What is Hainan Coffee Bean_ Hainan Coffee Bean Varieties Revealed_ How is Hainan Coffee Processed?

When it comes to Chinese coffee, Yunnan coffee is probably the most familiar to many people. However, Chinese coffee is not limited to Yunnan alone; it's just that Yunnan coffee accounts for a large proportion of production and is China's main coffee-growing region. China's coffee cultivation areas are mainly concentrated in Taiwan, Yunnan, and parts of Hainan. Besides Yunnan coffee, Hainan coffee is also excellent, with strong local coffee flavors, though we don't often drink it.

Hainan's Ideal Coffee Growing Conditions

Yunnan's coffee-growing region is known as the golden zone, producing coffee with flavors of nuts, tea notes, brown sugar, and plum acidity. The mouthfeel has a hint of pine and is relatively full-bodied. Hainan, on the other hand, has a high average annual temperature above 20°C and abundant rainfall, with annual precipitation exceeding 1,600 millimeters, placing it in the golden location of the "coffee belt." Hainan Island's soil is also very fertile due to volcanic activity, resulting in many areas with well-drained, volcanic ash-rich fertile soil.

Therefore, Hainan produces aromatic and mellow coffee—fragrant but not bitter, rich but not intense. This is the greatest characteristic of Hainan coffee. Besides its unique fragrance, the roasting technique also makes its flavor more intense and aromatic. The roasting technique inherits and surpasses Southeast Asian methods, famous for its characteristics of "excellent color and flavor, rich but not bitter, fragrant but not intense." The original aroma and rich, full flavor of the coffee fills the room with a long-lasting aftertaste, making it a premium product with excellent color, aroma, and taste.

Main Coffee Production Areas in Hainan

Hainan primarily grows medium-bean coffee, namely the Robusta variety. The key growing areas include six cities (counties): Chengmai, Wanning, Wenchang, Qiongzhong, Baisha, and Sanya. Hainan is one of China's earliest coffee-growing regions. In Hainan, two places have the most famous coffee: one is Xinglong coffee in Wanning, and the other is Fushan coffee in Chengmai. Additionally, Hainan's premium coffee brands include Chunguang, Nanguo, Houchen, Lishen, and others.

Both Xinglong and Fushan coffee areas began cultivation after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1953, shortly after the Hainan Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm was established, returned overseas Chinese introduced coffee from abroad for cultivation. By the 1970s, Xinglong's coffee cultivation area reached over 1,000 mu. Fushan coffee had similar beginnings—in the 1950s, Chengmai County's coffee cultivation area was only about 100 mu. In the early 1970s, "Fushan" founder Xu Xiuyi established the Fushan Coffee Plantation and Processing Plant in Fushan Town, northern Chengmai County, clearing wasteland to vigorously develop coffee cultivation. By 2013, Fushan's coffee cultivation area reached about 60,000 mu, with an annual production of 3,000 tons of dried coffee beans.

Xinglong coffee beans, originating from the Xinglong region of Wanning, Hainan, are a product with mutual EU recognition of geographical indication. The product is meticulously selected from premium Robusta coffee beans from Hainan Xinglong, using a unique honey processing method that imparts wonderful aroma and taste to the coffee beans. While mellow and full-bodied, they are also clear and smooth with a mouthwatering aftertaste and long-lasting sweet finish. Its unique flavor comes from the unique geographical environment shaped by years of sedimentation and change, influenced by seasonal climate and variety factors. Its special processing technique also divides the product into various finished branches such as black honey and red honey.

Hainan Coffee Variety—Robusta

Arabica variety coffees are mostly specialty coffees, with more demanding requirements for growing environments, such as high altitude and shade trees. Robusta variety coffees, however, have less stringent environmental requirements and stronger adaptability and disease resistance. The higher the altitude, the better the coffee flavor, so naturally, Arabica variety coffees taste better than Robusta variety coffees. Robusta variety coffees are mostly commercial beans, such as instant coffee or espresso coffee.

Hainan's coffee growing environment is generally low altitude, very suitable for Robusta coffee tree growth. Therefore, the entire Hainan Island basically focuses on cultivating Robusta varieties.

Hainan Coffee Bean Roasting Method

The coffee we usually drink is machine-roasted before brewing, but Hainan's coffee roasting method is different from ordinary methods, with its unique roasting style—the traditional sugar-roasting method. Hainan coffee uses the traditional roasting method of overseas Chinese, where returned overseas Chinese brought back the Southeast Asian deep-roasting method for coffee beans, also giving Hainan coffee its special flavor. Unlike modern roasting plants that use roasting technology, Hainan's coffee uses large iron pans. Hainan's roasting technique adopts Southeast Asian methods, and this local coffee is most suitable for such roasting methods. During the roasting process, not only must one master the heat, but also timely add white sugar, salt, and butter, making the coffee exceptionally fragrant and rich.

Fushan coffee's roasting method involves setting up a large pan, lighting a wood fire, using a large iron shovel, and constantly stirring the coffee beans poured in. This seems simple, but the fire size and roasting time all depend on experience, and these factors directly affect the coffee's taste. Fushan coffee's roasting characteristic is also reflected in the final process: adding sun-dried Robusta coffee beans to the large iron pan with charcoal fire underneath, where the master takes up the large shovel and constantly stirs the coffee beans. At the first crack, one must seize the moment to add large amounts of white sugar while constantly stirring. When the white sugar and coffee beans merge and gradually caramelize, and the beans become oily and black, they can be removed to cool.

Usually, we add sugar to coffee to reduce bitterness and make it sweeter, but Hainan's roasted beans with sugar are not meant to increase the coffee's sweetness. Instead, the dissolved sugar forms a coating layer on the outside of the coffee beans, wrapping up the coffee's aroma. After this process, the roasted coffee beans change from brownish-black to black. At this point, the roasting of Xinglong coffee beans is complete. Now many manufacturers use machine roasting, but Fushan people believe that only wood-fire roasted coffee has human emotion. Of course, these traditional method coffees differ from the original regional flavors advocated by specialty coffees—they are more of a local characteristic coffee.

Some people might not be accustomed to the taste of this coffee, so locally, it's more common to add condensed milk or sugar when drinking coffee, which is also a local specialty coffee. However, FrontStreet Coffee believes that if you have the opportunity, you should experience Hainan coffee to appreciate different coffee flavors. Of course, FrontStreet Coffee has over fifty different coffee regions, such as more than ten single-origin coffee beans from Ethiopia, the coffee gene bank; favorite Panama Geisha coffee; floral Colombian coffee; whiskey-flavored Sherry coffee, and so on.

Regardless of which coffee, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using fresh coffee beans for brewing. Therefore, the coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are all roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee. The coffee's resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the package also helps the coffee flavor become well-rounded, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate faster, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

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 (FrontStreet Coffee) on WeChat: qjcoffeex

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