The term “mocha’ originally referred to coffee that was grown on the Arabian Peninsula and shipped from the Yemeni port of Mocha. The history of this word’s use is fairly muddled. It is likely most Europeans tasted coffee before chocolate.
Therefore, when chocolate first appeared from the Western Hemisphere, there found it reminiscent of, or confused it with, the wild and fruity flavors of Yemeni coffee. Since then, the word “mocha” has come to mean many things, including the flavor combination of coffee and chocolate, while it is still used to describe coffee from Yemen (or even coffee from Ethiopia that tastes like coffee from Yemen).
As sixteenth century sailing ships carried goods from the Arabian Peninsular across the Mediterranean, the Italian port of Venice became coffee’s gateway to European markets.
Merchants in Venice and Turin opened the earliest coffee houses and when Spanish drinking chocolate was first introduced to Turin, it was mixed with coffee and cream into stimulating novelty called bavareisa.
Caffé Mocha is made by mixing chocolate (either sweetened, ground chocolate or chocolate syrup) with espresso. Steamed milk is then added to the mixture.
Most recipe specifically suggest that the espresso and chocolate be mixed before the steamed milk is added, in order to preserve the proper consistency and texture of the milk and to ensure that the mocha has a frothy, rich texture.
Caffé Mocha
