What is the quality of Yunnan coffee beans? 2018 Yunnan coffee bean prices_Yunnan coffee bean brand recommendations

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China's Premium Coffee Region: Yunnan Pu'er

The three coffee-growing belts near the equator - Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific - hold the world's highest-quality coffee. But does China have such a region?

Yes. On the map, there are not many places in China suited to coffee, but Yunnan Pu'er is definitely one of them.

Yunnan Pu'er

With an average altitude of 1,200 meters and a subtropical monsoon climate, combined with Yunnan's distinctive geography, this region gives its coffee an easily recognizable flavor. The Tropic of Cancer links Yunnan with famous origins such as Colombia and Jamaica.

Coffee cultivation is like Yunnan's slow-paced life - it cannot be rushed. From sowing to seedling to bearing attractive berries takes about 4 to 5 years.

From the first day of sowing, farmers watch anxiously as the plants break through the soil and sprout. Once they grow 4 pairs of stem leaves, the farmers carry them up the mountains to take in real rain and soil. It is primitive and laborious, but carrying them in bamboo baskets is the most suitable method.

During harvest, coffee shows its delicate side to the extreme - it can only be hand-picked to ensure perfectly ripe berries, which means harvesting a single tree takes several trips back and forth. The index finger and thumb are the best harvesting tools.

One statistic surprised me greatly: by the end of last year there were over 1,200 certified coffee farms, with a total cultivation area exceeding 11,000 hectares - equivalent to 15,406 football fields.

Yet the purchase price of coffee in our country is suppressed to very low levels. The current international coffee price is 18.3 yuan per kg, while Yunnan coffee beans are priced at 14.3 yuan per kg.

Given such low prices and such arduous cultivation and production, why do so many coffee farmers still stay on their coffee land?

Because of Faith

He shared his experience in Yunnan with me. When he went to Yunnan Pu'er, he asked farmers the same question. When the farmers heard the word "coffee," their eyes lit up, because they have grown coffee for generations and hold the highest respect and love for it.

According to Frank, there is also an area in Pu'er inhabited by descendants of French missionaries from years past. That culture and inheritance influences later generations and the people around them. This spirit, whose value cannot be measured in money, is exactly the craftsmanship spirit so lacking in modern times. It is the power of faith that lets these farmers overcome natural and market difficulties, stay on land they deeply love, safeguard coffee production in China, and find the most valuable meaning in life.

Yunnan Coffee Bean Varieties

The main coffee varieties in Yunnan are Typica, Bourbon, and Catimor, all within the Arabica species. The best-quality beans are mostly exported to Europe. Companies such as Nestle, Starbucks, UCC, and Maxwell all source their coffee beans from Yunnan, specifically from Simao. Baoshan rejected Starbucks, though the reason remains unknown. Yunnan's coffee won a London gold medal in the 1950s and a Belgian Eureka gold medal in 1993. That reflects international influence, though these achievements are relatively distant in time. Typica has the smallest production volume in Yunnan and is also the most expensive. Internationally it is considered among the finest of the Arabica varieties. Both Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona can be considered Typica varieties. Because of changes in terroir and growing conditions, Yunnan's Typica is somewhat milder, with less pronounced acidity than Blue Mountain. Overall, Typica has a relatively light flavor - very light, in fact - but a long aftertaste.

Bourbon is second only to Typica, with higher production and a more intense flavor, making it less commonly available on the market. Catimor was introduced later, with stable yields and stronger disease resistance, and is widely cultivated in Yunnan. Catimor is easy to find on the market today, and Catimor AA beans are also exported. Generally speaking, they are not bad. Not just in China but throughout Asia, Yunnan's varieties are considered excellent. As for Kopi Luwak, Mandheling, and the like, purely as coffee varieties they cannot compare with Typica. These are the basic varieties in Yunnan, all belonging to the Typica branch of Arabica and its later variants, unlike Hainan's Robusta. As for quality, I would suggest trying them before judging. Overall, except for Typica being slightly more expensive, varieties like Catimor are quite affordable. Try medium-roasted Typica as a single origin and trust your own evaluation. If you like Blue Mountain flavor, I think you will like Yunnan's Typica - light flavor, a long aftertaste, and noticeable fruity notes. The first sip might disappoint you, though, because it lacks a strong coffee flavor. Bourbon: fragrant, mellow, and smooth.

Recommended Yunnan Coffee Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Yunnan beans - the Old Variety Typica Coffee Beans from the Baoshan region [Yunnan Flower and Fruit Mountain] - offer solid guarantees in both brand and quality. Just as important, they offer excellent value: a half-pound (227g) package costs only around 50 to 60 yuan. At 15g per pour-over cup, one package makes about 15 cups, so each Americano costs only about 4 yuan. Compared with cafe prices that often reach tens of yuan per cup, that is exceptional value.

FrontStreet Coffee is a Guangzhou roastery with a small storefront but a wide range of beans, carrying both famous and lesser-known origins.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yunnan coffee is also known as Yunnan small-bean coffee - "small bean" being another name for Arabica, given because its fruit is the smallest of coffee's three original species. The story traces back to 1904, when a French missionary brought coffee seeds from Vietnam and planted the first coffee tree in Zhugula village, Binchuan County, Yunnan; the region's favorable geography and climate made small-bean cultivation a great success. FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan Small Cherry comes from the Baoshan region and is washed and roasted to a medium level, giving a soft nut and chocolate sweetness with a light plum acidity at an approachable price - a common first taste of Yunnan coffee. Note, too, that coffee likes warmth and tolerates heat but not cold, and grows best between 16 and 21 degrees Celsius, which is why Yunnan, sitting on the world's coffee belt around 25 degrees north with much of the province near 1,000 meters, offers fertile slopes, ample sun, generous rain, and big day-night temperature swings.

To see Yunnan at a higher level, FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Sun-dried Typica is the step up. The company built its own estate in 2013 and planted a block of Typica, both because it is one of the oldest varieties with pure Arabica genetics and an elegant, clean flavor long accepted as a specialty variety, and because the earliest coffee planted in Yunnan - brought by a French missionary - was also Typica, so the goal was to recover that original sense of place. Only fully ripe cherries are used, dried naturally, then roasted to a medium level to balance the cup; the result carries dark-berry notes, caramel sweetness, chocolate, and a touch of dried apricot, with a black tea finish.

For a Yunnan-style espresso, FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend pairs Yunnan small-bean coffee with Brazil Cerrado. The Brazil side supplies mixed nut aroma and a balanced body, while the Yunnan side plays the chocolate and citrus role. Pulled as an Americano it balances sweet, tart, and bitter with a nutty brown-sugar sweetness, and as a latte it brings an almond and cream smoothness - friendly enough for beginners.