How to Blend Yunnan Coffee Beans for Espresso - Characteristics and Stories of Yunnan Coffee

A decade ago, Yunnan coffee still suffered from the reputation of being "poor quality and low price," causing many coffee professionals to show disapproval at the mere mention of it. Today, however, Yunnan coffee beans are increasingly common in specialty coffee shops, with some establishments even offering different flavor profiles to choose from. For instance, FrontStreet Coffee features two single-origin coffees from Yunnan regions: FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yunnan Baoshan Small Bean and FrontStreet Coffee's natural Typica, as well as a FrontStreet Coffee basic espresso blend suitable for espresso machines.

The Development of Yunnan Coffee

Yunnan's coffee cultivation began in 1904 when French missionary Alfred Tientsenne introduced the first coffee tree to Zhugula Village in Binchuan, Yunnan. Since then, Yunnan's relationship with coffee has spanned a century of history.

Truly commercial cultivation began in the 1950s when renowned botanist Professor Qin Renchang from the Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences identified red fruits found in the courtyards of Dai ethnic farming households in Luxi County, Dehong Prefecture, as small-bean coffee. At his suggestion, coffee seedlings were trial-planted at both Mangshi Forest Farm and Lujiangba in Baoshan City. The latter officially commenced production in 1955, 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. They not only introduced the high-yield, disease-resistant Catimor variety but also committed to purchasing Yunnan coffee beans as raw materials at the prevailing US futures prices. Subsequently, brands like Starbucks and Maxwell House also successively established factories and purchased green beans in Yunnan, further expanding the area of coffee cultivation. FrontStreet Coffee learned from relevant materials that due to farmers' lack of knowledge about coffee cultivation and crude production and processing methods, Yunnan green coffee beans have long been used primarily for instant coffee production, constrained by international coffee futures prices. To break free from these limitations, industrial transformation and upgrading became essential, with the specialization of coffee production becoming Yunnan's new journey forward.

The Current State of Yunnan Coffee

In recent years, with the advancement of China's coffee wave and society's emphasis on rural economies and sustainable development, coffee professionals from around the world have visited Yunnan. Everyone has been continuously improving local coffee quality through aspects such as coffee pest and disease prevention, shade trees, soil and water conservation, planting altitude, and fresh fruit harvesting and processing methods. Yunnan coffee has gradually gained attention and recognition. Both domestic and international coffee brands like Starbucks, Blue Bottle Coffee, Luckin Coffee, and Manner have also launched products from Yunnan regions, expanding people's awareness of Yunnan coffee's flavors and quality.

Compared to the past, people are now more willing to proactively learn about Yunnan as this "new producing region." Many customers who visit FrontStreet Coffee stores for pour-over coffee will ask if they have Yunnan beans, showing that Yunnan coffee development is continuously progressing.

Where Does Yunnan's Specialty Coffee Come From?

Currently, Yunnan's coffee cultivation is distributed across eight regions, with six main producing areas: Pu'er, Baoshan, Dehong, Lincang, Nujiang, and Xishuangbanna. These places possess natural conditions of low latitude, high altitude, and significant temperature differences between day and night, making Yunnan a golden cultivation area for producing high-quality Arabica coffee. Coffee is generally planted on high-altitude mountain slopes, where rolling hills, fertile soil, ample sunlight, and concentrated rainfall during the rainy season allow coffee trees to quickly adapt to the local terroir. Yunnan coffee has successively obtained five geographical indication protection products: "Baoshan Small Bean Coffee," "Zhukula Coffee," "Dehong Small Bean Coffee," "Pu'er Small Bean Coffee," and "Simao Coffee." FrontStreet Coffee's representative from Yunnan regions is the Baoshan Small Bean Coffee.

In recent years, as international trade continues to expand, Baoshan's coffee cultivation has grown, with Lujiangba's Small Bean Coffee becoming particularly renowned. 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 where "one mountain has four seasons, and different weather appears within ten miles." The annual temperature variation is small while daily temperature variation is large, with an average annual temperature of 14-17°C. Precipitation is abundant with distinct wet and dry seasons that are unevenly distributed, with annual rainfall ranging from 700-2100 millimeters. Combined with reasonably low rainfall, this provides excellent advantages for coffee fruit production, creating the unique sweet aftertaste of Baoshan Small Bean Coffee.

Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee's menu also features a FrontStreet Coffee exclusively produced FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan Natural Typica. Why is it exclusive? Because this coffee comes from FrontStreet Coffee's own estate. In 2013, FrontStreet Coffee established its own estate in Lincang, handling everything from site selection, variety selection, seedling cultivation, planting, harvesting, processing, to roasting. Through this process, FrontStreet Coffee has accumulated considerable experience and knowledge. Lincang is influenced by the warm and humid currents from the Indian Ocean and southwest monsoon, with distinct dry and rainy seasons, abundant rainfall, long sunshine hours, short frost periods, and some areas being frost-free year-round. The three-dimensional climate is very pronounced, making it extremely suitable for coffee to accumulate nutrients and transform them into more flavor compounds. FrontStreet Coffee specifically selected the most primitive Arabica variety—Typica—and produced it using natural processing methods, naming it "FrontStreet Coffee 2013." It has received high praise from many customers for its elegant and smooth taste.

Yunnan Coffee Beans Under Natural Processing

Some customers, after tasting a certain Yunnan coffee bean that used novel flavor-enhancing processing, told FrontStreet Coffee that they experienced rich floral notes and strong wine flavors. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is not the inherent flavor of Yunnan coffee. For those who truly want to explore the "Taste of Yunnan," FrontStreet Coffee recommends the FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan Small Bean daily drinker on the shelf, which uses washed processing. The FrontStreet Coffee daily drinker series launched by FrontStreet Coffee carefully selects 7 classic origins, covering multiple highly representative regions and varieties, using natural processing methods customary to each origin to present the unique flavor profiles of the producing areas.

Most Yunnan coffee farmers face harsh conditions and do not possess expensive processing equipment. Therefore, the vast majority of Yunnan coffee beans commonly use natural processing methods, namely washed and natural. The reason FrontStreet Coffee chose washed processing for Yunnan Small Bean is that FrontStreet Coffee believes washed Yunnan coffee not only reduces defect rates and produces more stable quality but also results in cleaner Yunnan beans. This is why FrontStreet Coffee particularly favors this natural processing method. Additionally, Yunnan has abundant water resources, and the harvest season often encounters rainy weather, making large-scale natural processing difficult.

Of course, Yunnan also has many high-quality naturally processed coffees. For example, the "FrontStreet Coffee 2013" uses natural drying processing, produced from FrontStreet Coffee's own estate in Lincang, Yunnan. Selected from the elegant Typica variety, it uses natural processing methods to enhance the coffee's sweetness. Every November, the coffee fruits planted by FrontStreet Coffee ripen successively, and FrontStreet Coffee arranges for workers to pick red coffee cherries one by one, spreading the fresh coffee fruits evenly under the sun for natural drying, turning them regularly to ensure even dehydration. FrontStreet Coffee's natural processed Yunnan coffee has more intense fermentation notes and rounded fruit flavors compared to washed varieties.

FrontStreet Coffee believes Yunnan coffee's flavor profile is balanced and harmonious, meaning it has elements of acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee's house-roasted Yunnan coffees all use medium roasting.

Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan Baoshan Small Bean daily drinker presents notes of nuts, herbs, sweet potato, melon, brown sugar, cream, plum, and caramel. The mouthfeel is balanced with a sweet aftertaste. Another variety, FrontStreet Coffee 2013 Natural Typica, shows cupping flavors of caramel, nuts, chocolate, fermentation notes, berries, black tea, and sugarcane. It has medium-high body, clean mouthfeel, black tea aftertaste, and rich, varied layers.

For the washed Yunnan Small Bean, considering its nice nutty aroma and slight fruit acidity after medium roasting, FrontStreet Coffee also includes it in espresso blends to leverage its balancing advantages. Together with Brazil Cerrado, it creates a slightly acidic, full-bodied FrontStreet Coffee basic blend coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee uses 30% Yunnan washed Small Bean coffee beans + 70% Brazil natural processed coffee beans. The resulting espresso carries soft acidity, solid roasted aromas, and full-bodied coffee flavor. When made into a latte by FrontStreet Coffee, it reveals flavors of caramel, nuts, and cream—very comforting. This FrontStreet Coffee basic espresso blend is suitable for shop owners and home users who prioritize cost considerations and have moderate flavor requirements, while espresso enthusiasts interested in Yunnan coffee beans can also purchase it for trial.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473