What is Yunnan Arabica Coffee - Description of Yunnan Coffee Bean Varieties, Taste and Flavor Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee understands that when most people first enter the world of specialty coffee, they typically encounter African coffees from Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe or Sidamo regions. When it comes to Asian coffee, most people first think of Indonesia's Mandheling coffee beans. However, with the rise of domestic trends, Chinese Yunnan coffee has gradually come into everyone's view.

However, when it comes to domestic products, the domestic cosmetics and skincare markets from years past left everyone with lingering concerns, feeling that domestic product quality wasn't high. This isn't actually the case—the quality of Yunnan coffee beans has long been comparable to beans from other major producing regions.

China's Coffee Bean Producing Regions

When discussing China's coffee bean producing regions, there are mainly three: Fujian Province, Hainan Province, and Yunnan Province. Arabica is grown at altitudes between 900 to 2000 meters; Robusta is grown at altitudes between 200 to 800 meters. Those familiar with Chinese geography know that Fujian and Hainan provinces are coastal regions with average altitudes below 500 meters, which isn't ideal for Arabica cultivation. Therefore, these two provinces primarily grow Robusta beans. Yunnan Province, located on the second topographical step with an average altitude of 1000 to 2000 meters, provides ideal growing conditions for Arabica.

When Was the First Coffee Tree Planted in Yunnan?

The earliest place in Yunnan to grow Arabica coffee beans was Zhukula Village in Pingchuan Town, Binchuan County, Dali. During the late Qing Dynasty, a French missionary named Father Tian Deneng, who had a habit of drinking coffee, planted a coffee tree next to the church. According to the "Binchuan County Gazetteer": In the 30th year of the Guangxu reign (1904), French Catholic missionary Tian Deneng was dispatched by the Dali diocese church, bringing Frenchman Lu Hongru and Sichuan native Deng Peigen to preach in the Binchuan region... Additionally, the "History of Yunnan Catholicism" records: Church name and address: Catholic Church, Zhukula, Pingchuan, Binchuan Prefecture, establishment date: 30th year of Guangxu reign (1904).

These documentary records can prove that Father Tian Deneng indeed built a church in Zhukula Village in 1904 for missionary work. However, this timeline is somewhat controversial, with some saying it was 1892, others claiming 1902. To this day, no definitive evidence has been found to determine exactly which year the first Arabica coffee tree was planted in Yunnan.

As an imported product, Yunnan's truly commercial-scale cultivation began in the 1950s when renowned botanist Professor Qin Renchang from the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, identified red fruits found in the courtyards of Dai farmers in Luxi County, Dehong Prefecture as small-seeded coffee. At his suggestion, coffee seedlings were trialed in Mangshi Forest Farm and Lujiangba, Baoshan City. The latter officially went into production in 1955, ushering in a new era of coffee research and production in New China.

Yunnan coffee truly entered the international market starting in 1988 when Nestlé established a branch in China. They not only introduced the high-yield, disease-resistant Catimor variety but also promised to purchase Yunnan coffee beans as raw material at the then-current US futures price. Subsequently, brands like Starbucks and Maxwell also established factories in Yunnan to purchase green beans, further expanding Yunnan's coffee cultivation area. FrontStreet Coffee's research into relevant materials reveals that due to coffee farmers' lack of coffee cultivation knowledge and crude production and processing methods, Yunnan green coffee beans have long been used as raw material for instant coffee, constrained by international coffee futures prices. To break free from these constraints, industrial transformation and upgrading are essential, and specialty coffee production has become Yunnan coffee's new journey.

Yunnan Coffee Bean Varieties

The most famous Yunnan coffee bean is Yunnan small-seeded coffee. Yunnan small-seeded coffee originally got its name from Typica, because Typica is indeed the small-seeded variety of Arabica. The oldest coffee variety in Yunnan is Typica. Later, when Nestlé entered Yunnan, due to Typica's poor disease resistance and to increase coffee bean yields, coffee farmers were asked to cut down the flavorful Typica coffee trees and plant varieties with inferior flavor but excellent disease resistance and high yields. Initially, the rust-resistant S288 was introduced, followed by the higher-yielding Catimor. This means that the coffee trees currently grown in Yunnan are mainly Catimor varieties.

Typica

Typica is one of the oldest varieties within the Arabica species. All Arabica varieties derive from Typica, and their derived varieties can inherit its excellent flavor genes. Typica coffee trees have bronze-colored terminal leaves, opposite long-oval leaves with smooth surfaces, long terminal branches with few branches, and oval or slender-pointed beans. Although its flavor is elegant, it has weak constitution, poor disease resistance, is susceptible to leaf rust, and has lower yields. In recent years, Typica in Central and South America has gradually been replaced by Caturra and Catuai, so we see less and less of Typica.

FrontStreet Coffee primarily grows Typica variety coffee trees in Yunnan because Typica has its unique subtle aroma and clean flavor, as well as balanced characteristics, with high flavor clarity. Therefore, although Typica variety coffee trees are difficult to cultivate, FrontStreet Coffee still wants everyone to experience the best possible flavors that Yunnan coffee can present.

Catimor

Catimor is itself a hybrid cross between Robusta and Arabica. In 1959, Portuguese moved the Arabica-blooded Bourbon variety Caturra to East Timor, where it was crossed with the local Robusta-blooded Timor hybrid. This action cultivated Catimor, which has both high disease resistance and productivity. Due to the prevalence of leaf rust in coffee-producing countries at that time, Catimor was strongly promoted in various producing countries with international organization assistance due to its strong disease resistance and high productivity.

Now everyone can still find both Yunnan natural-processed Typica and washed-processed Catimor on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list—one from Lincang, one from Baoshan—allowing everyone to taste our country's coffee while also experiencing the differences between different varieties.

FrontStreet Coffee 2013 Coffee Beans

Region: Yunnan, Lincang

Altitude: 1300m

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Typica

FrontStreet Coffee: Yunnan Small-Seeded Coffee

Region: Yunnan, Baoshan

Altitude: 1200m

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Catimor

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee recommends when brewing these two washed Yunnan coffees, to lean toward balance—neither overly highlighting acidity nor excessively modifying the finish. Choose 15 grams of coffee grounds, recommended coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, or 1:16 for clearer flavor. Use a V60 dripper with 88°C brewing temperature to make the acidity softer. Grind to medium-fine/fine sugar size (80% pass-through on #20 sieve).

Adopt three-stage extraction: Use 30 grams of water for bloom for 30 seconds. With small water flow, pour in circles to 125 grams for segmentation. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is 2'00".

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