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Ai Ni Estate: Yunnan's Coffee Seed Gene Bank

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Over a hundred years ago, French missionaries brought coffee seeds to Yunnan, initiating the history of coffee cultivation in Yunnan.

And today in Pu'er, Yunnan, the Ai Ni Estate—located in China's golden zone for coffee cultivation—is quietly becoming Yunnan's coffee seed gene bank.

Seven years ago, more than 30 different varieties, precious coffee seeds one by one, crossed oceans with the help of Starbucks and the Yunnan provincial government to "settle down" at Ai Ni Estate.

The scenic Ai Ni Estate, shrouded in clouds and mist, consists of forest after forest, with the Lancang River flowing through it. Besides the coffee farmers, these coffee seeds are the estate's most precious wealth. They are also the life's work of Mr. Liu Minghui, founder of Ai Ni Estate.

As early as the 1980s, when he served as the executive officer for the UNDP's Yunnan Coffee Project, working alongside Dr. Vayallo, an international coffee breeding expert from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Dr. Vayallo told him about the importance of genes—only God can create specialties.

From then on, he dedicated himself to collecting world coffee varieties, aiming to show the world that Yunnan can also cultivate high-quality coffee varieties. Today, he has finally built Ai Ni Estate into a world coffee variety exhibition garden.

Ted Lingle, a world coffee authority, former president of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and senior consultant at the Yunnan International Coffee Exchange Center, visited Ai Ni Estate to study different coffee varieties.

The Ai Ni Estate coffee seed gene bank attracts many coffee enthusiasts for sightseeing during each coffee harvest season.

Caturra

A summer like berries—refreshing and delightful.

Caturra is a natural variant of the Arabica variety Bourbon.

(Note: Due to historical reasons, Arabica varieties are often called small-grain coffee varieties in Yunnan. Typica and Bourbon are the two original varieties of Arabica and the prototypes of all coffee trees.)

Caturra was first discovered in São Paulo state, Brazil, in 1937. It has high yield, high quality, resistance to leaf rust, and relatively short plants that make picking convenient. However, cultivation costs are also higher, and like the original Bourbon variety, it has the problem of a two-year production cycle fluctuation.

Although discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suitable for growing there, so it was not widely cultivated in Brazil. Instead, it became prevalent in Central and South America, with countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua growing Caturra on a large scale.

In the 1970s, when coffee prices soared, farmers switched to growing Caturra to increase yields. With strong promotion from Brazilian and Colombian authorities, the results were fruitful. Farmers' acceptance of Caturra meant a major transformation in cultivation techniques. Brazil and Colombia adopted high-yield, high-density, sun-exposed cultivation methods.

By 1990, Caturra production had increased by 60%. High-yield, high-quality Caturra has become a variety that various producing countries now rely on heavily.

In July 2018, the growth of Caturra at Ai Ni Estate.

In 2011, Caturra arrived at Ai Ni Estate in Yunnan. After nearly seven years of cultivation, multiple cupping tests have scored above 83 points.

Jeremy Wakeford, a former Starbucks cupping master with 50 years of international coffee cupping experience, described Caturra's cupping performance as: having toasted bread aroma, refreshing and pleasant fruit acidity, berry flavor, and good sweetness.

Especially the Caturra from the 2017-2018 harvest season, after multiple rounds of cupping by the Ai Ni Estate coffee quality control team, received quite high evaluations.

Coffee enthusiasts who enjoy light and fresh flavors are particularly fond of this bean.

Catuai

Apple, pineapple, brown sugar—the "warmth" of mellow fullness and sweetness.

Catuai grows well at Ai Ni Estate, photographed in August 2018.

Catuai was cultivated in Brazil and is now commonly grown in Central America as well.

Catuai is also a variant of Bourbon—a hybrid coffee variety created by artificial cross-breeding of Caturra and Mundo Novo.

It has good resistance to natural disasters, especially wind and rain. The plant variety is relatively low-growing. Compared to other coffee trees, Catuai's fruits grow more firmly and are not easy to pick, but it has good resistance to natural disasters, particularly strong resistance to wind and rain.

The fruits come in both red and yellow varieties. In 2011, Catuai arrived at Ai Ni Estate, with red fruits. It inherits many characteristics of the Bourbon variety—large leaves with wavy edges. The higher the altitude, the more outstanding the cupping performance, but the lower the harvest yield.

Catuai.

Rich cupping flavors: presenting apple, pineapple, and brown sugar.

Some experienced coffee enthusiasts commented that this bean, with its full and sweet sensation, is like walking into a familiar café after weathering storms outside—that moment when it smoothly goes down your throat, creating a warm feeling of returning home, rising from the tip of the tongue and from the bottom of the heart.

Villa Sarchi

Nut and chocolate flavors—"critical hit" on your taste buds.

Villa Sarchi is also a variant of Bourbon.

But Villa Sarchi is actually a place name in Costa Rica, located in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica's Central Valley coffee region, discovered in the 1960s.

In 1974, it was introduced for cultivation by Honduras' coffee institution IHCAFE.

Villa Sarchi plants are relatively small, with green top leaves. The fruit clusters have small intervals between them. The fruits are resistant to wind and rain and don't easily fall off. They require sufficient fertilizer supply, prefer shade, and perform well in flavor at high altitudes. In recent years, it has frequently appeared on competition winner lists, making it a dark horse with promising prospects.

After seven years of cultivation, the Villa Sarchi at Ai Ni Estate, with its inherent nutty and chocolatey rich flavors, has changed many coffee enthusiasts' perception of Yunnan coffee as being偏向果酸味 (fruit-acid leaning).

Villa Sarchi grows well at Ai Ni Estate, photographed in August 2018.

Regina

Floral, apple, caramel—the "Yunnan flavor" of super sweetness.

Hansen wrote in "The Triumph of Seeds":

We live in a world full of seeds. From the coffee and bread we eat for breakfast, to the cotton fabric we make clothes from, to the cup of cocoa we drink before bed, seeds accompany us all day long.

Seeds provide us with food and fuel, alcoholic beverages and poisons, petroleum, dyes, fibers and spices. Without seeds, there would be no bread, rice, beans, corn or nuts.

They are truly the pillars of life, the foundation of daily diet, economic activities and lifestyles around the world.

Regina at Ai Ni Estate, photographed in August 2018.

Every cup of coffee we drink is actually the triumph of coffee seeds.

And a coffee seed, from seedling to transplanting, to flowering and fruiting—this process takes four years, going through countless pairs of coffee farmers' hands, as well as careful nurturing and care.

Regina.

This mysterious Regina bean has an unknown seed source.

But its rich floral aroma, apple and caramel flavors, after seven years of wind and rain at Ai Ni Estate, present an ultra-sweet taste that adds color to Yunnan's coffee flavors in its unique way.

A tribute to the triumph of coffee seeds!

A tribute to the coffee farmers who have been persistently cultivating behind the scenes—the hardest working people in the coffee industry chain.

The flavor of coffee is like the colors of a rainbow.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, also providing online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473