Introduction to Flavor Characteristics of Yunnan Highland Arabica Coffee Beans | Overview of Origin and Variety Information for Yunnan Small-Bean Coffee

The Rise of Yunnan Coffee

In the past, whenever we mentioned coffee, everyone first thought of famous international producing regions like Brazil, Colombia, and Ethiopia. With the development of China's coffee industry, Yunnan coffee has gradually appeared on the procurement lists of major coffee brands, becoming one of the essential choices for domestic and international chain coffee brands. FrontStreet Coffee's daily menu also offers several Yunnan coffee beans for customers to choose from, showing that the Yunnan region is gradually joining the ranks of specialty coffee.

When Did Coffee First Arrive in Yunnan, China?

Since 1904, when French missionary Alfred Tienne introduced the first coffee tree to Zhugula Village in Binchuan, Yunnan, the cultivation of Yunnan coffee began. Therefore, Yunnan's connection with coffee has a century-long history. Truly commercial cultivation began in the 1950s when renowned botanist Professor Qin Renchang from the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, identified red fruits found in the courtyards of Dai farmers in Luxi County, Dehong Prefecture, as Coffea arabica. At his suggestion, coffee seedlings were trial-planted at Mangshi Forest Farm and Lujiangba in Baoshan, thus ushering in a new era of coffee research and production in New China.

Yunnan coffee truly entered the international market starting from 1988 when Nestlé established a branch in China. Not only did they introduce the high-yield, disease-resistant Catimor variety, but they also promised to purchase Yunnan coffee beans as raw materials at the then-current US futures prices. Subsequently, brands like Starbucks and Maxwell House also successively built factories in Yunnan to purchase raw beans, further expanding the area of coffee cultivation in Yunnan. FrontStreet Coffee learned from relevant materials that due to farmers' lack of coffee cultivation knowledge and crude production and processing methods, Yunnan raw coffee beans have long been used as raw material for instant coffee, constrained by international coffee futures prices. To break free from these constraints, industrial transformation and upgrading are essential, and the specialty production of coffee has become Yunnan coffee's new journey today.

In recent years, with the advancement of China's coffee wave and society's emphasis on rural economy and sustainable development, coffee professionals from around the world have visited Yunnan. Everyone has continuously improved the quality of local coffee in areas such as pest and disease control, shade trees, soil and water conservation, growing altitude, as well as fruit picking and processing methods. Yunnan coffee has gradually gained attention and recognition. Compared to the past, people are now willing to actively learn about Yunnan as this "new producing region," and many customers who visit FrontStreet Coffee stores for pour-over coffee also ask if there are beans from Yunnan, showing that Yunnan coffee's development is continuously progressing.

Where Does Yunnan's Specialty Coffee Come From?

Currently, Yunnan coffee cultivation is distributed across eight regions, with six main producing areas: Pu'er, Baoshan, Dehong, Lincang, Nujiang, and Xishuangbanna. These places have natural conditions of low latitude, high altitude, and large temperature differences between day and night, making Yunnan a golden cultivation area for producing high-quality Arabica coffee.

Coffee is generally grown between higher altitude mountains. The rolling hills, fertile soil, and abundant sunlight, along with the concentrated rainfall brought by the rainy season, allow coffee trees to quickly integrate into the local terroir. Yunnan coffee has successively obtained five geographical indication protection products: "Baoshan Arabica Coffee," "Zhukula Coffee," "Dehong Arabica Coffee," "Pu'er Arabica Coffee," and "Simao Coffee." FrontStreet Coffee's representative from the Yunnan region is the selection of Baoshan's Arabica coffee.

