Mochahas nothing to do with chocolate. The word mocha is only associated with coffee because from the late 15th century until the early 18th century much of the world's coffee came out of Mocha, a port city in Yemen. The arabica beans from the exceptional growing regions in Yemen (they were not actually grown in Mocha) were often referred to as Mocha Beans, which is why the world's original coffee blend was called Mocha Java (beans from Yemen and Java). It appears that Americans pioneered calling chocolate coffee drinks "mocha" but they were certainly not the first to mix chocolate with coffee. The beans grown in Yemen have strong chocolate notes, which early coffee drinkers in Europe recognized from one of their other major imports - Cocoa. Records of coffee drinks served with chocolate exist from early coffee houses in Venice and other European cities, and it's likely that the combination of beans from mocha and their natural pairing with chocolate, inspired the words many of us utter every morning.
So while many of us have come to think of chocolate when we hear the word Mocha, our newest creation, Mocha Java, is not chocolatey. Our version of the famous and time honored blend combines the highest grade Estate Java from the island of Java in Indonesia with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe to create an insanely awesome cup of coffee. The Estate Java brings the body and depth and the Ethiopian brings the brightness and light acidity. Beans grown in the Yirgacheffe region are slightly less chocolately than their Yemenese relatives, so you'll get subtle cocoa notes but they are so well blended you'll have to really sit with the cup to find them. Take a trip back to the roots of coffee craft and experience a legendary cross-regional cup of coffee.
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