Which Yunnan Small-Bean Coffee Tastes Best? What's Yunnan's Most Famous Coffee Known As Small-Bean?

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Yunnan Coffee Varieties

Yunnan's climate features large day-night temperature differences, small seasonal variations, spring-like weather year-round, and high altitudes. These conditions provide an excellent cultivation environment for coffee. As people's perceptions of coffee evolve, Yunnan is now entering the specialty coffee stage. The province has rich and diverse climate types, including seven distinct climate zones: northern tropical, southern subtropical, central subtropical, northern subtropical, southern temperate, central temperate, and plateau climate regions.

Average Altitude

The altitude generally ranges from 1,500 to 2,200 meters, with the northern regions reaching even 3,000 to 4,000 meters. Only in the southwestern border areas does the terrain gradually become gentler with open valleys, typically at altitudes of 800-1,000 meters. The highest point is Kagebo Peak in Deqin County at the Yunnan-Tibet border (northwest), with an altitude of 6,740 meters; the lowest point is at the confluence of Nanxi River and Yuanjiang River in Hekou County (southeast) at the border with Vietnam, with an altitude of only 76.4 meters.

Arabica coffee is suitable for growing on mountainous terrain at altitudes of 800-1,800 meters. If the altitude is too high, the coffee tastes sour; if too low, it tastes bitter. Most Arabica coffee is planted in the dry-hot valley regions at around 1,100 meters altitude, resulting in moderate acidity, rich aroma, and mellow flavor. Many areas in Yunnan have unique environments suitable for growing Arabica coffee, producing high-quality beans.

Main Varieties

Today, Yunnan's main variety is Catimor, which is a natural hybrid of Robusta and Arabica further crossed with Caturra. A small number of producing areas are growing Catuai, but this is currently only experimental planting.

Typica is also one of Yunnan's coffee varieties. It is a genetic mutation of Arabica, inheriting Arabica's excellent flavor genes. Even in Yunnan, it can be cultivated to produce coffee with pleasant aroma and mild acidity.

Knowledge Point: As early as 1892, a French missionary brought coffee seeds to Yunnan and successfully planted the first coffee tree in a place called Zhukula.

In Brief

FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research center dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share everything without reservation to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Each month, we hold three low-discount coffee events because FrontStreet Coffee wants to provide more friends with the best coffee at the lowest prices. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past 6 years!

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