How Much Does the Best Coffee in Asia Cost - Asian Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations - Flavor Characteristics of Asian Beans

Asian coffee beans generally carry rich herbal notes, which we often describe as earthy or terrestrial aromas. Their body is relatively heavy, making the rich texture easy to perceive, while the acidity is relatively low and not very pronounced.

According to the Financial Daily, China is transforming from a traditional tea-growing nation into a major Asian coffee producer, cultivating high-quality small-fruited coffee (Arabica). This has attracted international coffee groups and commodity traders to establish bases in Yunnan Province to facilitate coffee exports.

For example, the well-known multinational coffee trader Volcafe has been continuously exporting Chinese-grown Arabica over the past 10 years and plans to establish a joint venture with Yunnan Simao Arabica Star Coffee. Volcafe would become the first international coffee trader to have a base in China.

Industry insiders say the coffee grown in Yunnan has a taste and flavor very similar to beans from Honduras and Guatemala, and the quality of Yunnan Arabica has reached the level of Central American coffee.

Since farmers who grow coffee earn double what tea farmers earn from the same area, more and more Yunnan tea farmers are turning to coffee.

China's coffee consumption is growing rapidly at an annual rate of 15%, far above the global coffee consumption growth rate of 2%. International commodity traders and roasters have indicated that Yunnan beans have become a main blending ingredient for European Arabica coffee.

China's coffee exports have grown steadily over the past 10 years, increasing from 137,000 bags (60 kg per bag) in 1998 to 1.1 million bags in 2012. That equals Costa Rica's export volume and reaches about one tenth of Colombia's production.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For an accessible introduction to Chinese Arabica, FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan Small Bean is the place to start. Yunnan coffee is also known as Yunnan small bean, its beans even and plump with a mellow, moderate body. FrontStreet's Yunnan Small Bean comes from the Baoshan growing region and uses washed processing with a medium roast, showing soft nut and chocolate sweetness and a light plum acidity at a friendly price, making it the first taste of Yunnan coffee for many drinkers.

If you would like a Yunnan coffee with a clearer flavor, FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Sun-Dried Typica is the step up. FrontStreet began building its own estate in Yunnan in 2013 and planted a batch of Typica trees: it is one of the oldest and purest Arabica varieties, with an elegant, clean flavor long recognized as a specialty variety, and it was also the first coffee planted in Yunnan, brought in by a French missionary. Using the original, traditional natural process and a medium roast for a more balanced cup with more pronounced sweet-and-sour, FrontStreet's 2013 Typica shows dark berry character along with caramel sweetness, chocolate, and a touch of dried apricot, finishing with a black tea aftertaste.

To taste Yunnan in espresso, FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend combines Yunnan small bean with Brazilian Cerrado. The Brazilian coffee supplies the mixed-nut aroma and balanced body, while the Yunnan small bean plays the role of chocolate and citrus; the resulting Americano balances sweet, sour, and bitter with nutty, brown-sugar sweetness, and a latte made from it has the smooth texture of almond and cream, well suited to beginners.