What Varieties are Yunnan Coffee Beans? Introduction to Yunnan Typica Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee - Yunnan Typica Introduction

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The Origins of Typica

Typica is one of the oldest discovered varieties of the Arabica coffee species, alongside another variety called Bourbon. In the misty Blue Mountain region of Jamaica, the Typica subspecies coffee growing above 1,000 meters is exactly what we admire as "Blue Mountain Coffee."

The Arrival of Coffee in Yunnan

In 1892, Father Tian from France was eager to drink coffee. He paced slowly outside the church door in a remote mountain village, Zhukula Village in Dali. After a while, he took out the coffee beans he had brought, dug up a piece of ground in front of the church, and carefully placed them inside. Those little beans, having traveled across the ocean, grew into Yunnan's first coffee tree.

Baoshan's Coffee Legacy

Baoshan began large-scale coffee cultivation in 1952 and now has a 66-year history. Baoshan's small-bean coffee is renowned worldwide. As early as 1958, it was rated first-class at the London International Coffee Tasting Conference, earning the beautiful name "Lujiang No. 1." At the 1980 National Coffee Conference it was recognized as "the best coffee in the country" and was listed by the State Council as one of the national coffee production bases. Lujiangba small-bean coffee became a coffee variety used to support fine seeds nationwide, and today its descendants have spread throughout the country.

Ideal Growing Conditions

North of Baoshan stands the Gaoligong Mountain, which blocks the driving Siberian cold currents in winter. The numerous mountains create small regional climates favorable for coffee cultivation. For Arabica, an altitude of 1,200 meters is the quality watershed.

Exceptional Flavor Profile

In its favorable natural environment, the delicate Typica exhibits extremely high sweetness and pure flavor characteristics:

Smooth on entry with Asian herbal plant aromas, lively and bright acidity, salivation in both cheeks, well-balanced soft acidity and richness, rich layers, with a distinct aftertaste of dark chocolate, honey, and cane sugar. When completely cooled, it presents brown sugar flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mission

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to let more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, we hold three coffee activities with low discounts, because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest prices. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past 6 years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Typica is the thread that ties Yunnan back to the most storied coffee in the world, and the clearest way to follow it is through Jamaica Blue Mountain, where the same variety grown above 1,000 meters defines the classic. FrontStreet carries that reference point directly.

FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1

Only coffee grown in a defined part of Jamaica's Blue Mountain range and certified by the Jamaican authorities may be called Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, and No. 1 is the highest grade in that system. FrontStreet's lot comes from the historic Clifton Mount Estate, which has grown and processed coffee since around 1750, its growing and processing area at an average of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters). That altitude, the gentle afternoon cloud that shades the hills, ample sunlight and mineral-rich soil give the trees excellent conditions and extend the ripening of the cherries. The beans travel, as tradition requires, in the estate's own wooden barrels in 15, 45 and 70 kg sizes, each barrel itself a mark of the genuine article.

Roasted medium-dark to draw out its rounded body, it shows a clean, complex and very mild cup with cream, caramel, chocolate, nut and honey notes and a faint fruit lift. Sweetness, acidity, bitterness and aroma sit in balance: soft and rounded on entry, richly sweet through the middle, and clean with a long finish, which is why so many in the trade call Blue Mountain the specialty coffee most likely to please almost anyone. FrontStreet suggests a Kono dripper with 15g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio at 87-88°C, poured in three stages: a 30g bloom for 30 seconds, then to 120g, then to 225g, with the grind a little coarser than for a light roast, roughly white-sugar texture.