Flavor Characteristics of Yunnan Arabica Coffee | Yunnan Coffee Growing Origins and Varieties | Which Yunnan Coffee Brand is Best?

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Yunnan Small Bean Coffee: An Introduction

Yunnan Small Bean Coffee actually refers to the small-fruited variety grown in Yunnan, which is what we now commonly call Arabica coffee.

The Cultivation History of Yunnan Small Bean Coffee

In 1892, when a French missionary successfully planted the first coffee tree in a place called Zhukula for his own coffee needs, he probably never imagined that a hundred years later, coffee would become a highlight of Yunnan's plateau specialty agriculture. According to records from that time, this was a small-fruited variety of coffee. Therefore, the extracted coffee beans were very small, leading Chinese people to call such coffee "Small Bean Coffee."

Later, confirmed by research scholars, the最初 coffee variety cultivated in Yunnan was the Typica variety, the most ancient variety in the Arabica lineage. The emergence of other varieties later was the result of natural evolution and hybridization of Typica. The greatest flavor characteristic of this variety lies in its clean and balanced flavor, already possessing a charming sweet aftertaste.

Initially, Chinese people had no demand for coffee, so coffee trees were planted as ornamental plants around churches for missionaries and their disciples to drink. Later, to repay debts to the Soviet Union, in the 1950s, Yunnan coffee cultivation areas expanded to Yingjiang, Longchuan, Ruili, Luxi, Baoshan, Jinghong, Binchuan, Dayao, and Yuxi Xinping, mainly exported to the former Soviet Union and former Eastern European socialist countries. At that time, the coffee cultivation scale reached 4,000 hectares.

By the late 1950s to early 1960s, due to the gradual interruption of economic exchanges with the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, coffee exports were also affected. At that time, coffee consumption was regarded as a capitalist lifestyle domestically, so due to lack of market foundation and high cultivation and maintenance costs of Typica, people cut down coffee trees to plant other economic crops, causing Yunnan Small Bean Coffee production to almost completely stagnate.

By the early 1980s, Nestlé identified Yunnan as this treasure land and distributed the easier-to-grow Catimor coffee variety, which restored Yunnan coffee production and brought new development.

By the early 1990s, Yunnan coffee production entered a period of rapid growth. New varieties were continuously introduced, such as the currently popular Bourbon variety in Yunnan, which was introduced and cultivated during this period. New varieties were introduced based on the needs of international purchasers, but international purchasers did not guarantee complete coffee procurement. When international market coffee prices experienced major fluctuations, Yunnan coffee growers began to experience harsh tests.

Due to Yunnan Small Bean Coffee's earliest reputation internationally and the market's habitual understanding for a considerable time, even today, Yunnan coffee is generally called Yunnan Small Bean Coffee. This has already deviated from the objective facts of later cultivation and development, and has also led Yunnan coffee down a path of extensive management, so many coffee consumers do not have a particularly good impression of Yunnan coffee.

Different varieties each have their own different flavor styles, just like how we choose rice. Moreover, in Yunnan's regions with diverse geographical and climate conditions, even the same variety shows different flavor "personalities" combined with local soil. Extensive management not only eliminates the differences between varieties with distinct styles but also makes the once-renowned Yunnan brand—"Yunnan Small Bean Coffee"—carry things that don't belong to it. This is more due to people's previous lack of attention to Yunnan coffee cultivation and coffee bean processing.

Main Varieties of Yunnan Small Bean Coffee

Typica and Bourbon, these two classic high-quality coffee varieties, are the main cultivated varieties in Yunnan coffee, possessing clean, balanced, and exquisite coffee flavors. In 1991, the Catimor series varieties were also introduced from Kenya (stronger virus resistance, higher yield, but flavor not as refined as Typica and Bourbon). They belong to the Arabica species (also called small-fruited variety) variations. Due to the similar morphology and habits of these two varieties, they are often mixed in cultivation.

Although Yunnan coffee cultivation has become more scientific in the past decade, and coffee bean processing has become more refined, there has been a very significant difference in flavor compared to the past. Traditional washed and natural-processed Catimor coffee beans can also exhibit relatively clean flavors.

However, FrontStreet Coffee believes that if Yunnan coffee is to truly become specialty coffee, the variety is extremely important. Therefore, in 2013, FrontStreet Coffee began planting Typica variety coffee beans on a mountain in Lincang, Yunnan, at an altitude of 1300m. Compared to the Catimor variety, Yunnan Typica can exhibit more obvious sweetness and has a very charming black tea aftertaste, with balanced sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

Main Production Areas of Yunnan Small Bean Coffee

Small Bean Coffee is suitable for growing on mountain slopes at altitudes of 800-1800 meters. If the altitude is too high, the taste becomes sour; if too low, it becomes bitter. Small Bean Coffee is mostly planted in dry, hot valley areas around 1100 meters altitude, so the acidity is moderate, the fragrance is rich and mellow. Many areas in Yunnan have unique environments suitable for Small Bean Coffee growth, producing excellent quality Small Bean Coffee.

Cultivation areas are mainly distributed in Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, Dehong, and other regions. Currently, the best Yunnan Small Bean Coffee comes from Baoshan and Lincang, in areas above 1200m. Day-night temperature differences can slow coffee growth, forming more coffee flavors.

The average temperature in Baoshan's Lujiangba is 21.5°C, reaching up to 40.4°C, with basically no frost year-round. The Small Bean Coffee cultivated here is known for being rich without bitterness, fragrant without harshness, with small and uniform beans, rich and mellow aroma, and fruity notes. It is recognized as the best Small Bean Coffee production area. After inspecting Yunnan coffee cultivation and primary processing bases, International Coffee Organization tasting experts evaluated Yunnan coffee as being in the same category as Colombian wet-processed Small Bean Coffee, among the world's highest quality coffees.

The place where FrontStreet Coffee cultivates Typica coffee is located on a mountain in Lincang near the Myanmar border. Lincang's altitude and latitude are basically similar to Colombia, the world's coffee powerhouse. Combined with the inherent advantages of the Typica variety, the coffee flavor can exhibit the same caramel sweetness and exquisite berry acidity as coffee grown in Colombian regions, as well as the black tea-like aftertaste brought by Yunnan region's soil.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473