Is Baoshan Lujiang Xinzhai Coffee Good? How Much is Yunnan Xinzhai Coffee? Introduction to Xinzhai Coffee Varieties

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

Rediscovering Coffee: Beyond Bitterness

Coffee is not inherently bitter, but for ordinary Chinese people who don't understand it—especially someone like me who is allergic to coffee—the general impression is indeed bitter, bitter enough to cause "internal heat"—burnt beans ground into powder and steeped in water would naturally be both bitter and cause internal heat. Of course, you must acknowledge its aroma, but smelling too much of that fragrance still brings a burning sensation rising from the scalp, entering the bloodstream with each breath, quickly making one restless and anxious.

A Transformative Coffee Experience

So for many years, I didn't drink coffee. But on this early winter morning at Xinzhai Coffee Farm, unable to resist the temptation of this amber-like, crystal-clear brew with its lustrous sheen, I took a shallow sip. First, fruit flavors spread across my tongue—elegant acidity, full-bodied richness, and layers upon layers of aftertaste, without the slightest bitterness. This was a medium-roasted Typica single-origin coffee, freshly ground and hand-brewed to order, yielding such exquisite flavors.

Coffee as Traditional Medicine

Interestingly, Xinzhai Coffee's chairman Xie Xianwen told us that in his hometown, coffee was used as medicine when he was a child. For instance, if a child had indigestion or diarrhea, the village doctor would mysteriously produce a few coffee beans, bury them in stove ash, roast them until charred, then take them out and grind them into a fine powder for the child to swallow. The village doctor would often be secretive, intentionally not letting you know that coffee beans were being used. Thinking back now, that was perhaps the earliest form of coffee in Baoshan people's lives.

Coffee Beyond the Bean

At Xinzhai Coffee, I also tasted a tea made from dried coffee fruit pulp, carrying a full mouthful of fruit aroma with a hint of kudzu root flavor, somewhat like Wanglaoji but without sugar, more delicate and refined. As for coffee flower nectar—that's extremely rare. We'll save that for another time when I can find it again.

Embracing the Coffee Journey

After leaving Xinzhai Coffee, I was certain I had fallen in love with Typica. Don't tell me lengthy coffee theories—I just want a handful of sun-drenched Typica beans, without a trace of imperfection, to be slowly ground after breakfast and carefully brewed. In the layered fruit aromas and profound aftertastes of this ancient variety, I begin a brand new day.

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