Introduction to Catimor - Main Coffee Variety in China | Is Catimor Arabica Coffee?

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The Relationship Between Catimor and Yunnan Small Bean Coffee

The main variety of coffee beans planted in Yunnan, China, is Catimor, but the most famous is "Yunnan Small Bean Coffee." So, is Catimor a small bean coffee?

Catimor does not belong to the small bean coffee variety. Catimor is a hybrid cross between the small bean coffee variety Caturra and Timor, a hybrid of small and medium bean varieties. It belongs to the high-generation Catimor varieties. The plant is moderately dwarfed with vigorous growth, stable secondary characteristics, dark green terminal buds and young leaves, deep green foliage throughout the plant, and a columnar plant shape. It has short internodes, many branches, vigorous growth, wide adaptability, strong drought resistance, and certain cold resistance. Under moderate management levels, the average dry bean yield exceeds 200 kilograms.

Each kilogram of seeds contains approximately 3,846 seeds after two months of sun-drying, and about 5,000 seeds after five months of sun-drying. Within two months after seed production, the germination rate is above 95%; within three months, it's 85%; after three months, germination weakens; after six months, most seeds lose their germination ability. Its resistance to leaf rust disease manifests as sub-immune or extremely resistant types. The plant has a compact form, which has a certain inhibitory effect on longhorn beetles that typically lay eggs and cause damage on exposed branches and stems. It has high yield, less prominent biennial bearing phenomenon, and excellent quality. Since its cultivation, this variety has always been the main cultivated variety in coffee production.

Catimor CIFC7963 (F6) has been widely promoted and planted in coffee-growing areas of Yunnan Province, including Dehong, Baoshan, Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, Lincang, Wenshan, and Yuxi. It has also been promoted and planted in Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, and neighboring Myanmar, with a total promotion area of over 200,000 mu.

The optimal growing conditions include: annual average temperature of 19-21°C, annual accumulated temperature above 10°C greater than 6800°C, average temperature of the coldest month >11.5°C, absolute minimum temperature above 1°C, average temperature of the coldest month ≥11.5°C, months with average temperature ≤13°C lasting more than two months, and extreme minimum temperatures generally above 0°C in normal years, with occasional years experiencing -1°C or brief -2°C. Altitude below 1200 meters, annual rainfall ≥1100mm; fertile loam soil is preferred, with loose soil and good drainage, pH value 6-6.5, planted on sunny gentle slopes or terraces with slopes less than 25°.

Catimor: Important Commercial Variety

Catimor is currently an important commercial variety. East Timor was colonized by Portugal for four hundred years, and the Portuguese had long been familiar with East Timor's coffee trees. In 1959, the Portuguese moved Brazil's Bourbon mutant Caturra to East Timon and hybridized it with Timor, which has Robusta bloodlines, successfully cultivating Catimor with excellent disease resistance and productivity. Between 1970 and 1990, leaf rust disease affected coffee-producing countries worldwide. With the assistance of international organizations, various producing countries vigorously promoted Catimor to resist leaf rust and increase productivity. However, while Catimor inherited Robusta's strong disease resistance, it also inherited genes for poor flavor. Additionally, early Catimor, though productive, required shade trees for support, otherwise it would easily wilt - seemingly strong but actually weak. Over the decades, many botanists have researched Catimor variety improvement, cultivating dozens of new varieties. Colombia is the largest harvesting country, cultivating sun-grown Catimor in 1982 and naming it after the country "Colombia." Colombia claims that after multi-generational cross-breeding, [Colombia] differs from general Catimor. Currently, it and Caturra have become the country's two main varieties, long replacing the weak, disease-prone, low-yield Typica. However, most [COE] winners in Colombia are Caturra, while [Colombia] with Robusta bloodlines rarely wins awards. The large quantities of [Supermo] commercial beans exported by Colombia should be lower-altitude [Colombia] or Caturra, rather than traditional Typica. This is the main reason why [Supermo] flavor becomes increasingly bland, but Colombia cannot return to cultivating low-yield Typica.

Improving Catimor Quality

To improve Catimor's poor cupping reputation, botanists from various countries in recent years have returned to cross-breeding Arabica with Catimor over multiple generations, attempting to reduce Robusta bloodlines while increasing Arabica's elegant flavor, thus cultivating new-generation Catimor varieties including [CatimorH528], [CatimorH306], as well as Costa Rica's [CatimorT5175] and [CatimorT8667]. However, Costa Rica has abandoned Catimor cultivation, focusing on Caturra varieties, and exporting improved Catimor to Asian producing countries. There are countless Catimor lines, and each line's cupping results and habits differ. Although improvements have been made over many years, Catimor has still not broken into the top thirty of international cupping competitions. Catimor's biggest fatal flaw is that it doesn't seem inferior when cupped alongside low-altitude Caturra, Catuai, or Bourbon beans, but when planted in high-altitude areas, its cupping results are clearly inferior to Bourbon, Catuai, or Caturra. Whether Catimor can ascend to the殿堂 of fine coffee remains to be seen. We hope that one day a super Catimor suitable for high-altitude cultivation can be developed, stunning the specialty coffee world.

Domestic Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted domestic coffee beans - Yunnan Small Bean Typica - offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost performance. Each package is 227 grams, priced at only about 69 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams of coffee beans per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 5 yuan. Compared to cafés selling cups for tens of yuan each, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online store services: https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473