What Types of Yunnan Coffee Exist and What Are Their Characteristics? Are Yunnan Coffee Varieties Really Underperforming?

When it comes to coffee, more people are now noticing that there are Chinese coffees available in coffee shops, specifically Yunnan coffee. At FrontStreet Coffee, many friends ask about the flavor of Yunnan coffee. Currently, Yunnan Xiaoli is very popular among FrontStreet Coffee's daily selection beans and represents Yunnan coffee.

In the past, people might have paid more attention to imported coffees, but with the rise of "national trends," more coffee enthusiasts have discovered that Yunnan coffee can actually have such rich flavors, and that China also produces excellent coffee. Today, the vast majority of coffee on the Chinese market comes from Yunnan, which accounts for 98% of the country's total, basically representing China's coffee cultivation industry.

Yunnan: The Golden Zone for Coffee Cultivation

Why is Yunnan considered the most suitable golden zone for coffee cultivation?

FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned that coffee is actually a type of agricultural product, naturally related to the climate and environment of the time. Located in southwest China, Yunnan has the Tropic of Cancer crossing its southern region. The western and southern parts of Yunnan Province are situated between 15°N latitude and the Tropic of Cancer. Most areas have elevations between 1000-2000 meters, with mountainous and sloped terrain that varies greatly. The region features fertile soil, abundant sunshine, plentiful rainfall, and significant temperature differences between day and night. This mountainous plateau terrain, with medium-altitude areas between 1000-3500m accounting for nearly 90% of the province's total land area, has a subtropical plateau monsoon climate that is extremely suitable for coffee cultivation. Just as FrontStreet Coffee mentioned before, coffee growing environments require high altitudes with appropriate temperature and rainfall to produce high-quality coffee.

The southern and western regions of Yunnan—Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, Wenshan, Baoshan, Dehong, and Lincang—are all distribution areas for Yunnan Xiaoli coffee cultivation.

Dehong: Known as the "Hometown of Chinese Coffee"

Dehong Prefecture's coffee cultivation areas are all at elevations above 1000 meters, with 30,000 mu planted on mountainous terrain above 1600 meters. Additionally, Dehong Prefecture mainly uses organic fertilizers and organic pesticides for coffee cultivation, resulting in higher quality coffee that makes it one of the world's rare high-quality coffee producing regions.

Baoshan: A Historic Coffee Region

Baoshan began cultivating coffee in the mid-1950s, with the first coffee seedling introduced from Southeast Asia by the late patriotic overseas Chinese Mr. Liang Jinshan. In recent years, with the expansion of international trade, Lujiangba's Xiaoli coffee has become renowned. European, American, and Arab countries, especially British, American, Egyptian, Hong Kong, and Macau merchants all consider it premium coffee, with demand exceeding supply. In December 2010, after review by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, it was decided to implement national geographical indication product protection for "Baoshan Xiaoli Coffee."

Lincang: A Focus for Coffee Enterprises

Lincang's unique geographical location and climate conditions have made it a focus for many coffee enterprises. They have successively established 200-mu and 100-mu high-quality coffee seedling bases in Mengding Town of Gengma Autonomous County and Lincang Xingfu Farm respectively, and have carried out coffee cultivation in Gengma, Zhenkang, Yunxian, Cangyuan, and Yongde. FrontStreet Coffee's estate is located in Lincang.

Pu'er: 150 Years of Coffee History

Pu'er, known as the land of tea, has a 150-year history of coffee cultivation. In the early 1990s, Pu'er City began to develop coffee as a key industry for adjusting industrial structure and increasing farmers' income.

Yunnan Coffee Varieties

Of course, coffee flavor is inseparable from coffee varieties. Different varieties naturally result in different coffee flavors. What varieties does Yunnan coffee have?

