Which Yunnan Coffee Beans Can Be Considered Specialty Coffee? A Brief History of Yunnan Coffee Bean Development

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Yunnan Small Bean Coffee

In 1892, when a French missionary successfully planted the first coffee tree in a place called Zhukula for his own coffee needs, he probably never imagined that a hundred years later coffee would become a highlight of the Yunnan Plateau's specialty agriculture. In the 1950s, Yunnan Province began large-scale coffee cultivation.

Large areas of low latitude and high altitude, plus significant temperature differences between day and night, in the golden coffee growing regions of Baoshan, Pu'er, and Dehong make Yunnan an ideal region for producing high-quality Arabica (small bean) coffee.

After more than 60 years of development, Baoshan's small bean coffee industry has reached a considerable scale, becoming a specialty industry with an annual output value of nearly 500 million yuan. Baoshan's coffee industry has created numerous achievements: at the 1980 National Coffee Conference, Baoshan small bean coffee was hailed as "the crown of national coffee"; in 1992, at the first China Agricultural Expo, it was awarded the highest silver medal; and in 1993, it won the Eureka Gold Award at the 42nd Brussels Eureka Expo in Belgium.

In the era of specialty coffee, we know that specialty coffee quality is much better than commercial beans. We most often hear that specialty beans represent "good," while commercial beans represent "high defects" and "lack of taste." So-called specialty coffee refers to coffee beans cultivated in the unique microclimates and geographical conditions of producing regions, which possess regional flavor characteristics. There are two requirements for coffee to be called specialty:

1. Coffee beans scoring above 80 points according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America scoring system;

2. Coffee beans from producing regions where the variety (Arabica), altitude, and processing method can be clearly identified.

In recent years, Yunnan's coffee development has been very rapid, with coffee production accounting for 98.3% of the country's total. Many international brands purchase coffee beans from Yunnan. Yunnan is currently in its coffee bean purchasing season, and the Nestlé Coffee Center estimates that it will purchase 13,000 tons of coffee raw materials this year. Eighty percent of this 13,000 tons of coffee will be exported to Europe and Oceania, while the remaining twenty percent will be used for local consumption in China.

Knowledge Extension: Most of Yunnan currently grows Catimor, a hybrid variety that is a cross between the Caturra branch of the Bourbon line within the Arabica species and the Robusta species.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to see what makes a Yunnan coffee specialty grade, start with FrontStreet's Yunnan Small Bean. "Small bean" is simply another name for Arabica, earned because it bears the smallest fruit of the three original coffee species. FrontStreet's comes from the Baoshan region, washed and medium roasted, so it keeps a touch of caramel while retaining some acidity and clearly expressing the terroir of Yunnan — soft nut and chocolate sweetness with a light plum acidity, at a price that makes it an easy first taste. The washed process ferments and rinses away the mucilage before drying, which is what lets the region's distinctive flavor come through so cleanly. Baoshan's coffee history began in the mid-1950s, when the overseas Chinese patriot Liang Jinshan introduced the crop; the frost-free, warm climate suits small bean coffee, and the dry-hot valley around Lujiangba, with little seasonal variation but a wide day-to-night temperature swing and modest rainfall, gives Baoshan small bean its characteristic sweet finish.

For a clearer picture of Yunnan's potential, step up to FrontStreet's 2013 Yunnan Natural Typica. Typica is one of the oldest and purest Arabica varieties, and FrontStreet's estate-grown Typica uses the most original, traditional post-harvest method — natural processing, drying the whole cherry in the sun. That gives the coffee a heavier body and a brighter sweet-tart character, with citrus and berry notes, a hint of fermented wine, caramel sweetness, and a creamy finish. It is the natural next step once the Yunnan Small Bean has whetted your appetite.

For espresso with a Yunnan accent, try FrontStreet's Black Cocoa Blend, a much-recommended combination of Yunnan small bean and Brazil Cerrado. The Brazilian coffee supplies mixed-nut aroma and a balanced body, while the Yunnan small bean takes on the chocolate and citrus role. Pulled as an Americano it balances sweet, sour, and bitter with nutty, brown-sugar sweetness; built into a latte it turns smooth and creamy with almond notes — which makes it a very friendly choice for beginners.