When most Americans think of mocha, they think of chocolate. However, the word mocha orignally referred to the small rich tasting coffee beans grown in Yemen on the Arabian peninsula.  When chocolate was first discovered and brought to Europe, the Europeans declared that this delicious new bean tasted like mocha coffee beans from Yemen.

Peet's Coffee and Teas

Peet's is a small high end coffee store founded by Alfred Peet. It was one of the first gourmet coffee shops.  My girlfriend works near Boston right around the corner from one of Peets Massachusetts locations. Since the stores get their coffee beans fresh roasted and delivered late on Thursdays, I convinced her to swing by on Friday to pick up a couple half pounds of fresh roasted beans.  She was quite impressed with this upscale coffee mecca. Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts it isn't.

The coffee I am drinking this Saturday morning as I write my review of it was made with beans that were roasted on Wednesday. Unless I lived next door to Peets roasting facility, I couldn't get beans any fresher roasted than this!

The Yemen Mocha Sanani Beans

First thing you notice when you open a bag of Arabian Mocha Sanani is that these beans are small! They are about half the size of a normal coffee bean and sort of look like the rejects. They don't even have a perfect shape.  However, these beans grown by the Arabian sea pack a lot of delicious smooth flavor. Peet's catalog describes it as a winy flavor, however, I noticed more of the chocolate flavor.  It is important to note here that Mocha Sanani is NOT a flavored coffee, the flavor is naturally in the beans.

The Flavor

Mocha Sanani has a smooth taste and I found it to be a medium bodied coffee. It isn't a complex coffee either, you get one basic taste, the chocolate like overtone, unlike the livlier coffees grown just south in Kenya. The coffee is slightly sweet and very smooth. Rather than use a lot of coffee terms, let me describe Mocha Sanani in the simplest terms possible.  It is delicious! 

How does the single coffee compare to the blend?

Logically the coffee to compare this to would be Peet's most popular blend, Mocha-Java. Mocha Java is a blend of these beans with beans from Java in the South Pacific Islands.  The blending with Java beans makes the coffee more full bodied than the Mocha Sanani beans by themselves.  Sanani simply refers to the region around Yemen's capital, Sana.  The two coffees actually taste quite similar, and I was rather surprised that the blend actually makes for a stronger more full bodied cup of coffee. Not only that, it still retains its smoothness and mocha flavor.

If I had to choose between these and the Mocha Java blend I  prefer the blend, because the Java beans give the cup a bit more oomph without losing that delicious mocha taste or smoothness. Nevertheless, you may want to get these pure beans to try some blends of your own! Mocha - Kenyan? Mocha - Costa Rican?  The possibilities are endless.

Price / Value

Some quick and easy math will tell you why Mocha-Java is Peet's most popular blend.  Mocha Java is only 13.95 a pound, and Mocha-Sanani is 18.95 a pound.  In our current economic crisis, every five dollars counts!  As much as I enjoy the Mocha Sanani, I found that I actually prefer the Java blend, because it actually adds to the flavor of the coffee.

Preparation

If you order the whole beans, you need a bean grinder. I use a Breville Burr grinder set to a medium fine grind with a Bunn Coffee maker, or the same grinder set to course for use with a Bodum French Press. This morning, I used the Bunn. Arabian Mocha - Sanani, like all of Peet's coffees is available as whole beans or the grind of your choice.

Summary

Perhaps I am biased, but this bean like other Peet's bean is a five star coffee bean. Peets carefully selects beans from so many different coffee growing areas of the world and does so much to make sure that you get the freshest roasted beans possible.  For my coffee tastes, Peets truly sets the bar in the coffee business.  Whatever your coffee tastes, Peets has a coffee for you.  Today I have tasted the delicious beans of Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. Tomorrow I will try the beans from Costa Rica in Central America. Does your favorite coffee company allow you to do that?

Related Reviews:

Breville Burr Coffee Bean Grinder
Bunn GRX Coffee Maker
Bodum French Press Coffee Maker

Peet's Coffee's Other flavors:
Major Dickason's Blend
Sumatra
French Roast
Kenyan
Arabian Mocha-Java 
Costa Rican
or order your own at
Peet's Coffee & Tea Online Store

Recommended: Yes