What does Yunnan coffee taste like after washing and roasting?

Yunnan small-bean coffee today tastes of plum, nut, caramel and tea rather than the flat, instant-coffee profile many people still associate with the region. A washed Catimor from Baoshan, grown above 1,200 meters, is the typical example: depulped and fermented in a water tank for 18 to 36 hours, it shows brighter acidity than older Yunnan lots.

The shift comes from government support for cultivation research and from specialty coffee culture pushing attention onto coffee production, from farming through post-processing. Baoshan's altitude and mild climate suit specialty cultivation, and the washed method gives cleaner cups. The same Yunnan profile also appears in espresso blends that add regional sweetness.

Many people's impression of Yunnan coffee is still stuck in the past—extensive planting methods, beans mainly supplied to instant coffee production lines, and processing that was not refined enough. But now, with the support of local governments and the push of the specialty coffee wave, both the cultivation and post-processing of Yunnan coffee have received attention, gradually revealing regional flavors such as plum, nut, caramel, and tea notes. In Front Street Coffee's daily bean series, the one representing the Yunnan region is a washed Catimor from Baoshan. This article will fully present the appearance of this bean from origin selection, green bean state, roasting curve to brewing suggestions, and introduce an espresso blend that incorporates Yunnan flavors, helping coffee lovers rediscover Yunnan small-bean coffee.

For a long time in the past, Yunnan coffee's reputation in people's minds was not ideal. There were mainly two reasons: first, the planting methods at the time were not scientific enough; second, most coffee beans produced in Yunnan were supplied to Nestlé for making instant coffee, so the green bean processing stage could not be called refined either.

However, the situation is completely different now. With the support of local governments, research on Yunnan coffee cultivation has continued to deepen, and driven by specialty coffee culture, more attention has been paid from cultivation to processing, which has also enabled Yunnan coffee to make significant progress in recent years. Through the joint efforts of all parties, Yunnan coffee has gradually formed its own regional flavor: plum, nut, caramel, and tea notes.

In Front Street Coffee's daily bean series, the one representing the Yunnan region is a washed Catimor coffee bean from the Baoshan region of Yunnan selected by Front Street. The reason for choosing Baoshan is that the altitude and mild climate of the area are suitable for specialty coffee cultivation. Usually 1,200 meters is the dividing point between commercial coffee beans and specialty coffee beans; the higher the altitude, the better the coffee flavor tends to be.

The beans selected by Front Street Coffee are grown in Baoshan at an altitude above 1,200 meters and use the washed processing method. After depulping, they are fermented in a water tank for 18 to 36 hours. This process enhances the bright acidity of the beans and also makes the overall mouthfeel cleaner, allowing the coffee quality and the flavor characteristics of the Yunnan region to be felt more directly.

When Front Street Coffee received this Front Street Yunnan small-bean green coffee, it noticed that the beans were overall uniform and blue-green in color, belonging to the common Catimor variety in Yunnan. The green beans smelled of a faint grassy aroma and the acidic fragrance of plum.

Because this variety is an Arabica variety with a small amount of Robusta genes, its green astringency is slightly more obvious than that of other Arabica varieties. In order to make the green astringency less prominent while still being able to taste the unique flavor of the Yunnan region, Front Street roasted these beans to a medium level, presenting the color of cinnamon bark.

Roasting machine Yangjia 800N (roasting amount 300g): charge at 190°C, heat 120, damper opened to 3; turning point at 1'40", when the temperature is 145°C open the damper to 4, heat unchanged; when the temperature is 166°C the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage; when the temperature reaches 188°C, adjust the heat to 60°C, damper to 5;

At 8'37", ugly wrinkles and dark spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, you need to listen clearly to the sound of the first crack point. At 9'00" first crack begins, damper unchanged, develop for 3 minutes after first crack, drop at 198°C.

Agtron bean color value 63.1 (upper image), Agtron pink value 70.4 (lower image), Roast Delta 7.3.

Front Street Yunnan small-bean coffee brewing suggestions:

Dripper: hario v60

Dose: 15g

Water temperature: 90°C

Grind size: 75% passing through a No. 20 sieve

Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15

Three-stage pouring: wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds, forming a dome and blooming for 30s, then pour in a small stream in circles from the inside out until 125g, pause, wait until the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, continue pouring the third stage with the same fine stream to 225g, until all the coffee liquid has filtered through, remove the dripper; the time is about 2 minutes.

Besides pour-over, we can also find Yunnan flavor in espresso. To let everyone taste a classic, we launched Front Street Dark Cocoa Basic Blend. It combines the creamy nutty aroma of Brazilian coffee and the slightly acidic cocoa note of Yunnan small beans, together forming a balanced and smooth mouthfeel. During extraction, the crema is moderate, and the flavor is comfortable, suitable for both home and shop use.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.