Cafe mocha

a Caffè Mocha. with milk, Arabica Mocha espresso, milk froth, chocolate syrup, and various toppings. served with amaretto cookie.

A mocha with a layer of espresso atop a hot chocolate

A caffè mocha or café mocha^{[note 1]} (pronounced /ˈmɒk.ə/ or /ˈmoʊk.ə/) is a variant of a caffè latte, inspired by the Turin Coffee beverage Bicerin. The term "caffe mocha" is not used in Italy nor in France. Like a caffe latte, it is typically half espresso, half hot chocolate, typically in the form of sweet cocoa powder, although many varieties use chocolate syrup. Mochas can contain dark or milk chocolate. Sometimes also referred by its longer name mochaccino.^[1]

Like cappuccino, café mochas contain the well-known milk froth on top, although they are sometimes served with whipped cream instead. They are usually topped with a dusting of either cinnamon or cocoa powder. Marshmallows may also be added on top for flavor and decoration.

A variant is white café mocha, made with white chocolate instead of milk or dark. There are also variants of the drink that mix the two syrups; this mixture is referred to by several names, including black and white mocha, tan mocha, marble mocha, tuxedo mocha and zebra.

Café mocha takes its name from the Red Sea coastal town of Mocha, Yemen, which as far back as the fifteenth century was a dominant exporter of coffee, especially to areas around the Arabian Peninsula.

The caffeine content is approximately 10.9 mg/oz (370 mg/L), which is 175 mg for a 16 oz glass.^[2]

Mocha coffee beans

Mocha is also used to describe a type of coffee bean. Smaller and rounder than most other varieties, these beans are derived from the coffee species Coffea arabica, which is native to Ethiopia and Yemen. Although the beans originally shipped from the port of Mocha, Yemen were thought to have had a chocolate-like taste, current mocha beans from Yemen do not.^[3]

"Mocha coffee" can refer either to the coffee-with-chocolate drink, or simply to coffee brewed with mocha beans, which were originally cultivated in Yemen and exported through the port of Mocha.

Notes

1. ^ As elsewhere in coffee naming, the Italian caffè and French café are commonly found, as are the hyperforeignisms (errors) caffé and (sometimes) cafè, which confuse the accents. Also, in Italian, the correct spelling is Moka, used both for the city and the Moka pot. "Mocha", by contrast, is from Yemeni Arabic. Starbucks uses the Italianate caffè mocha.

References

1. ^ http://www.coffeeforums.com/coffee-facts/facts/espressorecipe-mochaccino.html
2. ^ "Caffeine Content of Drinks". http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database. Retrieved June 4, 2010. 
3. ^ Corby Kummer. The Joy of Coffee: The Essential Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying. 2003, p. 132