A Travelogue of Ai'ni Coffee Manor in Pu'er: How is Ai'ni Manor Coffee and Its Cultivation

The Autumn Coffee Journey at Aini Estate

It is that time of year again, when Yunnan coffee ripens for harvest. A group of coffee lovers from Hubei set off on a coffee journey to Pu'er's Aini Estate. They rode horses across the highland pastures, wandered through the rainforest hand-picking coffee cherries, learned the complete journey of a coffee bean from beginning to end, and enjoyed a farm-to-table meal of authentic Yunnan cuisine. Does it inspire you?

Have You Experienced Autumn in Pu'er?

The sky is clear and bright, the wind gentle and warm.

You may know Pu'er for its tea, but beyond the title "China's Tea City," Pu'er also proudly carries the name "China's Coffee Capital." This treasured land nurtures a mysterious and beautiful estate — Aini Estate.

The Joy of Harvest Season

During harvest season people always feel joyful and fulfilled. On a sunny autumn day a spontaneous plan took shape: put on a straw hat, grab your camera, and join like-minded friends on a coffee journey to Aini Estate.

Vast Pastoral Landscapes

"The sky resembles a dome, covering the four wilds. The heavens are vast, the wilderness is boundless, and when the wind blows and the grass bends low, cattle and sheep appear."

That was my first impression on entering the estate. I had never known what the scenery described in the Chilechuan poem should look like, but only today did I feel that kind of vast, magnificent landscape right before my eyes.

Natural Beauty

Cattle and horses graze at leisure on the grasslands, across vast stretches of green pasture. Standing in such beautiful scenery, every photograph becomes a painting.

Coffee: Nature's Gift

Coffee is nature's best gift to Aini Estate.

The season for Yunnan coffee harvesting has come around again. Ripe coffee cherries look like strings of crystal agate.

Hand-Picking Coffee Cherries

Wandering through the rainforest to pick coffee cherries yourself, holding that vibrant handful in your hands, you cannot help but marvel at the magic of it. It is precisely such red berries that, after complex processing and brewing extraction, ultimately become the aromatic cup of coffee on your table. You no longer dare to treat it carelessly, storing each one carefully in your basket.

Ranch Experience

Aini Estate's ranch is quite large, divided into South Mountain and North Mountain. To protect the vegetation, the estate built its own semi-mountain grazing paths. The cattle can run freely on the grasslands and fully enjoy the fresh grass here. Riding through the ranch and experiencing the joy of being a cowboy, your mood relaxes until it is as gentle and distant as the clouds in the sky.

Farm-to-Table Dining

Later in the day, stay for a meal of authentic, ecological Yunnan cuisine. The ingredients come from nature, and so do the inspiration and the flavors. The beef has a wonderful texture, the fruits and vegetables are sweet and crisp, and when the atmosphere is right, open a bottle of red wine. Stand in the twilight and toast to the sunset.

About FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee is a Guangzhou roastery with a small shop but a diverse range of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known varieties, and it also serves customers through its online shop.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yunnan coffee is also known as Yunnan small bean, and its beans are even and plump with a moderate, full body. Typica in Yunnan can be traced back to 1904, when the French missionary Tian Deneng brought coffee seeds (Typica) from Vietnam into Yunnan and planted them successfully in Zhugula village, Binchuan County — the beginning of Yunnan coffee, generally called small-bean coffee and known domestically as Yunnan small bean. Coffee likes a warm environment: it tolerates heat but not cold, and grows best with ample sunlight at an ideal temperature of 16°C to 21°C. That is why coffee is grown in a golden belt centered on the equator and spanning 25°N, and Yunnan happens to sit on that belt. Most of Yunnan lies at around 1,000 meters, with fertile sloping soil, plentiful sunshine, abundant rainfall, and wide day-night temperature swings — all conditions that favor the coffee tree.

Yunnan's coffee is mainly grown across the southwestern part of the province, including the four major origins of Baoshan, Dehong, Pu'er, and Lincang; the two Yunnan specialty coffees on FrontStreet's regular list come from Baoshan and Lincang. Baoshan's coffee-growing history began in the mid-1950s, introduced by the patriotic overseas Chinese Mr. Liang Jinshan. Its warm, frost-free climate suits small-bean coffee especially well, and the unique dry-hot river-valley climate around the Lujiang plain — with little variation over the year but wide swings between day and night — gives Baoshan small-bean coffee its distinctive sweet finish, while reasonably low rainfall is a great advantage for the fruit. As an entry-level Chinese Arabica, FrontStreet's Yunnan Small Bean uses washed processing and a medium roast, bringing forward a certain caramel note while retaining some acidity, so it presents the terroir of the Yunnan region well; the washing removes the mucilage through fermentation and rinsing before drying, letting the coffee show the flavor profile characteristic of its origin.

If you want a Yunnan coffee with clearer flavors, FrontStreet's 2013 Yunnan Sun-Dried Typica is the choice. The Typica from FrontStreet's estate uses the most original, traditional post-harvest method — natural processing. Typica is one of the oldest and purest Arabica varieties, and after natural processing FrontStreet's Typica has a heavier body and brighter sweet-and-sour notes, with citrus and berry tones, a hint of fermented wine aroma, caramel sweetness, and a creamy finish. To taste Yunnan in an espresso, FrontStreet's Black Cocoa Blend — Yunnan small bean combined with Brazilian Cerrado and recommended by many baristas — is the pick: Brazil supplies the aroma of mixed nuts and a balanced body, while the Yunnan small bean plays the role of chocolate and citrus. As an Americano it is balanced across sour, sweet, and bitter with the sweet aromas of nuts and brown sugar; as a latte it is smooth and silky with almond and cream, and it is very beginner-friendly.