Yunnan Coffee Bean Varieties Introduction - Flavor Characteristics and Stories of Yunnan Catimor Small Bean Coffee

The Rise of Yunnan Coffee in the Specialty Coffee Scene

In recent years, Yunnan coffee has suddenly emerged from obscurity to "break into" the specialty coffee circle. Well-known coffee brands such as Luckin, Manner, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Seesaw have shown particular affection for Yunnan coffee! Whenever these brands launch Yunnan coffee bean products, they spark discussion and support from coffee enthusiasts, and the price of Yunnan coffee beans continues to rise.

Why Has Yunnan Coffee Gained Collective Attention?

Why has Yunnan coffee garnered collective attention in recent years? One reason is the rise of the "Guochao" (China chic) trend, which has driven support for domestic products; another is the support from various coffee brand companies for Yunnan coffee, which has enabled Yunnan coffee farmers to adopt more scientific cultivation techniques to improve yield and quality. Meanwhile, advancements in processing methods have given Yunnan coffee beans more unique flavors, attracting the attention of a new generation of young consumers.

The Challenge of Defining Yunnan's Regional Flavor

Although Yunnan coffee has gained increasing importance, its regional flavor characteristics have yet to be clearly defined. When the term "specialty coffee" was first introduced, it referred to coffee beans grown in specific climatic and geographical conditions that develop unique regional flavors. The regional flavor mentioned here refers to the flavors that coffee bean varieties can produce under specific conditions, allowing people to identify the coffee's origin. For example, when we taste coffee with bright acidity, we might associate it with Yirgacheffe coffee beans, but Yunnan's regional flavor has yet to be determined.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that a major reason for this is that the Catimor variety, primarily grown in Yunnan, inherently lacks clean flavor and clear层次. Secondly, because there are many specially processed Yunnan coffee beans on the market, consumers' impressions of Yunnan coffee beans mostly remain focused on the colorful and unique flavors, without deep memories of the inherent flavors of Yunnan coffee varieties. For coffee consumers to have a long-lasting impression of Yunnan coffee beans, the choice of coffee variety becomes extremely important.

FrontStreet Coffee's Commitment to Quality Varieties

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee began in 2013 to primarily plant Typica variety coffee and a small amount of Bourbon variety coffee in Lincang, Yunnan. The reason for choosing the Typica variety is twofold: first, as one of the oldest coffee varieties, it possesses pure Arabica variety genes and has always been recognized as a specialty coffee variety due to its elegant and clean flavors; second, the earliest coffee trees planted in Yunnan were also Typica varieties, brought by French missionaries.

Although Yunnan experienced a period of large-scale Typica coffee tree cultivation to repay Soviet loans, after the repayment ended, because there was little domestic demand for coffee, many farmers cut down their coffee trees and switched to other economically viable crops. It wasn't until the 1990s when Nestlé took interest in Yunnan's promising land and distributed Catimor variety coffee trees that could better resist leaf rust disease that people began replanting coffee trees, continuously supplying them to Nestlé. However, because Catimor has Robusta variety genes, its flavor is not as desired and doesn't taste good when consumed directly, thus people's impression of Yunnan coffee remained associated with instant coffee.

Understanding the Catimor Variety

Catimor is not purely Arabica bloodline; it's a hybrid of Timor (belonging to Robusta species) and Caturra (a Bourbon variety mutant), so Catimor has 25% Robusta bloodline. Its Robusta bloodline also determines its flavor defects: insufficient aroma, overall bitter taste, prone to astringency and stimulating musty flavors. However, its yield is several times that of Typica, so Yunnan has extensively planted Catimor varieties for many years without paying much attention to coffee quality, providing raw materials for Nestlé.

Therefore, Yunnan coffee processed with conventional methods was directly tasted with disappointing flavor and texture, so Yunnan coffee did not receive much attention. It wasn't until recent years with the maturation of special processing techniques that people began applying special processing to Yunnan Catimor coffee beans, changing the undesirable flavors through external intervention, and consumers gradually accepted Yunnan coffee.

The Dilemma: Processing Methods vs. Variety Improvement

So why not directly switch to planting Typica varieties? Because it takes at least 4 years from planting a coffee tree to generating commercial value, during which the time and labor costs are extremely high, so undesirable flavors can only be changed through processing methods... But this might be a misguided approach leading further in the wrong direction.

Catimor coffee beans and Typica coffee beans are not inherently in conflict—one is raw material, the other is specialty coffee. The significance of specialty coffee is to improve quality, while the significance of raw material is to increase yield. Inevitably, Yunnan will be dominated by Catimor. But conflating the two superficially seems to solve Yunnan coffee's path forward, but in reality, the coffee remains the same, varieties and altitudes haven't changed, and emphasizing quality improvement solely through post-processing methods is somewhat forced.

The Path Forward for Yunnan Specialty Coffee

Using the excuse of solving the outlet for two million hectares of planted coffee to emphasize processing methods after picking coffee cherries and labeling them as good coffee is overly simplistic. Those who elevate this evaluation don't truly understand Yunnan coffee. From the grower's perspective, encouraging and supporting basic compliance with specialty coffee rules starting from variety and altitude might be another attempt at healthy and sustainable development for the Yunnan coffee region. It's difficult for an entire region to produce specialty coffee, but it must exist. When washed processing tastes good and can consistently present main flavors year after year, that will be the beginning of Yunnan specialty coffee.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee chose to establish its own estate from the beginning, planting Typica coffee varieties. Although until 2022, FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan Typica coffee beans were not abundant—only over 600 kilograms, enough to supply FrontStreet Coffee's Taobao store sales and FrontStreet Coffee's physical store offerings—but only by personally experiencing the entire process can one know the shortcomings and continuously improve and refine. Also due to changes in coffee varieties, "FrontStreet Coffee 2013 Yunnan Typica Coffee Beans," although using traditional natural processing, exhibit very full and enticing flavors, with notes of plum, berries, brown sugar, black tea, and nuts.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan Coffee Offerings

In addition to Frontsteet Yunnan Natural Typica, FrontStreet Coffee also offers a Catimor coffee bean from the Baoshan region in Yunnan. As part of FrontStreet Coffee's signature daily bean series, this Yunnan small-bean coffee allows everyone to taste Yunnan regional flavors at the highest cost-performance ratio. This series also includes representative coffee beans from six major coffee-producing regions: Ethiopia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, and Indonesia. Coffee beginners/ novices who don't know what coffee beans to buy can first try FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans to determine their requirements for coffee flavor.

Brewing Recommendations

All coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are shipped within five days of the roasting date, because only freshly roasted coffee beans can showcase coffee's most beautiful flavors! To preserve Yunnan coffee's acidity and tea-like characteristics, FrontStreet Coffee applies medium roasting. When brewing, you can use a V60 dripper with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, medium grind (approximately coarse sugar size / 75% pass-through rate on China #20 standard sieve), and water temperature of 88-89°C.

Brewing Technique

Specific brewing method: First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom; second, pour small circular amounts to reach 125g, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before continuing, then continue pouring small circular amounts to reach 225g. After complete dripping, the total extraction time should be around 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Connect with FrontStreet Coffee

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 FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: 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