Introduction to Yunnan Small-Bean Coffee Varieties, Characteristics, Origin Rankings, and Flavor Profiles

Introduction to Yunnan Coffee

When people think of coffee cultivation, Africa and Central and South America might be the first famous coffee-growing regions that come to mind. However, China's Yunnan province has records of coffee cultivation dating back to 1904, and now ranks among the world's coffee production leaders. "Yunnan Xiao Li" (Yunnan small bean) appears increasingly frequently in domestic coffee shops, and FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over single-origin selection includes several premium coffees from Yunnan.

What is the "Xiao Li" (Small Bean) Coffee Variety?

"Xiao Li" refers to the smaller-sized Arabica variety among coffee beans, in contrast to Hainan's medium-bean Robusta coffee beans. Yunnan initially introduced and cultivated two pure Arabica varieties: Typica and Bourbon. The ancient Typica is widely recognized as a premium variety. The famous Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee belongs to the Typica variety, featuring rich aromas and delicate, diverse flavors, but with extremely low yields and susceptibility to rust disease, requiring more intensive labor management. However, coffee is ultimately a cash crop for Yunnan farmers' livelihoods. If yields are too low to generate sufficient income, it becomes difficult to sustain cultivation, so most Yunnan farmers switched to higher-yielding varieties.

In the 1970s and 80s, the global coffee industry suffered from leaf rust disease. Coffee trees infected with leaf rust were essentially stricken with cancer, causing large-scale deaths and significantly reducing planting areas. By the 1980s, during China's reform and opening-up period, Yunnan coffee gradually entered the international market. In 1988, foreign companies like Nestlé established branches in China, providing multi-faceted support for Yunnan's coffee industry development. They not only introduced high-yield, disease-resistant varieties like Catimor but also promised to purchase Yunnan coffee beans as raw materials at the prevailing US futures prices. These measures further expanded Yunnan's coffee cultivation area and boosted farmers' enthusiasm. At the same time, this established Catimor's position as the dominant variety in Yunnan, replacing the ancient Typica variety.

Although Catimor is classified as an Arabica variety, genetically it contains 25% Robusta genes. Robusta inherently has higher chlorogenic acid content, is less susceptible to pests and climate impacts, and is typically grown in low-altitude environments with high yields and rapid fruit maturation. The "picky" Arabica variety has weaker plant disease resistance and relatively low yields per plant. High-altitude environments create significant day-night temperature differences, slowing the maturation of coffee cherries and allowing them to absorb more nutrients, developing richer aromas. The microclimates of various coffee-growing regions provide diverse growing conditions for Arabica, creating unique flavor profiles.

Catimor inherits Robusta characteristics, with strong disease resistance and high-yield traits. The coffee beans develop rich oils after roasting but also carry Robusta's "devil's flavor." In cupping, its flavor performance often falls short of pure Arabica varieties at similar altitudes, such as Caturra. Additionally, Catimor's rust resistance gradually diminishes after 20-30 years. To improve overall coffee quality, Yunnan needs to gradually switch varieties. In recent years, many new varieties have appeared in Yunnan, including the world-famous Geisha. I believe that in a few years, we'll see more premium coffee varieties emerging from Yunnan.

What Other Varieties Are Grown in Yunnan Besides Catimor?

Currently, 99% of Yunnan's coffee production comes from Catimor, with the remaining 1% consisting of Typica, Bourbon, and small batches of Geisha, Caturra, Yirgacheffe heirloom varieties, among others. For example, FrontStreet Coffee began planting Typica coffee in Yunnan's Lincang region back in 2013, but agriculture is a very long cycle. It wasn't until 2020, when FrontStreet Coffee's first batch of coffee beans was harvested, that the yield was only 200 kilograms.

Where is Yunnan Xiao Li Coffee Produced?

Currently, coffee cultivation in Yunnan province spans 9 prefecture-level cities and autonomous prefectures across 35 counties and districts, including Pu'er City, Baoshan City, Dehong Prefecture, Lincang City, Wenshan Prefecture, and Xishuangbanna. FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan coffee selection comes from the Baoshan and Lincang producing regions.

Years ago, while exploring coffee knowledge, FrontStreet Coffee developed the idea of growing their own coffee. In 2013, they went to Lincang, Yunnan, to begin their journey of cultivating coffee trees. From site selection, variety selection, seedling cultivation, planting, harvesting, processing, to roasting - everything was handled by FrontStreet Coffee, through which they accumulated considerable experience and knowledge regarding varieties, altitudes, and processing methods.

Yunnan's Lincang region is influenced by the Indian Ocean warm, moist air currents and southwest monsoons. The four seasons are not distinctly differentiated, but there's a clear separation between dry and rainy seasons, with abundant rainfall, long sunshine hours, short frost periods, and some areas being frost-free year-round. The vertical climate is pronounced, making it very suitable for Arabica coffee cultivation. FrontStreet Coffee chose a location in the mountainous forest area near the China-Myanmar border, situated at an altitude above 1300m, retaining the appearance of a semi-primitive forest, which is ideal for coffee tree growth.

