Why is Yunnan Coffee Called Small Bean Coffee? Flavor and Taste Profile of Yunnan Small Bean Specialty Coffee

In the Rubiaceae coffee genus, species are divided into three main categories: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. Among these, Arabica varieties have smaller fruits, thus called small-fruited coffee; Robusta varieties have medium-sized fruits, thus called medium-fruited varieties; and Liberica has larger fruits, so it's called large-fruited coffee.

Why is Yunnan coffee called small-grained coffee?

The main coffee species cultivated in Yunnan is Arabica variety coffee beans. Due to their smaller fruit size, they are called small-grained/small-fruited coffee. Later, a French missionary brought Arabica plants to the Yunnan region for cultivation, also recorded as small-grained coffee. Subsequently, for convenience and since it grew in Yunnan, this coffee was called Yunnan small-grained coffee.

Yunnan Small-Grained Coffee Growing Regions and Historical Overview

Yunnan small-grained coffee growing areas include: Pu'er City, Lincang City, Baoshan City, Dehong Prefecture, Nujiang Prefecture, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Dali Prefecture, Diqing Prefecture, and other cities and prefectures, with growing areas and acreage continuously expanding.

The optimal coffee growing regions are located in the coffee golden belt between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn (between 28 degrees north latitude and 38 degrees south latitude), in areas between 1000-2000m altitude. In China, parts of Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Taiwan, and Hainan have suitable conditions for coffee growth, but only Yunnan and Taiwan regions meet the high-altitude environment requirements.

After Yunnan small-grained coffee arrived in this treasured land of Yunnan in 1892, this foreign species has flourished on this magical Eastern land, with over a century of cultivation history. From initially satisfying the old missionary's personal appetite to now becoming a regional economic crop, thanks to unique geographical environment and climate conditions as well as more scientific cultivation and breeding, Yunnan coffee is gradually gaining recognition in the coffee industry.

How does Yunnan small-grained coffee taste?

Through cupping comparisons by FrontStreet Coffee, Yunnan small-grained coffee has a relatively neutral taste - neither too acidic nor too bitter. It's truly fragrant without bitterness, rich without intensity, with pleasant and comfortable acidity, making it quite suitable for popular tastes.

For Arabica/small-grained coffee, 1200m is the quality watershed. Therefore, when FrontStreet Coffee selects Yunnan small-grained coffee green beans, they always choose beans from above 1200m altitude, because only the temperature difference between day and night at high altitudes allows coffee to develop more pleasant flavors.

Therefore, Yunnan small-grained coffee from above 1200m typically has better, softer fruit acidity, along with nutty and caramel-like flavors.

How to brew Yunnan small-grained coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee currently sells three types of Yunnan coffee beans: one is their self-grown "Frontsteet 2013 Natural Typica Coffee Beans," one is "Selected Regional Daily Bean - Yunnan Baoshan Washed Catimor Coffee Beans," and one is "Full Cherry Natural - Catimor Coffee Beans from Baoshan Lujiangba Region."

These three coffee beans all have the distinctive coffee flavors of Yunnan region: nutty, caramel, and plum-like flavors. FrontStreet Coffee roasts them to a medium-dark level to give Yunnan small-grained coffee a richer body while maintaining soft acidity. Therefore, brewing tends toward balance - neither overly highlighting acidity nor excessively modifying the finish.

FrontStreet Coffee typically uses 15g of coffee grounds, with a recommended coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, or 1:16 for clearer flavor profile. They choose V60 dripper with 88°C brewing water temperature to make the acidity softer, and medium-fine grind/sugar-sized granules (75% pass-through rate on #20 sieve).

Specific brewing method:

First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom; second stage, pour in small circles to 125g, wait until the water level drops to half before continuing, then continue pouring in small circles to 225g. After complete drip-through, total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473