The Red Sea often makes headlines as the launch site for attacks on oil tankers and infrastructure by the Houthi rebels, a political and religious group that controls much of the northern and western areas of Yemen. But the history of this vital shipping route was once defined by the passage of another dark, liquid source of energy: coffee.
The Yemeni port of Mocha built its fortunes largely on coffee cultivated in Yemen’s highlands and shipped from its port to markets across the Middle East, Europe and beyond. Merchants from Arabia, India, Africa and Europe passed through its docks, making it a cosmopolitan crossroads long before the modern era.
