Yunnan Coffee Growing Regions Rankings and Best Small Bean Coffee Brands

China, a nation known for its tea, has experienced a coffee craze in recent years. Unlike tea, China has only two specialty coffee-producing regions: Taiwan, the precious island of the motherland, and Yunnan Province, located deep in the southwest. What many don't realize is that while Yunnan produces the world-renowned Pu'er tea, it also cultivates the Yunnan small-bean coffee that coffee enthusiasts have long been dreaming of.

The rich yet smooth, aromatic yet not bitter characteristics of Yunnan small-bean coffee have long captured the hearts of coffee connoisseurs. After some exploration, many coffee lovers have discovered the rich variety hidden behind coffee's bitterness and have chosen to visit FrontStreet Coffee's stores to experience the rewarding flavor profile of Yunnan coffee beans.

Yunnan Coffee on the Rise

Today, you can find Yunnan coffee beans on the menu in almost any independent coffee shop. Those unfamiliar with coffee history might assume that coffee cultivation is a recent phenomenon in Yunnan. However, although China started coffee cultivation later than other countries, it already has over a century of history.

According to the "Annals of Binchuan County," in 1904 (during the Guangxu era), a French missionary planted a coffee tree while building a church in Zhukula Village, Binchuan.

After decades of challenges, China began large-scale coffee cultivation in the 1950s, introducing pure Arabica varieties from Myanmar and planting approximately 4,000 hectares. However, due to the arrival of coffee leaf rust disease, coffee trees fell one after another throughout the 1970s.

To combat this disaster, local agricultural institutions introduced the Catimor variety for breeding and cultivation. Ultimately, Catimor survived and widely propagated due to its excellent leaf rust resistance, even becoming the main variety of Yunnan coffee beans. With China's reform and opening up, international coffee giant Nestlé found this pure land for coffee production, leading to cooperation, development, and expansion of Catimor cultivation.

Yunnan Coffee's International Recognition

Today, Yunnan coffee beans shine brightly on the international stage. With the nation's vigorous promotion of Yunnan small-bean coffee throughout the country, the term "Yunnan-producing region" is no longer just printed in books—Yunnan small-bean coffee can be seen in all corners of daily life. What many don't realize is that Yunnan's small-bean coffee has long been exported overseas and has gained recognition from many international friends.

Yunnan's Coffee-Growing Regions

Yunnan Province boasts abundant forest resources, fertile land, plentiful rainfall, complex terrain, mild temperatures year-round, and high altitude, placing it within the "coffee golden cultivation belt." It can be said to be an indispensable treasure land for coffee cultivation in China. Within Yunnan Province, different coffee-producing regions are distinguished based on their planting areas. These coffee regions include Pu'er, Baoshan, Dehong, Lincang, Xishuangbanna, and others.

FrontStreet Coffee's Journey

Many people's acquaintance with FrontStreet Coffee began with freshly roasted coffee beans. In fact, when FrontStreet Coffee first entered the coffee industry, it started with coffee bean cultivation. However, after understanding the relationship and sequence of variety, altitude, and processing method in specialty coffee, FrontStreet Coffee abandoned its original cultivation plan in Guangdong and went to Yunnan to deeply study coffee cultivation. By a fortunate coincidence, FrontStreet Coffee found suitable land in Yunnan's Lincang region and established the FrontStreet Coffee Estate.

In Yunnan, the four seasons are not distinct, divided only into rainy and dry seasons. For growers, the working environment is relatively harsh. However, for coffee crops, this land with clear rainy and dry seasons is an indispensable treasure.

Cultivation Standards and Variety Selection

FrontStreet Coffee maintains extremely high cultivation standards, preserving the diversity of plant species and ecological environment within the estate. Coffee seedlings are planted alongside tall plants to avoid prolonged sun exposure, providing them with a natural and comfortable growing environment. Meanwhile, scientific field management ensures that every coffee fruit can extract the ultimate flavors from Yunnan's terroir when the harvest season arrives.

Furthermore, regarding coffee variety selection, adhering to the specialty coffee principle that "70% depends on variety, 30% on environment," the Yunnan coffee variety produced by FrontStreet Coffee is the most original Arabica variety: Typica. Through comparison between Typica and Catimor coffee from the same producing region, FrontStreet Coffee found that Typica has elegant flavor, while Catimor's flavor is far inferior to Typica. During cupping, Catimor showed a hint of medicinal and earthy flavors as the temperature dropped, just as described in Han Huaizong's "Specialty Coffee Studies" as a "devilish aftertaste." Meanwhile, the former's yield is only one-third of the latter, requiring stricter field cultivation management.

FrontStreet Coffee Estate Yunnan Natural Typica

Origin: Yunnan Lincang
Estate: FrontStreet Coffee Estate
Altitude: 1,300 meters
Variety: Typica
Processing Method: Natural Process

When processing the Yunnan small-bean coffee from FrontStreet Coffee's own estate, we referenced the African high-bed natural red cherry processing method. The selected full, red coffee fruits are evenly spread and regularly turned to ensure uniform sun drying, thereby enhancing the coffee beans' aroma and richness. In terms of flavor and mouthfeel, it is much more intense than the Yunnan small-bean coffee in our daily brew series, with captivating nutty, honey, and black tea sweetness.

Brewing Recommendations

To highlight the sweet flavor of Yunnan coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters adopted a medium roast when developing the roast profile. FrontStreet Coffee suggests using the following parameters when brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60
Water Temperature: 87°C
Coffee Amount: 15 grams
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: 75% pass-through rate on China Standard #20 sieve

Today, everyone pursues freshly roasted coffee beans, and FrontStreet Coffee is no exception. FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans roasted within 5 days, and when you receive them, they have undergone a 4-7 day resting period. However, FrontStreet Coffee has also received feedback from some customers: the brewed coffee tastes bland, has a rough mouthfeel, and leaves a noticeable harsh sensation after swallowing.

This is because freshly roasted coffee beans contain abundant carbon dioxide gas. The resting period allows the coffee beans to release excess gases, making the coffee flavor more rounded and full. Additionally, during brewing, blooming helps promote the release of carbon dioxide gas from within the coffee particles' internal structure, resulting in a more rounded and full flavor in the final brew.

Pour 30 grams of hot water and bloom for 30 seconds. Starting from the center, pour with a fine stream and slowly spiral outward to 125 grams. Wait until the water level in the dripper drops to just below the coffee bed, then continue spiraling to 225 grams. Total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes.

Tasting Notes

After following the above brewing parameters and steps, FrontStreet Coffee Estate's Yunnan Natural Typica displays rich sweetness, with preserved fruit and nut flavors, gentle plum acidity, brown sugar sweetness, and a distinct black tea aftertaste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473