FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan Typica Specialty Coffee Beans - Yunnan Small Bean Coffee Powder Brewing Guide

Why Yunnan Widely Plants Catimor Coffee: The Story Behind the Bean

When FrontStreet Coffee mentions that Yunnan initially planted Typica rather than Catimor, many people begin to question: "How is that possible! If this is true, why does the market now favor Catimor over Typica?" That's precisely the right question. Why was Typica planted initially, while Catimor is now popular? FrontStreet Coffee will explore why Yunnan widely plants Catimor coffee.

Yunnan Coffee Market Trends in January 2021 - Rising Coffee Bean Prices

The overall market trend continued upward. Most production areas in Yunnan have entered the peak harvesting period, with some low-altitude regions having completed harvesting. The production of parchment beans continues to increase. Large suppliers remain in a wait-and-see attitude, storing parchment beans for future transactions; some coffee farmers and enterprises are relatively satisfied with the current market situation, and driven by capital needs, they are increasingly selling at market prices.

On the demand side, the Spring Festival stockpiling season has begun. Considering factors such as later logistics shutdowns and potential increases in transportation costs, essential inquiries and restocking have continued to increase compared to earlier periods. Large buyers remain hesitant about the current high-price market. Overall, market sentiment still shows caution about future trends. However, against the backdrop of Spring Festival stockpiling, actual transactions of raw coffee beans are gradually increasing, with the overall trading pace slightly accelerating. During that week, production area markets continued their upward trend, with average prices of all grade coffee beans rising compared to the previous period.

Why Doesn't Yunnan Plant Typica Anymore?

The history of coffee cultivation in Yunnan can be traced back to the early 20th century, but at that time, it was mainly foreign missionaries who grew coffee for their own consumption. Subsequently, in the 1950s, the earliest large-scale commercial cultivation began, with the produced coffee mainly exported to the Soviet Union. During that period of Yunnan's coffee cultivation history, considering Yunnan's growing environment and conditions, as well as coffee quality, the Typica variety was primarily chosen. In subsequent history, Typica variety coffee once represented Yunnan coffee. Due to environmental factors, the coffee cherries were small in size, so it was also called Yunnan small-grain variety and referred to by the market as Yunnan's old variety coffee.

However, Typica is quite a difficult "little fellow" to care for and has low yields. Although Typica coffee is characterized by its clean, subtle, balanced flavors with high clarity. Perhaps relying on its "excellence," a single Typica tree produces low yields, has requirements for altitude, is susceptible to leaf rust disease, and has weak resistance to pests and diseases! Ah, clearly a difficult little fellow. In altitudes insufficient for Typica to develop its characteristic flavors, coupled with low yields and susceptibility to disease! On the other hand, coffee farmers had not yet developed specialty coffee awareness, so they naturally stayed away from Typica. Since the flavor quality was not ideal, Yunnan's coffee farmers gradually turned their attention to Catimor, the hybrid child of Arabica and Robusta.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Catimor Variety?

Catimor is a combination of Arabica and Robusta species. Robusta has good resistance to leaf rust disease, rich oils, high yields, and is easy to cultivate. Because of its Robusta genes, it has improved resistance to leaf rust disease, retained rich oils, while also having some of the rich flavor of the original Typica variety. Therefore, most Yunnan estates began large-scale cultivation of Catimor, and the planting range of Typica began to shrink.

However! The flavor of Catimor coffee beans is much inferior to Typica. It has high body but insufficient clarity, with rich flavors but indistinct layers. What can be done about this? Cover it up with various processing methods! Since the variety cannot be changed, altitude cannot be changed, and cultivation techniques are unwilling to be improved, then the quickest way to change the poor flavor of coffee is to use various special processing methods to generate other more intense flavors to cover up Catimor's disadvantages. FrontStreet Coffee believes that this approach of treating symptoms rather than the root cause will soon be forgotten, because even the most basic flavor of Yunnan coffee itself cannot be determined, so how can we convince future generations to continue accepting Yunnan coffee?