FrontStreet Coffee chose the Typica variety for cultivation. Typica has elegant, pure flavors but is notoriously low-yielding and has poor resistance. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee invested considerable effort in cultivation management. After 5-6 years of cultivation, FrontStreet Coffee finally harvested their first batch in 2020, processed using the natural method, and named it "FrontStreet Coffee 2013."

Baoshan's year-round frost-free warm climate is ideal for small-bean coffee growth, particularly in the Lujiang Dam area, where the unique dry-hot valley climate has minimal annual temperature variation but significant day-night temperature differences, creating the unique sweet aftertaste of Baoshan small-bean coffee. Additionally, the reasonably low rainfall provides extremely favorable conditions for coffee fruit production. Baoshan is one of Yunnan's larger and earlier coffee-producing regions. Compared with Lujiang Dam Farm and other producing areas like Pu'er and Menglian, Baoshan's most distinctive climatic feature is relatively less precipitation and higher altitudes, resulting in coffee beans with less pulp but higher sweetness. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee selected Baoshan small-bean coffee as the representative of Yunnan coffee, allowing everyone to taste the flavor of domestic coffee.

What is the Flavor Profile of Yunnan Xiao Li Coffee?

Since Yunnan's coffee harvesting season typically falls during the rainy season, the extended 3-4 week natural drying process cannot be widely adopted. Yunnan coffee farmers adapted to local conditions, and due to the high-temperature, rainy climate, most use the washed processing method for raw coffee beans.

The harvested coffee cherries are machine-processed to remove the skin and pulp. The depulped coffee beans are placed in fermentation tanks for fermentation, using the process to break down the mucilage layer. The fermented coffee beans are repeatedly washed with clean water to remove the decomposed mucilage, and finally the coffee beans are dried in the sun for 1-2 weeks. The dried coffee beans can then be stored and shipped to various locations. Washed coffee characteristics include clean, stable profiles with low defect rates and higher acidity, better presenting the coffee's inherent flavors.

In addition to the washed method, of course, many Yunnan coffees also use the natural drying method. FrontStreet Coffee's own cultivated Typica coffee is naturally processed. When November arrives each year, the coffee cherries planted by FrontStreet Coffee ripen successively, and FrontStreet Coffee arranges workers to pick each red coffee cherry individually by hand. Since coffee cherry maturity can sometimes be difficult to distinguish visually, it's essential to perform flotation sorting before drying (unripe cherries float on the water surface and need to be removed). The selected fresh cherries are spread under the sun for drying until the coffee beans dehydrate to a purplish-red color, reaching the target moisture content, then they're sent for hulling and roasting.

FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is to present regional flavor characteristics while preserving more of the coffee's inherent aroma. For example, African coffees are lightly roasted to present floral and fruity acidity, while Brazilian coffees are medium-dark roasted to highlight rich chocolate and nutty flavors. FrontStreet Coffee roasted several Yunnan regional coffee beans for cupping and discovered that Yunnan coffees all have balanced, smooth flavors, suitable for medium roasting to emphasize chocolate and nutty aromas while retaining some fruit acidity. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is to present regional flavor characteristics while preserving more of the coffee's inherent aroma.

Through comparative cupping, FrontStreet Coffee tasted washed Yunnan Baoshan small-bean coffee, finding notes of chocolate, nuts, plums, and brown sugar with an overall balanced flavor profile. The natural-processed Yunnan Typica presented more fruity aromatics, fuller sweetness, and fermented black tea aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan Xiao Li Coffee Pour-over Parameters

For brewing, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans. Coffee beans enter their optimal flavor window 4-7 days after roasting. After this period (approximately one and a half months after roasting), the coffee's aroma may have dissipated, and some woody flavors may have developed. To avoid this situation, FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned this in many articles. Most importantly, FrontStreet Coffee only ships coffee beans roasted within 5 days, ensuring everyone can enjoy coffee with excellent flavor characteristics.

Considering that Yunnan small-bean coffee tends toward a balanced flavor profile - meaning not too high in acidity nor heavy in bitterness - FrontStreet Coffee uses a V60 dripper with medium-fine grind size and medium water temperature for extraction.

Brewing Parameters:

Filter: Hario V60
Dose: 15g
Water Temperature: 90°C
Grind Size: 75% pass-through through #20 sieve
Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15
Three-Pour Method: Use twice the coffee dose in water to moisten the coffee bed, forming a dome and bloom for 30s. Then use a small water stream to pour in circles from inside to out until reaching 125g, then pause. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the filter's height, then continue with the same fine stream for the third pour to reach 225g. Remove the filter once all coffee liquid has filtered through, with a total time of approximately 2 minutes.

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Important Notice :

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