FrontStreet Coffee offers two Yunnan coffee varieties: one is the Catimor variety, such as Yunnan Xiaoli coffee; the other is the Typica variety, such as FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Natural Process Typica coffee. Yunnan Xiaoli coffee gets its name from Typica coffee because Typica variety coffee beans are small in size, hence the name "Xiaoli" (small grains). FrontStreet Coffee has introduced that because the Catimor coffee variety has high yield and strong disease resistance, many coffee growers reluctantly cut down Typica trees and switched to planting Catimor. Currently, the planting area of Catimor varieties in Yunnan is still large, and the Yunnan Xiaoli coffee variety is of the Catimor type.

The most widely planted coffee in the Yunnan region currently is Catimor coffee beans, with small amounts of Typica and Bourbon coffee beans also planted in the Baoshan area. Although all these varieties belong to the Arabica species in the broader sense, these several varieties still have significant essential differences.

Typica Coffee Beans

The most classic high-quality Arabica variety, from which many commercial improved varieties originate. Typica coffee beans are characterized by excellent flavor expression and are recognized as a specialty coffee variety, but they have extremely low yields and are susceptible to rust disease, requiring more human management. Typica coffee beans originate from Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan and are the most widely cultivated coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere. The plants are relatively robust but not tolerant to strong light, with higher yields in Hawaii. Typica's top leaves are bronze-colored, earning it the name "red-top coffee."

Catimor Coffee Beans

Catimor is not purely of Arabica bloodline; it is a hybrid of Timor (which belongs to the Robusta species) and Caturra (a Bourbon variety variant), so Catimor has 25% Robusta bloodline. Its Robusta bloodline determines its flavor defects: insufficient aroma, overall bitter taste, and tendencies toward astringency and stimulating musty flavors.

Since 2013, FrontStreet Coffee has been primarily cultivating Typica variety coffee and a small amount of Bourbon variety coffee in Yunnan's Lincang region. The reason for choosing Typica variety is twofold: first, as one of the oldest coffee varieties, it possesses pure Arabica genes and is recognized as a specialty coffee variety due to its elegant and clean flavor profile; second, the earliest coffee trees planted in the Yunnan region were also of the Typica variety, introduced by French missionaries.

Yunnan Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Different coffee bean processing methods certainly result in different coffee flavors. Natural processed coffee beans mainly carry the sweet and sour taste of tropical fruits, preserving the natural richness of coffee beans with rich flavor layers, sometimes with a hint of wine aroma! Washed coffee beans, because the fermentation process is better controlled, don't have the miscellaneous flavors of natural processed coffee beans, with better acidic aromas and brightness! Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee's seven daily selection beans are mainly washed processed coffee beans because they better reflect the original flavors of a producing region.

Yunnan coffee beans are processed using both natural and washed methods, and of course, more other processing methods will follow, which are also extensions based on natural and washed methods.

The Typica coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee's estate use natural processing. Mature coffee cherries are spread evenly on raised beds for sun drying, with regular turning to avoid uneven drying that produces unpleasant fermentation flavors. Additionally, keeping the complete fruit allows more sugars from the coffee cherries to permeate into the green coffee beans, making FrontStreet Coffee's coffee beans more aromatic and sweeter.

When FrontStreet Coffee's roaster received these natural processed Typica green coffee beans, considering the need to highlight their aroma and sweetness while emphasizing the mouthfeel of Yunnan Xiaoli coffee, a medium roast level was adopted.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

For coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans to best appreciate the rich flavors of coffee. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that coffee bean freshness has a great impact on flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its peak flavor.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans for them, which is also fine, but FrontStreet Coffee must remind you: once coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for a resting period because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the packaging also helps mellow the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding them fresh for brewing to better taste the coffee's flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan Brewing Parameters:

Filter cup: Hario V60, Water temperature: 90°C, Coffee amount: 15g, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium-fine grind (70% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee 2013 Natural Process Typica Flavor Profile:

Rich mouthfeel, prominent sweet and sour notes, with citrus and berry tones, a hint of fermented wine aroma, caramel-like sweetness, creamy aftertaste, and black tea-like sensation.

Washed Yunnan Xiaoli Coffee Flavor Profile:

Herbal, nutty aroma, chocolate, caramel.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, ID: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473