Ann Arbor has no shortages of coffee shops downtown. That being said, Treetown’s latest café is different from its competitors in that it is a traditional Yemini coffee shop.
Yemini coffee is a very specific thing. The traditional mufawar coffee combines milk and cardamom to create a coffee that feels fancier, smoother and more refined than other cups of coffee. The thin but tasty jubani coffee is also full in flavor with cardamom and ginger.
“The process of cultivating coffee beans has remained the same in Yemen for over 500 years,” a helpful mural on the wall explains in part. “Small family farms plant on terraced fields carved into the landscape. Plants are grown with no chemicals, beans are sun dried. Yemini coffee has a distinct flavor and aroma, carrying notes of chocolate, cinnamon, cardamom.”
The food on offer is also generally excellent. While the food menu isn’t exactly fixed, they have a quality selection of croissants, muffins and cake by the slice. The Ferrero milk cake has a nice and creamy milk layer, which doesn’t distract from the chunks of ferrero on top nor the cake that melts like cotton candy. The pistachio basboosa has a nice crumbly, pound-cake-like texture and an aftertaste reminiscent of bubble gum.
Moka and Co opened the doors of their 333 South Main Street location, across the street from Milk and Froth and between Mir’s Oriental Rugs and hJem Beauty, on September 20. They are currently only in their soft opening stage according to staff. A grand opening is in the works in the next few weeks, but the date is yet to be announced.
The interior’s sturdy but comfortable seating brings a stay-as-long-as-you-want ambience to the place. Its black and white décor has found a nice balance of inner-urban-chic trendiness with touches of Yemeni decorative aesthetics. It is crisp and laid back without feeling like they are trying too hard, in the same way that their food and drinks are not trying too hard to be delicious, they just are.
The counter and back room area being at the middle of the space naturally divides the storefront into two, roughly equally sized spaces. The back area is a bit and dark, and feels secluded – the almost total absence of natural light means that the seats are lit up by flashlight-like ambient lighting, a perfect place for you and a friend to sit back and sip coffee over a private conversation.
But it is a totally different story up front. The floor to ceiling windows and glass door opening onto Main Street provides a gush of sunlight in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the space too much, but provides a warmer, richer ambience that lets you enjoy your caffeine with eyes wide open. Siting right up front might get too hot in the summer, but now that we’re well into fall, it could be the perfect place to sit on a cold day where you want to warm yourself both with coffee and with the greenhouse effect that massive storefront windows provide in warmer months.
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Moka and Co is a chain, with other locations mostly spread across New York City and Michigan. Ann Arbor is the eleventh location. While they do have locations in Kentucky, and future ones in the works in New York, Arizona and Pennsylvania; their Michigan locations tend to fall into downtowns or college towns – they have three locations in and around the Wolverine’s football rivals at Michigan State University, as well as a location in downtown Detroit and one serving Wayne State University.
Drink prices run from $4 to $8. They are currently hiring baristas at their new location. Anyone interested in joining the staff are encouraged by the business to email their resumes to mokacoannarbor@gmail.com.
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!