Differences Between Typica and Catimor Coffee Bean Varieties: Flavor and Taste Characteristics of Yunnan Coffee Beans

Typica and Catimor are the two varieties most often confused in Yunnan coffee. This article unpacks the differences in origin, plant habit, bean shape and cup.

Are Typica and Catimor Both Yunnan Small-Bean Coffees? What Are the Differences Between These Two Beans?

Today, let us get to know them.

Yunnan Small-Bean Coffee

Yunnan small-bean coffee belongs to the Rubiaceae family and the Coffea genus. The growing areas are distributed mainly across the prefectures of Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna and Dehong. Small-bean coffee originates from Ethiopia or the Arabian Peninsula.

Main Growing Regions

Small-bean coffee does best in mountainous terrain at elevations of 800-1800 meters. Grown too high, the taste turns sour; too low, it turns bitter. Most small-bean coffee is planted in dry, hot valley areas around 1100 meters, which yields moderate acidity, a rich fragrance and a mellow smoothness. Many areas of Yunnan offer environments well suited to small-bean coffee and produce excellent quality.

The growing areas are distributed mainly across the prefectures of Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna and Dehong. Baoshan has an average temperature of 21.5°C, reaching up to 40.4°C, with essentially no frost all year, and is recognized as the best small-bean coffee growing region. Coffee grown here is known at home and abroad for being rich without bitterness and fragrant without harshness, with small, uniform beans, a rich mellow aroma and fruity notes. Tasting experts from the International Coffee Organization have rated Yunnan coffee as comparable to Colombian wet-processed small-bean coffee, placing it among the world's highest-quality coffees.

Varieties

Typica

The oldest native variety from Ethiopia, originating in Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan. All Arabica varieties descend from Typica. It has an elegant flavor but a weak constitution, poor disease resistance and low fruit yield. Excellent estate coffees such as Jamaica Blue Mountain, Sumatra Mandheling and Hawaii Kona all belong to the Typica variety. Typica's top leaves are copper-colored, which is why it is called red-topped coffee, and it sits within the Arabica species.

Catimor

In 1959, the Portuguese crossed Brazilian Caturra with Timor to create the disease-resistant Catimor, which is now an important commercial variety.

Growth Period

Yunnan small-bean coffee trees bear fruit at 3-4 years of age.

Coffee is a short-day plant with multiple, concentrated flowering periods. Yunnan small-bean coffee flowers from February to July, peaking from March to May. Flowering is greatly influenced by climate, especially rainfall and temperature. Coffee flowers are short-lived, lasting only 2-3 days. Small-bean coffee generally begins to open around 3-5 AM and blooms fully from 5-7 AM.

Coffee fruit development takes a relatively long time. Small-bean coffee fruit needs 8-10 months to mature, generally ripening from October to December of the same year. Rainfall has a significant effect on fruit development, and climatic conditions directly shape the fruit.

The new leaves at the tips of the branches in the image above are copper-colored; this is the Typica coffee tree. Typica is an old variety within the Arabica lineage. As is well known, Hawaii Kona and Jamaica Blue Mountain are in fact Typica varieties. Amid a vast expanse of Catimor, it is actually easy to recognize. Look carefully and you will find that each variety has its own appearance: Catimor's leaves all droop downward and the tree shape looks as though it is wearing a cloak, while Typica's branches reach upward, with copper-topped new leaves at the tips.

Looking across the fields, most of what is planted in Yunnan today is Catimor. This variety is a hybrid between the Caturra branch of the Arabica Bourbon lineage and the Robusta lineage. It is planted because Catimor carries Robusta genes, giving it better disease resistance than the single old varieties and a good yield as well. Compared with delicate old varieties that resist disease poorly and yield little, farmers naturally prefer to plant Catimor, and a Catimor trend has duly swept across Yunnan.

