Flavor and Taste Characteristics Differences Between Yunnan Coffee Bean Varieties: Tipica and Catimor

From being a raw material for instant coffee to becoming a dark horse entering the specialty coffee market, what has brought attention to Yunnan coffee? In recent years, Yunnan coffee beans have frequently appeared in Chinese coffee competitions and exhibitions, which is undoubtedly positive news for Yunnan coffee. The film "Coffee or Tea?" has also successfully attracted national attention to Yunnan coffee. Under this trend, the status of Yunnan coffee is steadily rising. In fact, as early as more than 10 years ago, many coffee professionals were quietly developing the specialty coffee business in Yunnan.

Although FrontStreet Coffee was not among the first to roast coffee, it began cultivating and researching specialty coffee in Yunnan 8 years ago. FrontStreet Coffee found that few people were willing to make fundamental changes to transform Yunnan coffee beans into specialty coffee beans. Instead, most took shortcut approaches, such as using special processing methods to make Yunnan coffee beans' flavors outstanding. However, do these Yunnan coffee beans processed with special methods still retain their original regional flavor characteristics? Not at all. FrontStreet Coffee is willing to invest time and energy in cultivating Typica varieties like "Lin Daiyu" in Yunnan, precisely to establish the regional flavor characteristics of Yunnan coffee, so that future coffee enthusiasts who taste Yunnan coffee will know: "Ah, so this is what Yunnan coffee tastes like."

The History of Yunnan Coffee Cultivation

Yunnan small-seed coffee can be traced back to 1904, when French missionary Alfred Tientsé brought coffee seeds (Typica) from Vietnam to Yunnan and successfully planted them in Zhugula Village, Binchuan County, Yunnan Province. This marked the beginning of Yunnan coffee, generally referred to as small-seed coffee, commonly known as Yunnan small-seed coffee in China.

Small-seed coffee refers to Arabica coffee beans. Because the coffee beans are relatively small in size, they are also called small-fruit coffee. Robusta coffee is called medium-fruit coffee, while Liberica belongs to large-fruit coffee. Yunnan cultivates Arabica coffee, so it's also called Yunnan small-seed coffee. At FrontStreet Coffee, you can find two types of Yunnan coffee beans: one is the Typica Huaguoshan Coffee, and the other is Catimor small-seed coffee. Both types of beans can be called small-seed coffee, but because Typica's floral and fruity acidity is softer and richer, it was specifically named Huaguoshan ("Flower-Fruit Mountain") to distinguish it from the other variety.

Coffee Varieties in Yunnan

In the past, Yunnan's small-seed coffee was mainly Catimor. Catimor is a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta species. Robusta offers good leaf rust resistance, rich oil content, high yield, and ease of cultivation. After hybridization with Arabica Typica, Catimor acquired 25% Robusta genes, which enhanced its leaf rust resistance while retaining rich oil content and partially inheriting the rich flavor of the original Typica variety. Consequently, most Yunnan estates began large-scale cultivation of Catimor.

In recent years, Typica varieties have begun to be cultivated on a small scale. Due to Typica's poor disease resistance and susceptibility to leaf rust, constant monitoring of its growth conditions is required, with meticulous care for every leaf. That's why FrontStreet Coffee jokingly refers to Typica as "Lin Daiyu" (a fragile, sensitive character from Chinese literature). Because of Typica's low yield, coffee farmers who previously planted Catimor were unwilling to replant Typica without income, and cultivation requires significant time and energy. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is also the main reason why Yunnan coffee beans still cannot fetch high prices despite being supported by special processing methods. Since few people are willing to do this, FrontStreet Coffee has seized this opportunity in recent years to lead by example and cultivate Typica varieties.

Which Areas in Yunnan Are Best for Coffee Cultivation?

The cultivation areas are mainly distributed in regions such as Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, and Dehong. Baoshan has an average temperature of 21.5°C, with highs reaching 40.4°C, and is basically frost-free year-round, making it recognized as the best area for small-seed coffee cultivation. The small-seed coffee cultivated here is renowned both domestically and internationally for being rich but not bitter, fragrant but not strong, with small, uniform beans, mellow and rich flavor, and fruity notes. International Coffee Organization tasting experts have evaluated Yunnan coffee as being in the same category as Colombian wet-processed small-seed coffee, making it one of the world's quality coffees. FrontStreet Coffee's Typica cultivation area is located in Baoshan, near the border with Myanmar.

Baoshan has an average temperature of 21.5°C, with highs reaching 40.4°C, and is basically frost-free year-round, making it recognized as the best area for small-seed coffee cultivation. The small-seed coffee cultivated here is renowned both domestically and internationally for being rich but not bitter, fragrant but not strong, with small, uniform beans, mellow and rich flavor, and fruity notes. Yunnan Baoshan small-seed coffee has a long history of cultivation, and Baoshan small-seed coffee can be considered a national geographical indication product.

FrontStreet Coffee — Yunnan Catimor Small-Seed Coffee

Region: Baoshan, Yunnan

Altitude: 1200 meters

Variety: Catimor

Processing Method: Washed

Brewing Flavor: Melon and fruit aroma, cantaloupe, brown sugar, plum acidity, tea-like sensation

FrontStreet Coffee roaster uses Yangjia 800N (300g batch size): Heat drum to 190°C, flame at 120, damper open at 3; Return temperature at 1'40", when drum temperature reaches 145°C, open damper to 4, flame unchanged; At 166°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. When drum temperature reaches 188°C, adjust flame to 60, damper at 5; At 8'37", bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'00", damper unchanged, develop for 3 minutes after first crack, drop at 198°C.

FrontStreet Coffee — Yunnan Huaguoshan Coffee Beans

Region: Baoshan, Yunnan

Altitude: 1200 meters

Variety: Typica

Processing Method: Washed

Brewing Flavor: Distinct roasted nuts, gentle acidity, overall balanced and rich, solid dark chocolate aroma, slight orange peel notes.

FrontStreet Coffee roaster uses Yangjia 800N (300g batch size): Heat drum to 200°C, damper open at 3, adjust flame to 160 after 1 minute, return temperature at 1'32". Beans turn yellow at 5'40", temperature at 149°C, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration completed, flame unchanged, damper adjusted to 4. At 6 minutes, adjust flame to 140, at 7 minutes, adjust flame again to 120. At 8 minutes, bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 8'37", adjust flame to 90, damper fully open to 5. At 9 minutes, reduce flame to 20, first crack develops for 2'00", drop at 196°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Dripper: Kono

Dose: 15g

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: 80% pass-through rate on standard #20 sieve

Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

FrontStreet Coffee's segmented brewing method: Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom. When pouring with small water flow to 125g, segment the pour. Continue pouring to 225g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Stop pouring and wait for the water level to drop until it's about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the dripper. (Timing starts from bloom) Extraction time is 2'00".

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473