What does mocha mean

What does the term mocha have to do with chocolate and coffee mixed together? The fact is that the word mocha did not originally have anything to do with chocolate or a combination of chocolate and coffee. The term actually originated as early as and referred to a variety of coffee. The Mocha coffee beans were named for the port of Mocha Al Mokha in Yemeni or Yemen , where the beans were shipped from.

This makes mocha, perhaps, an inaccurate name of such coffees, as it would be less confusing, and more accurate, to called them Yemen coffee beans. These beans were the now commonly referenced Arabica beans. The original port of Mocha, today, sadly bears no resemblance to the historical site, and it mostly an uninviting ruin, long unused and replaced by the Suez canal.

It was the Ottoman Turks, who began occupying Yemen in , who originally began exporting the beans through the port of Mocha, which involved a complicated trade route to Suez and then by camel to Alexandria, and then onward by French or Venetian merchants.

There is, of course, a lot more to the story than this, which you can read about in Uncommon Grounds: The History of coffee and How it Transformed Our World. Save This Word! See synonyms for mocha on Thesaurus. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Origin of mocha —75 for def. If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Forgot your password? Retrieve it. If by any chance you spot an inappropriate image within your search results please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.

Term » Definition. Word in Definition. Princeton's WordNet 0. GCIDE 4. Mocha noun A color of a deep chocolate brown.

Wiktionary 0. Webster Dictionary 0. Chambers 20th Century Dictionary 0. Suggested Resources 0. Definition of Mocha Entry 2 of 2. First Known Use of mocha Noun , in the meaning defined at sense 1a 1. History and Etymology for mocha Noun Mocha , Yemen. Buying Guide Our team at The Usage has selected the best coffee machines of Learn More About mocha. Time Traveler for mocha The first known use of mocha was in See more words from the same year.

From the Editors at Merriam-Webster. What's in that cup? Style: MLA.