Yunnan Coffee Varieties and Brands: Introduction to Yunnan Catimor and Robusta Coffee Beans, Differences and Flavor Characteristics

Yunnan Coffee Varieties: A Comprehensive Guide

Yunnan coffee beans have been gaining increasing attention from coffee enthusiasts. Visitors to FrontStreet Coffee often inquire about the quality of Yunnan coffee beans. In Yunnan, there are many coffee varieties, including common ones like Typica and Catimor, as well as less abundant varieties such as Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, and Geisha. FrontStreet Coffee will guide you through understanding the varieties of Yunnan coffee.

Typica Coffee Variety

The earliest record of coffee cultivation in Yunnan dates back to 1904, when French missionary Alfred Tientsne arrived in Dali from Vietnam to carry out religious activities. He brought several coffee trees to plant in Zhugula Village, and these coffee varieties were Typica. The Typica variety exhibits excellent flavor characteristics, with rich acidity and high clarity. It is one of the oldest coffee varieties in the world.

Yunnan began cultivating excellent varieties from the very beginning, with widespread cultivation starting in 1955. During this period, all planted varieties were Typica. After new varieties were introduced later, Typica became increasingly rare.

Catimor Coffee Variety

The main Catimor varieties in Yunnan are divided into CIFC7963, P series, T5175, and T8667, all of which are Catimor lines.

In 1988, Nestlé supported the development of Yunnan's coffee agriculture and introduced Catimor 7963 from the Portuguese Coffee Rust Research Center (CIFC). It was selected and bred at the Dehong Tropical Agricultural Science Research Institute and first trial-planted in Hainan, Baoshan's Lujiangba, and Ruili.

In 1991, Nestlé introduced Catimor P1, P2, P3, and P4 from CIFC for trial planting, with P standing for Population. Among these, P4 had the highest yield. Subsequently, in 1994, the P series began to be promoted and planted in Pu'er City, with P4 accounting for the majority. Later, through expert investigation, it was discovered that Catimor P1, P2, P3, and P4 were actually 7960, 7961, 7962, and 7963 respectively.

T5175 and T8667 were introduced by Nestlé from Central America in 1994. These two lines were first trial-planted in Pu'er, both yielding lower than 7963.

Thanks to Nestlé's vigorous development of coffee agriculture in Yunnan, 99% of Yunnan's coffee is Catimor variety, which we commonly refer to as Yunnan small beans. These coffee beans were originally acquired by Nestlé for use as raw material for instant coffee, with not high requirements for flavor. Consequently, when discussing coffee flavor, Yunnan coffee is characterized by low acidity, nuts, cocoa, and earthy notes, which are considered less than ideal flavors.

Bourbon Coffee Variety

In 1981, when Professor Ma Xijin investigated ancient coffee varieties in Yunnan, he discovered that in the ancient coffee forest near Zhuli, red-topped Typica accounted for 31%, while green-topped Bourbon occupied 69%. Some experts believe that Father Tian brought not only Typica varieties to Zhugula Village that year, but also mixed in Bourbon varieties. Like Typica, Bourbon is also an ancient and excellent coffee variety. Currently, Yunnan's Bourbon coffee production is even rarer than Typica.

Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai

In the past 10 years, Yunnan coffee cultivation has been continuously developing, including continuous introduction of external varieties for research. Geisha naturally became part of this lineup. In the 2016 Yunnan Green Bean Competition, a Yunnan Geisha participated for the first time, but it couldn't compete against the well-established "local powerhouses," ranking only around 30th among 120 coffee beans.

Some experts believe that when Geisha was transplanted from Panama to Yunnan, the terroir and climate underwent tremendous changes. Without sufficient years of acclimatization, it's natural that the variety would struggle to adapt. Moreover, Yunnan's coffee cultivation altitude is generally not high, about 1100 meters, coupled with cultivation management that hasn't kept pace, making it normal that the produced Geisha coffee flavor is less than satisfactory.

By 2020, Yunnan's first batch of Geisha varieties became available to the public market in limited quantities.

Many people ask FrontStreet Coffee, "Has Yunnan coffee improved now? Everyone is talking about Yunnan specialty coffee, calling it the pride of domestic products." FrontStreet Coffee believes that every producing region will have the best and top-quality coffee beans. However, this does not represent the overall standard of the entire coffee-producing region. Whether a producing region's flavor has improved should be judged by its most common and ordinary coffee beans.

It's certain that Yunnan coffee is continuously improving, but to say that within just 10 years, it can transform from raw material for instant coffee to specialty coffee would be self-deceptive and contrary to objective development patterns.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that improving coffee flavor and quality is nothing more than the three essentials commonly mentioned in agriculture: good land, good varieties, and good cultivation.