Catimor beans are round and thick, while Typica beans are thin and long, and Catimor's center line is messy. Under the same conditions, Typica quality is superior to Catimor, and the price is higher as well.

Yunnan Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Yunnan washed Typica Huaguoshan beans offer full guarantees of both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value: a half-pound (227 grams) package costs only about 69 yuan. At 15 grams per cup, one package makes 15 cups of coffee, so each cup costs less than 5 yuan. Compared with the tens of yuan per cup charged in coffee shops, that is a genuinely conscientious option.

Related recommendations: How to brew Yunnan small-bean coffee, Yunnan small-bean coffee brand recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The story of Yunnan coffee begins with small-bean coffee, which is simply another name for Arabica; the name arose because Arabica bears the smallest fruit of the three original coffee species. The history goes back to 1904, when the French missionary Tian Deneng brought coffee seeds, of the Typica variety, from Vietnam into Yunnan and planted the first coffee tree in Zhugula village, Binchuan county. Yunnan's favorable geography and climate made small-bean coffee a great success. The FrontStreet Yunnan Small-Bean comes from the Baoshan region and is washed and medium roasted; brewed, it shows soft nut and chocolate sweetness with a light plum acidity, and its friendly price has made it a first taste of Yunnan coffee for many drinkers.

Coffee prefers a warm environment, tolerating heat but not cold, and grows best with ample sunlight; the ideal growing temperature is 16-21°C. Centered on the equator, this puts the world's coffee golden belt along roughly 25 degrees north latitude, and Yunnan happens to sit on that belt. Most of Yunnan lies at an elevation of 1000 meters, with fertile slope soils, plentiful sunshine, abundant rainfall and a large day-night temperature swing, all favorable conditions for the coffee tree. Yunnan's coffee is grown mainly across the southwestern part of the province, in the four major origins of Baoshan, Dehong, Pu'er and Lincang, and the two Yunnan specialty beans on FrontStreet's regular list come from Baoshan and Lincang.

Baoshan's coffee-growing history began in the mid-1950s, when it was introduced by the overseas Chinese Mr. Liang Jinshan. The frost-free warmth suits small-bean coffee especially well. In the Lujiangba area in particular, the dry-hot valley climate keeps the yearly temperature swing small while the day-night swing is large, which gives Baoshan small-bean coffee its distinctive sweetness, and the reasonably low rainfall adds a further advantage for the fruit. For anyone buying an entry-level Chinese Arabica, the FrontStreet Yunnan Small-Bean is the first choice: washed and medium roasted, it brings out a certain caramel quality while keeping some acidity, so it expresses the terroir of Yunnan well. Washing removes the mucilage layer through fermentation and rinsing before drying, which lets the coffee show the flavor profile characteristic of the region.

To explore Yunnan's coffee history further, FrontStreet built its own estate in 2013 and planted a batch of Typica trees. Typica was chosen for two reasons: as one of the oldest coffee varieties it carries pure Arabica genetics and has an elegant, clean flavor long regarded as a specialty standard, and the very first coffee trees planted in Yunnan were also Typica, brought by that French missionary, so the estate was a way to rediscover the original sense of place. If the FrontStreet Yunnan Small-Bean is the introduction, the FrontStreet 2013 Typica is the step up. It uses only fully ripe whole red cherries and, after natural processing, a medium roast that makes the body more balanced and the sweet-tart character more prominent; the result carries dark berry tones along with caramel sweetness, chocolate and a hint of dried apricot, finishing with a black tea aftertaste.

For an espresso-style taste of Yunnan, the FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend combines Yunnan small-bean with Brazil Cerrado. The Brazilian component supplies the aroma of mixed nuts and a balanced body, while the Yunnan small-bean plays the role of chocolate and citrus. Pulled as an americano the blend is balanced across sweet, sour and bitter with the pleasant sweetness of nuts and brown sugar, and as a latte it has the smooth, creamy texture of almond and cream, making it well suited to beginners.