With the continuous expansion of international trade, Baoshan's coffee cultivation has become even more renowned, with Lujiangba's Arabica coffee being particularly famous. Baoshan has a low-latitude mountainous subtropical monsoon climate. Due to its location at low latitude and high altitude, with complex topography, it forms a three-dimensional climate of "four seasons in one mountain, different weather within ten miles." The annual temperature range is small, while the daily temperature range is large, with an average annual temperature of 14-17°C. Precipitation is abundant with distinct wet and dry seasons, unevenly distributed, with annual rainfall of 700-2100 millimeters. Additionally, the reasonably low rainfall provides extremely advantageous conditions for coffee fruit production, creating the unique sweet aftertaste of Baoshan Arabica coffee.

Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu features a Yunnan natural processed Typica coffee exclusively produced by FrontStreet Coffee. Why is it exclusive? Because this coffee is produced from FrontStreet Coffee's own plantation. In 2013, FrontStreet Coffee established its own plantation in Lincang. From site selection, variety selection, seedling cultivation, planting, harvesting, processing, to roasting, everything was handled by FrontStreet Coffee, from which we also summarized considerable experience and knowledge. FrontStreet Coffee specifically chose the most original Arabica variety—Typica—and produced it using natural sun-drying processing, naming it "Frontsteet 2013." It has received praise from many customers for its elegant and mild flavor profile.

What Are the Flavor Characteristics of Yunnan Arabica Coffee?

The dozens of coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's menu present various flavor profiles and textures under different brewing methods, and FrontStreet Coffee's favorite extraction method is pour-over. Pour-over black coffee allows one to experience the inherent aroma of coffee beans, and by adjusting various brewing parameters, it can bring out different flavor characteristics of the coffee, making it highly operable.

After multiple comparative tests, FrontStreet Coffee has concluded that Yunnan Arabica coffee is different from the bright acidity of African coffees or the heavy richness of Indonesian coffees. Its flavor leans more towards a neutral, balanced profile—meaning it has sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan coffees are all medium-roasted to highlight the roasted aromas of chocolate and nuts while retaining some acidity. In cupping, FrontStreet Coffee tastes that washed Yunnan Arabica daily beans present herbal, nutty, caramel, chocolate, and brown sugar aromas, melon and fruit sweetness, as well as plum acidity, with a balanced mouthfeel.

Before brewing, FrontStreet Coffee first confirms whether the coffee beans being used are fresh. If the coffee beans' roast date has already exceeded more than a month, FrontStreet Coffee will not use them for serving. Because coffee beans have an optimal flavor window after roasting, and the coffee's aroma accelerates loss with storage time, it's difficult to present and restore the dissipated flavors during brewing. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee insists on only shipping freshly roasted coffee within 5 days—FrontStreet Coffee hopes every customer can enjoy the most complete flavor window of the coffee beans.

Grind Size and Water Temperature

Because Yunnan coffee's flavor attribute is neutral and balanced, excessively high water temperature and too fine a grind size can easily lead to over-extraction of the coffee, releasing too many bitter, large-molecule flavor compounds. Conversely, too low water temperature and too coarse a grind size lead to under-extraction, making the coffee easily tasteless. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee chooses medium water temperature and grind size—using 90°C hot water for extraction, with coffee grounds having a 70% pass-through rate on China's standard #20 sieve, and store EK43s setting at 10.5.

Based on past brewing experience, FrontStreet Coffee recommends that beginners adopt a three-stage pouring method. Three-stage extraction helps to more fully dissolve flavor compounds during extraction, increasing mouthfeel layers while avoiding over-extraction caused by overly long soaking times.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-over Parameters:

• Filter: Hario V60
• Dose: 15g
• Water Temperature: 90°C
• Grind Size: 75% pass-through rate on #20 sieve
• Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

Three-stage pouring: Use twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds to moisten the bed, forming a dome and letting it bloom for 30s. Then use a small water stream to pour in circles from inside out to 125g for the first stage. Wait until the bed drops to half the filter cup's height, then continue with the same fine stream to pour the third stage to 225g. Remove the filter cup until all coffee liquid has filtered through, taking about 2 minutes total.

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's private WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), 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