most likely talking about the preparation (not necessarily the beans themselves).

Coffee from Yemen is some of my favorite. Really difficult to find (especially now with all the war tearage in that region). Really close in taste to what I'd imagine the original coffee that was brewed tasted like (given that it's right across the Red Sea from the birthplace of the coffee plant). It's pretty gnarly: natural process, irregular bean size and usually poorly sorted. The "Mocha" in Mocha Java is from the name of the Yemeni port of origin.

[$harkToootth]

I love Mocha Java but find it DOES NOT do well for cold brew. Similar experiences?

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, Mocha Java doesn't taste so great cold. Some coffees don't. I don't think most African coffees do.

[$harkToootth]

Mocha Java and Hawaiian Kauai are my favorite, I use a french press for those. I grind the beans with (viola) an electric grinder and usually as close to when I am going to pour the water in as possible. I find the Mocha has a little more latitude to let it step in hotter water (anecdotal evidence, but I experiment a lot). You can burn the Hawaiian Kauai so I tend to let the water sit for a minute before pouring it in.

Today is Maxwell House "Regular Blend" drip though .

If I was feeling ambitious, I would have driven to the gourmet coffee place two towns over and gotten an African Blend pour over...alas, I am not.

Little known fact...over stepped coffee with way too many beans and breakcore / break beat hardcore are a magic combo. An interview with none other than VENETIAN SNARES confirmed my sentiment .

[infamousalien]

Yeah, Mocha Java doesn't taste so great cold. Some coffees don't. I don't think most African coffees do.

I usually use South American coffee for cold brew. I like Columbian coffee a lot for this. I tend to prefer them anyway because I like richer earthier flavors.

[popvulture]

Coffee from Yemen is some of my favorite. Really difficult to find (especially now with all the war tearage in that region). Really close in taste to what I'd imagine the original coffee that was brewed tasted like (given that it's right across the Red Sea from the birthplace of the coffee plant). It's pretty gnarly: natural process, irregular bean size and usually poorly sorted. The "Mocha" in Mocha Java is from the name of the Yemeni port of origin.

Man—I've never really heard of any Middle East-grown coffee... gotta find some! I love natural process beans, Ethiopian in particular. Big fan of that fruit bomb.

[Chankgeez]

Well, I'm pretty sure Yemen is the only place in the Middle East that grows coffee. Don't know what the state of their production is right now though. I think they have other things to worry about. Hopefully, eventually they'll get back to full production. Until then (and probably after as well) coffee from Yemen will continue to be difficult to find.

[popvulture]

Yep, plenty of other things to worry about at the moment.

Seeing that you seem to be pretty knowledgeable about its history there, do you know if it's been typically produced for export to places that consume coffee in a western style, or maybe more for the finely ground/strong/sweetened Turkish coffee-ish preparation?

It makes sense that the Middle East would be the origin of coffee, cradle of civilization and all. Cool stuff. Dweeby.

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, there've been roasters who import Yemen. I used to work for Coffee Connection way back when and we had a Mocha Mattari we used to stock when we could get it.

Coffee from Yemen is definitely niche. It's not as refined as coffee from other places. I think a large part of that is just the fact that coffee growers there never tried to develop the crop in that way (growing conditions are pretty difficult there). Yemen coffee was transplanted across the Red Sea from Ethiopia (which's where all coffee is originally from). Yemen's pretty much right on top of East Africa and I like East African coffees the best.

[$harkToootth]

I really enjoy an African Blend. One time when I had one I thought I was on crack. Great day!

[popvulture]

Yirgacheffe! The best

[infamousalien]

I really want to try some coffee from Yemen now. Kind of interesting article about it:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/the-best-coffee-in-the-world-now-comes-from-yemen
The guy in the article has a website and it's $48 for 4oz. Maybe I can find some friends to go in on it.

[Chankgeez]

Nice article, thanks, hadn't seen that.

Cute that they're brewing in a Chemex:

[$harkToootth]

Rocking some Chameleon cold brew. It's okay. Very concentrated so I put ice in it to break it up.

[actual]

For some reason, my second go at cold brew came out a lot better. Didn't do anything different