Yunnan Catimor Coffee vs. Geisha Coffee: Can Catimor's Flavor Surpass Geisha's?

When it comes to Geisha coffee, coffee enthusiasts should be very familiar with its unique floral and citrus notes, especially the Geisha coffee from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, which is world-renowned. It would not be an exaggeration to call it the Hermes of the coffee world.

If Geisha coffee possesses such a noble status, then when I say that an ordinary coffee variety has superior flavor, probably no one would believe it. But such situations do exist, and FrontStreet Coffee will take you to see exactly what's going on.

Yunnan Coffee: An Unexpected Competitor

Speaking of this, we must mention the coffee from Yunnan, China. Most of Yunnan's coffee belongs to the Catimor variety.

In recent years, the quality of Yunnan coffee has greatly improved. Ted Lingle, co-founder of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the Coffee Quality Institute, has provided significant assistance in helping Yunnan coffee align with international standards. He participated in the evaluation of the Pu'er green bean competition in March 2014 and actively exchanged ideas with the Manlaojiang Agricultural Development Company in Pu'er.

Yunnan Catimor Surpasses Geisha

Yunnan coffee prices are lower than New York futures, which is already unusual enough. The perennial champion of international green bean competitions, Geisha, when transplanted to Yunnan, made an unexpected debut. In the 2016 Yunnan Green Bean Competition, a Yunnan Geisha entered the competition for the first time, competing with 119 other coffee beans. Surprisingly, the nationally renowned Geisha failed to gain an advantage and was defeated by Catimor from the specialty coffee world. Among 120 competing beans, Yunnan Geisha ranked only in the 30s, failing to even reach the top 10, creating the biggest upset in global green bean competition history.

However, from a professional perspective, this is quite normal. When Panama Geisha was transplanted to Yunnan, without sufficient years of acclimatization, it was inevitable and normal that it would struggle to adapt to the local environment. Additionally, the growing altitude was not high, approximately 1,100 meters. At this elevation, even Catimor would not easily produce impressive high-end flavor profiles. Furthermore, Geisha is difficult to cultivate, and post-harvest processing still needs optimization. It's not surprising that Yunnan Geisha's first competition ended in disappointment. It's expected that Yunnan Geisha grown at higher altitudes will participate in future competitions, which will provide better evaluation opportunities.

The Rise of Catimor in Yunnan

Additionally, in 2016, some traditional varieties known for their superior flavor, such as Typica and Bourbon, also participated in the competition, but they failed to make it into the top 10. All the winners were Catimor varieties, with no Typica or Bourbon among them. This inevitably makes one wonder: has Catimor, after years of acclimatization, adapted to Yunnan's terroir and developed flavors that surpass those of older varieties? Such situations are rare in Central and South America, where the winner lists of major green bean competitions are almost exclusively dominated by traditional varieties such as Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Typica, and Geisha. Although Catimor varieties have occasionally made it to Cup of Excellence winner lists, such occurrences are extremely rare.

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