Good Land: Coffee is suitable for cultivation between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, which southern Yunnan meets this requirement. It's generally believed that coffee beans with better flavor are planted above 1200 meters. Yunnan does have places above 1200 meters, but not many. Currently, many coffee-growing areas in Yunnan are below 1200 meters.

Good Varieties: Only good coffee varieties can produce coffee with good flavor. This point is unquestionable. We believe that better quality is Arabica coffee beans, while Robusta belongs to the category with poor taste. Varieties like Typica and Bourbon are excellent Arabica species, currently planted only in a few areas of Yunnan. 99% of Yunnan coffee belongs to the Catimor variety.

Catimor is a hybrid of Timor and Caturra. Caturra is a Bourbon variant, and Timor is a hybrid of Robusta and Arabica. In other words, Catimor has 1/4 Arabica genes, which is the main reason why Yunnan coffee quality cannot reach higher levels.

Good Cultivation: Cultivation management level is very important for coffee quality. Adopting modern agricultural science and technology combined with green cultivation is the path to developing high-quality coffee, as can be seen in Panama's Boquete producing region. Of course, the prerequisite requires very large amounts of funding to accomplish this. Yunnan still uses inefficient small-scale collective farming, which shows a clear gap.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that only through traditional processing methods can the flavor of a producing region be truly expressed. Therefore, on FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu, there are 4 Yunnan coffee beans, which are Typica and Catimor coffee beans processed by both natural and washed methods.

Yunnan Small Bean Coffee

Region: Baoshan, Yunnan, China
Altitude: 1200 meters
Variety: Catimor
Processing Method: Washed
Flavor: Melon and fruit aroma, sweet melon, brown sugar, plum acidity, tea-like sensation

Catimor is currently the most common coffee variety in Yunnan, and washed processing best expresses the regional flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee also makes this bean the daily staple for Yunnan producing regions. FrontStreet Coffee selected Catimor from the Baoshan producing region. Baoshan is a famous coffee-producing area in Yunnan, with Lujiangba being particularly well-known. If you want to know how Yunnan coffee is doing now, FrontStreet Coffee suggests you try this coffee bean.

Yunnan Natural Catimor

Region: Baoshan, Yunnan, China
Altitude: 1450-1550 meters
Variety: Catimor
Processing Method: Natural
Flavor: Nuts, chocolate, spices, caramel, red berries

This natural Catimor also comes from Lujiangba, Baoshan, Yunnan. We know that Arabica planted at higher altitudes has better flavor. This coffee bean grows at altitudes of 1450-1550 meters, so its flavor quality will naturally be better. This coffee bean uses full red cherry natural processing. Carefully selected large red coffee cherries are naturally processed, resulting in extremely high sweetness in the coffee. FrontStreet Coffee considers this a top-tier example among Catimor varieties.

Yunnan Flower Fruit Mountain

Region: Baoshan, Yunnan, China
Altitude: 1200 meters
Variety: Typica
Processing Method: Washed
Flavor: Plum, brown sugar, sweet melon, Pu'er tea

Typica is one of the few excellent varieties in Yunnan. Compared to Catimor growing in the same environment, Typica variety shows better flavor performance and cleaner taste. This coffee bean also comes from the prestigious Lujiangba in Baoshan and uses washed processing. You can taste the characteristic flower and fruit aroma of Yunnan from it, which is why FrontStreet Coffee named this bean "Flower Fruit Mountain." Everyone can compare this bean with washed-processed Catimor.

Yunnan · FrontStreet Coffee 2013

Region: Lincang, Yunnan, China
Altitude: 1300 meters
Variety: Typica
Processing Method: Natural
Flavor: Dried apricot, plum, yellow sugar, chocolate

FrontStreet Coffee began planting coffee in Yunnan in 2013. FrontStreet Coffee's original concept for coffee cultivation was to test a hypothesis: could "good land, good varieties, good cultivation" really change the criticized taste of Yunnan coffee? With this hypothesis in mind, FrontStreet Coffee visited the Tropical Agricultural Science Research Institute and senior前辈 who have been growing coffee for years. They found an undeveloped forest and started growing coffee from scratch. FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands the importance of varieties and specially chose Typica, which has taken root in Yunnan for many years. The Typica variety is rather delicate and requires extreme care. The FrontStreet Coffee staff responsible for cultivation built simple houses at the foot of the mountain and began a life of working from sunrise to sunset. FrontStreet Coffee's plantation is located in Lincang, near the Myanmar border, with sparse population and only a small village of dozens of people nearby. Therefore, the area retains its original ecological environment, which is very suitable for growing good coffee.

In 2020, the first batch of Yunnan Typica coffee beans grown by FrontStreet Coffee came to market, named "FrontStreet Coffee 2013." It uses full red cherry natural processing to highlight sweetness. The flavors FrontStreet Coffee detected during cupping were apricot preserves, Sanhua plums, and caramel chocolate.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473