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Yunnan Coffee | Elegant Estates | Starbucks Coffee Estates | Single-Origin Coffee Bean Recommendations

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). Speaking of Yunnan, Ming published an article titled "South of the Clouds - Let Change Happen" quite some time ago, coinciding with the limited release of Reserve Yunnan Yellow Honey Process. That was the first time Starbucks introduced Yunnan coffee beans as a Reserve selection. It was a perfect presentation of the elevated quality of Chinese Yunnan coffee.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

The Story of Yunnan Coffee

Speaking of Yunnan, Ming previously published an article titled "South of the Clouds - Let Change Happen" during the limited release of Starbucks Reserve Yunnan · Yellow Honey Process. This was the first time Starbucks introduced Yunnan coffee beans as a Reserve offering. It was a perfect presentation of the improved quality of Chinese Yunnan coffee.

And this time, Gaoya Manor has arrived. With forest-like notes reminiscent of fresh herbs, accompanied by chocolate and malt-like aftertaste. It makes one feel as if they are immersed in the nature of Yunnan.

The western and southern parts of Yunnan Province are located between 15°N and the Tropic of Cancer. Most areas have an altitude of 1000-2000 meters, with predominantly mountainous and sloping terrain. The unique natural conditions—significant elevation changes, fertile soil, abundant sunlight, plentiful rainfall, and large temperature differences between day and night—are highly suitable for coffee tree growth, giving Yunnan's small-grain coffee its special characteristics—rich but not bitter, aromatic but not intense, with a slight fruity note.

The History of Yunnan Coffee

The cultivation history of Yunnan coffee can be traced back to 1892. A French missionary brought coffee seeds into Yunnan from abroad and successfully planted them in a valley in Binchuan County, Yunnan Province. Coffee cultivation began to flourish in the 1950s.

In 1989, Nestlé began coffee cultivation cooperation in Yunnan.

In 2008, the global financial crisis caused prices of tea and sugarcane to plummet. The unsold tea particularly brought devastating blows to farmers. As a result, more and more of them began to switch to coffee cultivation. Around the same time, Starbucks began its wonderful connection with Yunnan.

In 2012, Starbucks established a Farmer Support Center (FSC) in Yunnan.

The quality of coffee varieties cultivated at that time was relatively poor. When the FSC first entered, they hoped to promote varieties such as Bourbon, Typica, and even Caturra. However, the local environment proved more challenging for cultivation than imagined, and the samples brought in consistently yielded poor results. Therefore, they adopted a method of improving local coffee tree varieties, which gradually led to the current Yunnan Catimor.

However, this was only part of the technical difficulties. The greater challenge was how to convince the honest local farmers to abandon the coffee trees they had painstakingly cultivated for so long and switch to our improved varieties.

You should know that it's easy to tell someone an idea, but extremely difficult to change a person's perspective. (Those of you who sell MSR products should understand this well.)

When the Yunnan FSC was established, Starbucks and local enterprises jointly established Starbucks Aini Coffee (Yunnan) Co., Ltd. for coffee procurement and primary processing. Additionally, all farmers who wanted to sell coffee beans to Starbucks needed to pass Starbucks' "Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E. Practices)" certification. This certification is evaluated by third-party agencies and includes aspects of quality, social responsibility, and environmental protection. It ensures that coffee farmers receive fair returns and that high-quality coffee beans are produced.

At the same time, it was Starbucks that educated local coffee farmers about the importance of harvesting fully red coffee cherries.

When the Yunnan FSC was first established, no one in the local area knew about Starbucks. The team consisted of only three agronomists. When organizing the first training session in Yunnan, only 25 people attended. Pu'er is a winding mountainous region, which posed greater challenges for promotion. They could only visit local growers one or two households per day, a process filled with hardships that cannot be fully described in a few words.

FSC Executive Director Tong Yalun also shared his and his agronomists' stories at the opening of the Roastery. Over five years, they continuously sent different varieties of coffee bean samples to headquarters. Each year was like waiting for a child's admission letter, hoping that one sample bean would meet Starbucks' regular coffee bean standards and become a coffee bean acceptable to Starbucks.

"My goal is simple: I want to receive good beans; and the coffee farmers' goal is also simple: they want more economic income," he said.

Efforts are rewarded, and the achievements of Yunnan coffee in recent years are evident to all!

Starbucks Yunnan Coffee Timeline

2009

2009 marked the tenth anniversary of Starbucks' entry into mainland China. To celebrate this anniversary, the Feng Wu Xiang Yun (Phoenix Dance Auspicious Clouds) coffee blend was created. The original Feng Wu Xiang Yun blend also included beans from Latin America and had a hint of bright acidity.

2014

In 2014, something quietly happened: Feng Wu Xiang Yun changed its packaging! Along with it, its origin information also changed—removing Latin America. Now Feng Wu Xiang Yun is a pure Asia-Pacific blend. Of course, the flavor profile also changed—the bright acidity disappeared, and the smooth herbal notes became more refined. The reason was that the quality of our Yunnan coffee beans continuously improved over these four years, with more prominent and stable flavors and yields.

2016

In 2016, single-origin Yunnan was born! At that time, I had a superficial understanding of this segment of history, seeing it like a victory report after the war—only the joy of step-by-step victories, without understanding the hardships and difficulties behind them.

2017

This is a Reserve coffee bean from China. Roasted at Starbucks Shanghai Roastery, it's a special Reserve with fewer than 500 bags in total. Unlike previous offerings, this coffee bean uses small-batch yellow honey processing. When elegantly brewed, it presents rich berry and dark chocolate notes, with a light floral aroma.

2018

Let's get to know this Reserve China · Gaoya Manor together—

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This Reserve was sold earlier at the Seattle Roastery in the United States and generated tremendous response.

Gaoya Manor

Gaoya Manor (Puer Gaoya Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.) is located in Jiangcheng County, Yunnan.

To launch this Reserve, Gaoya undertook five years of exploration. The Starbucks Farmer Support Center established very close cooperation with them.

They changed from their usual full-wash method to a semi-washed method similar to those used in Sumatra and Sulawesi, and used African Kenyan raised beds during drying to keep the coffee beans away from the ground for better drying.

Ultimately, this new era of Yunnan coffee was born.

Coffee Bean Information

Origin: Asia-Pacific · China · Yunnan · Puer · Jiangcheng

Altitude: 1200m

Processing Method: Semi-washed

Acidity: Low Body: Medium

Description: Forest-like notes reminiscent of fresh herbs, accompanied by chocolate and malt-like aftertaste

Brewing Guide

1. Cupping: Ditting 6.5 setting

Description: Soft acidity, herbal, mild spices, dark chocolate, maltose

2. Classic Pour-over (Hot): Ditting 5.5, 30g coffee, 420g water

Description: Herbal, chocolate, caramel.

3. Six-cup Chemex (Hot): Ditting 8.5 setting, 21g coffee, 340g water (55g, 75g, 70g, 70g, 70g), with 2g extra, emmmmmm

Description: More noticeable acidity, rich herbal notes, dark chocolate, maltose, with a long-lasting aftertaste.

4. V60 (Hot): Ditting 6 setting, 20g coffee, 250g water (120+130), steady fine stream

Description: Herbal, spices, chocolate, caramel, with a smooth mouthfeel

5. Kalita Wave (Cold): Ditting 6 setting, 30g coffee, 220g ice, 200g water, steady fine stream (slightly thicker than a toothpick)

Description: Soft acidity, herbal, chocolate, with a lingering maltose aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse selection of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known varieties. Online shop services are also available. https://shop104210103.taobao.com