Houthis seize Mocha: How Yemen port gave its name to world-famous coffee

Yemen's Red Sea port of Mocha, also spelled Mokha or Al Makha, has a storied history as a vital center of the global coffee trade. Now, the city is making headlines for a different reason, as Iran-aligned Houthi militants seized control of the historic port on Thursday. This strategic gain gives the Houthis further leverage over the Bab Al Mandab Strait, a crucial shipping route.

Prior to the capture, the port was held by Tarek Saleh's National Resistance Forces, a government military force led by Tarek Saleh, a nephew of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Mocha's name became synonymous with coffee centuries ago, due to its role in the international coffee trade. The coffee beans grown in Yemen's mountainous interior were shipped through Mocha and exported to markets in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

The port reached its peak as a coffee-trading center in the 17th and early 18th centuries. However, the name "mocha" has since evolved to describe a coffee beverage with chocolate, while the original Mocha coffee remains a distant memory. Today, Mocha's strategic location on the Red Sea coast, north of the Bab Al Mandab Strait, remains its greatest asset, as the port could play a pivotal role in securing the flow of oil and goods through one of the world's most critical shipping channels.