FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan Premium Small Bean Arabica Coffee Varieties - What Determines Coffee Flavor Expression

Getting to Know Yunnan Small Bean Coffee

Yunnan small bean coffee is a name many people have heard without really knowing what stands behind it. This guide walks through where it comes from, which varieties are grown, and how the tree moves through its growing cycle, so the next cup makes a little more sense.

Where It Began

Coffee first reached Yunnan in 1892, when French missionaries managed to establish plantings in the province. 24 of those original trees, now more than 90 years old, are still growing at the site where they were first set in the ground. The missionaries planted coffee mainly for their own use, but cultivation soon spread to the village where they lived, Zhukula Village, and the land around it has been ringed by coffee trees ever since.

The village itself is poor and underdeveloped, yet coffee runs through its daily life. Beyond farming the crop, residents keep a long tradition of drinking it: grown at home, ground at home, brewed at home. Today men, women, and children alike share the habit.

By 2014, Yunnan's coffee planting area had reached 1.83 million mu, and the province expected that figure to climb to 2.8 million mu by 2020.

Yunnan's small bean plantings are concentrated mainly in Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, Dehong, Nujiang, and several other prefectures.

The Varieties

Typica and Bourbon, two classic high-quality varieties, are the backbone of Yunnan's coffee plantings.

Typica originated in southeastern Ethiopia and Sudan and became the most widely planted coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere. The plants are fairly robust but do not tolerate direct sun, and they yield especially well in Hawaii. Typica's top leaves take on a bronze tone, which earned it the nickname "red-top coffee."

Bourbon ranks second only to Typica among small bean varieties. Its main branches first grow upward at roughly a 45-degree angle to the trunk, then bend downward as the fruit load builds. The nodes along the side branches sit close together, carrying plenty of fruit and giving good yields, though the berries are smaller and ripen more slowly. Bourbon's terminal buds and young leaves are green, hence the name "green-top coffee."

The Growth Cycle

A Yunnan small bean tree starts bearing fruit at 3-4 years old. Flowering runs from February to July, peaking between March and May. Climate, rainfall and temperature above all, strongly shapes how the trees flower, and each blossom lasts only 2-3 days. Small bean coffee typically opens in the early morning between 3-5 AM and reaches full bloom between 5-7 AM.

Fruit development is a long process. The cherries need 8-10 months to mature and usually ripen between October and December of the same year. Rainfall matters a great deal here, since weather conditions feed directly into how the fruit develops.

The Yunnan Province Coffee Industry Association estimated that the province would produce roughly 139,000 tons of coffee during the 2015-2016 harvest season.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a first look at the region, FrontStreet Yunnan Small Bean Coffee is the natural place to start. Grown in Baoshan and given a washed process and a medium roast, it stays soft and easy to like, with roasted nuts and chocolate sweetness set against a light plum acidity. To go deeper into Yunnan's terroir, FrontStreet 2013 Sun-Dried Typica is the step up. The same medium roast, but a natural process that brings in dark berries, caramel sweetness, chocolate and a touch of dried apricot, finishing on black tea. Espresso drinkers can look to the FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend, which pairs Yunnan small bean with Brazil Cerrado for chocolate and citrus over Brazil's mixed-nut roundness, balanced in both Americano and latte form.