Is Really No One in Yunnan Planting Typica Anymore?

Yes! FrontStreet Coffee is one of those planting Typica in Baoshan, Yunnan. FrontStreet Coffee hopes to lead by example, showing the world that Yunnan coffee can still exhibit excellent flavors under traditional processing methods, rather than changing the coffee's original flavor through other techniques. The Baoshan production area has an average temperature of 21.5°C, reaching up to 40.4°C at its highest, with basically no frost throughout the year, making it a recognized optimal production area for small-grain coffee. The small-grain coffee cultivated here is famous both at home and abroad for being rich but not bitter, fragrant but not strong, with small and uniform beans, rich mellow aroma, and fruity notes.

FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan Huaguoshan Typica Coffee Beans

Production Area: Baoshan, Yunnan

Altitude: 1450-1550m

Variety: Typica

Processing Method: Washed processing

Why Does FrontStreet Coffee Choose to Use the Washed Method?

When FrontStreet Coffee visited the Yunnan production area during the planting season, we truly experienced what a rainy season means. Sunny for a few minutes, then raining for half an hour. Due to the perennial rainy season and unstable climate, most Yunnan coffee beans are processed using the washed processing method. Coffee beans processed through washing are cleaner, and the flavor expression is more transparent, reflecting the most original taste of coffee cherries. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee often says that the flavor of washed processed coffee beans is a guiding light for understanding the flavors of a production region.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Experience with Yunnan Typica Small-Grain Coffee

Yangjia 800N (roasting amount 300g): Set roaster temperature to 200°C, open damper to 3. After 1 minute, adjust heat to 160°C. Return temperature point at 1'32". Roast until 5'40" when beans turn yellow, temperature reaches 149°C, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete. Keep heat unchanged, adjust damper to 4. At the 6th minute, adjust heat to 140. At the 7th minute, adjust heat to 120 again. At the 8th minute, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast smell obviously turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'37", first crack begins, adjust heat to 90, fully open damper to 5. At the 9th minute, reduce heat to 20 degrees. First crack develops for 2'00", finish at 196°C.

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Brew Typica Yunnan Small-Grain Coffee Beans?

First, when FrontStreet Coffee cupped this Yunnan Typica small-grain coffee, it showed rich fruit aromas, melon, and herbal plant notes on entry. The mouthfeel was smooth, with nuts and milk chocolate in the middle section, and lively, bright plum acidity in the finish. Both cheeks produced saliva, with good balance and medium body. From hot to warm temperatures, you can feel the layers of sweetness and acidity - first sweet then sour, with apricot, citrus-like acidity, and black tea in the aftertaste, with some brown sugar notes. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing this washed Yunnan Typica with a focus on balance, neither overly highlighting acidity nor excessively modifying the finish.

Choose 15g of coffee powder, recommended powder-to-water ratio of 1:15. For clearer flavors, use 1:16. Choose a V60 dripper, with brewing water temperature at 89°C, aiming for softer acidity. Grind to medium consistency (75% pass-through rate on #20 sieve).

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented brewing. First, pour 30g of water for blooming for 30 seconds, at which point the coffee expands into a "hamburger" shape. In the second segment, pour 125g of water in small circles from the center. Pour height is 4cm, with gentle force to minimize disturbance of the coffee bed, with water flow rate of 4g per second. When the water level drops to 1/2 of the coffee bed, begin the third segment of pouring. This segment also gently pours in circles from the center outward until reaching 225g. End extraction when all coffee liquid has dripped from the dripper, with a total time of 2'01". After brewing is complete, gently shake to ensure the coffee liquid is fully mixed before tasting.

Through this brewing method, you can taste distinct roasted nuts, gentle acidity, overall balance and richness, solid dark chocolate aroma, and slight orange peel notes.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473