Mocha Coffee

Just around the corner from Daikanyama's famously refined Sarugaku Coffee, newcomer Mocha Coffee offers a rather more in-your-face alternative. Owner Hussein Ahmed imports beans from his native Yemen, and his cafe – which he runs together with his Japanese wife – doesn't sell coffee from anywhere else. The shop occupies a narrow, glass-sided space that feels like a glorified greenhouse, with a counter flanked by a few tables. There are four varieties of Yemen mocha coffee on offer: Ibbi, Ismaili, Anisi and Ibbi Mt. Somarah (the latter cultivated at an elevation of 2,800 metres, and costing a princely ¥1,200 per cup). We order a cup of Ismaili, said to be the most traditional of Yemeni coffees, and it's a punchy brew, bursting with fruity and winey flavours. Other drinks feel wimpy compared to this stuff.