Are Catimor and Arabica Related? Is Yunnan Catimor Coffee Good?

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Yunnan Catimor Variety

Yunnan is China's main coffee-growing region. Located south of the Tropic of Cancer, Yunnan belongs to the subtropical mountainous climate zone, featuring unique plateau red soil that is fertile and loose, with a mild climate particularly suitable for growing small-seed coffee varieties. Today, let's explore the characteristics and flavor profile of Yunnan Catimor beans together.

Catimor, also known as Catmor, was cultivated by the Portuguese in 1959. It possesses three-quarters Arabica heritage and one-quarter Robusta heritage. Its greatest characteristics are extreme vigor, strong disease resistance (resistant to coffee borer and leaf rust), and heat tolerance.

For coffee producers, it is an ideal commercial variety in terms of yield, maturity period, pest and disease resistance, and flavor. In the past, some people believed that the "inferior roots" of Catimor's heritage determined that it could never become a specialty-grade coffee suitable for significant use.

However, today more people believe that so-called specialty coffee is closely related to scientific handling in production, harvesting, processing, and preparation stages. Under this philosophy, more and more specialty-grade Yunnan Catimor coffees with clean flavors, no defects, and high sweetness have emerged, which is truly delightful.

Catimor is high-yielding, with short plants that can be densely planted. New leaves are reddish-brown in color.

The Robusta genes inherited from Timor enable Catimor to better resist coffee berry disease and coffee leaf rust, while also having stronger pest and disease resistance. However, this is also often criticized in terms of cup performance.

Catimor fruits mature quickly with high yields, requiring sufficient fertilizer supply and shade. Additionally, the high yield of Catimor corresponds to a relatively shorter commercial lifespan, averaging only ten years.

When planted at low altitudes, Catimor's cup performance shows no significant advantages or disadvantages compared to other commercial varieties. When planted above 1200 meters altitude, Catimor's cup flavor is clearly inferior to Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai.

Knowledge Point: Typica is an old variety with excellent flavor, good taste, and distinct aroma, but has weak disease resistance.

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to let more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three low-discount coffee activities every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years!

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