Yunnan coffee has traveled a winding and lengthy road of growth, from the first coffee seedling introduced by missionaries a century ago to its current status as a common choice in specialty coffee shops. This article traces the complete arc of Yunnan small-bean coffee's cultivation origins, variety turnover, and industry upgrading, and also explores the respective characteristics of the Typica and Catimor varieties. For coffee lovers who want to understand the flavor of the Yunnan producing region, or who are currently selecting Yunnan single-origin beans, this article provides a comprehensive reference from historical background to practical brewing, and it also includes Front Street Coffee's Yunnan bean brewing recipe and flavor description.

More than a decade ago, many people's impression of Yunnan coffee was still stuck at the stage of "poor quality, low price," and some even grimaced at the mention of Yunnan beans. Yet today, in more and more specialty coffee shops, Yunnan small-bean coffee has become a regular, and some baristas even offer Yunnan beans with different flavor profiles for customers to choose from. Taking the bean list at Front Street Coffee as an example, there are three single-origin coffees from the Yunnan producing region available: those trying the Yunnan region for the first time can buy Front Street Small Bean Coffee and experience the charm of an ancient, pure variety; those who want to experience a classic natural-process flavor will find Front Street 2013 Natural Typica to be the first choice; and espresso lovers who pursue rich crema and a full-bodied taste can choose Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend.

So just how good is the quality of Yunnan small bean? And what does the coffee made from it taste like? Next, please join Front Street as we get to the point.

The Development of Yunnan's Coffee Industry

In 1904, the French missionary Tian Deneng planted the first coffee tree in Zhugula Village, Binchuan, Yunnan, thus opening the prelude to coffee cultivation in Yunnan. By reckoning, the connection between Yunnan and coffee has already spanned a hundred years.

By the 1950s and 1960s, the scale of coffee cultivation in Yunnan further expanded, and this was also the period when China truly began large-scale coffee planting for commercial purposes. In 1952, after the founding of New China, under the leadership of agricultural academy expert Ma Guojin, coffee cultivation formally embarked on the path of large-scale development, and the coffee beans produced were mainly used to supply the Soviet Union. Before that, in 1937, the patriotic overseas Chinese Mr. Liang Jinshan had brought a batch of seeds back from Myanmar to Baoshan, opening up coffee cultivation areas in Lujiangba, Baoshan. At that time, the varieties planted in Yunnan all belonged to Typica and its variant Bourbon, and the planting area once reached as much as 50,000 mu.

However, the good times did not last long. A global outbreak of leaf rust swept through Yunnan, coffee trees died in large numbers, and the planting area shrank sharply. It was not until the 1980s, after reform and opening up, that Yunnan coffee gradually moved toward the international market. In 1988, Nestlé and other foreign-funded enterprises established branches in China and supported Yunnan's coffee industry on multiple levels. These enterprises not only introduced high-yield, disease-resistant varieties such as Catimor, but also promised to purchase Yunnan coffee beans as raw materials at the then-current U.S. futures price. This series of actions not only expanded the planting area again and stimulated the enthusiasm of coffee farmers, but also established Catimor's position in replacing the old Typica varieties, making it the main force of Yunnan coffee.

In recent years, with the advancement of China's coffee wave and the rising attention to rural economy and sustainable development, coffee professionals from all over the world have successively come to Yunnan, and Front Street has been among them. Everyone has continued to make efforts in pest and disease control, shade tree management, soil and water conservation, optimization of planting altitude, and methods of fresh fruit picking and processing, promoting the improvement of local coffee quality, and as a result Yunnan coffee has gradually won attention and recognition. Domestic and international coffee brands such as Starbucks, Blue Bottle Coffee, Luckin, and Manner have launched products from the Yunnan producing region one after another, further broadening people's understanding of the flavor and quality boundaries of Yunnan coffee.

Compared with the past, consumers today are more willing to take the initiative to learn about Yunnan as a "new producing region." Many customers who come to Front Street's stores to drink pour-over coffee ask whether there are Yunnan beans, which shows that the impression Yunnan coffee leaves on people is changing for the better, and at the same time it is also continuously advancing on the path of specialization in order to win recognition from more coffee-consuming groups.

So what exactly does "small bean" refer to?

The so-called "small bean" is actually the Arabica variety. Compared with the medium-bean coffee (Robusta) grown in Hainan in our country, its fruit is smaller in size. Front Street also mentioned above that the coffee trees initially introduced to Yunnan all belonged to the two pure Arabica species, Typica and Bourbon. Arabica grown at high altitude carries rich sweet-and-sour aromas and is recognized as a high-quality variety.

But the shortcomings of these two varieties are also obvious: extremely weak resistance, susceptibility to disease, and low yield per plant. Therefore, most Yunnan farmers who depend on coffee switched to planting the higher-yielding Catimor.

Although Catimor is classified as Arabica, genetically speaking it carries 25% Robusta genes. According to information Front Street has reviewed, Catimor "CIFC7963" is a hybrid variety bred by the Portuguese Coffee Rust Research Center (CIFC) to combat coffee rust. In appearance, this variety shows a compact tree shape, dwarf growth, many branches, short fruiting nodes, vigorous growth, and extremely strong vitality. Its most prominent features are astonishing rust resistance and high yield. Precisely because it inherits Robusta genes, Catimor not only has strong disease resistance and high yield, but after roasting the coffee beans also carry rich crema, while at the same time bringing the "devil's flavor" unique to Robusta. Its flavor performance in cupping is often rather mediocre, with no standout memorable point, and it also cannot compare with the performance of pure Arabica varieties at the same altitude, such as Caturra and Bourbon.

So now, besides Catimor, does Yunnan also grow other small-bean varieties? Of course it does. The coffee trees that Front Street selected and bred in Lincang, Yunnan, in 2013 are the ancient variety Typica. After 5 to 6 years of cultivation, Front Street finally harvested the first batch of results in 2020, produced using the natural process and named "Front Street 2013."

So, does Yunnan small-bean coffee taste good?

In the past, Yunnan coffee farmers had not accumulated much mature experience in coffee cultivation, and most coffee trees were planted in lower-altitude areas. Coupled with rough processing methods, the coffee produced was of mediocre quality and was mostly purchased for commercial instant coffee, which also created the public's fixed impression that Yunnan coffee was of poor quality. With the spread of domestic specialty coffee culture, many coffee people and researchers began to devote themselves to the cultivation stage in the Yunnan producing region, continuously improving coffee quality in aspects such as pest and disease control, shade trees, soil and water conservation, planting altitude, and fresh fruit picking and processing methods. Today's Yunnan small bean not only has a clean profile, but can also display unique flavor characteristics through different post-processing methods.

When November arrives each year, the coffee cherries grown by Front Street also mature one after another. Front Street arranges for workers to pick the red cherries from the coffee trees one by one, and promptly spreads the fresh fruit evenly in the sun to dry naturally, turning them from time to time to ensure uniform dehydration and avoid negative flavors caused by over-fermentation. After the coffee beans have dehydrated to a purplish-red color and reached the target moisture content, they are sent for hulling and roasting. Under several days of sunlight, the Typica coffee presents a fuller fermentation aroma, with prominent sweetness and notes of caramel, berries, and black tea.

When Front Street talks about the flavor characteristics of Yunnan coffee, some describe it as chocolate, some say it is like sweet potato, and still other friends think it is like Sanhua plum. Front Street believes that the flavor of Yunnan small bean belongs to a balanced, harmonious profile, that is, it has sourness, sweetness, and bitterness. Therefore, the Front Street Yunnan coffees on Front Street's bean shelf are all medium-roasted, highlighting caramelized aromas such as chocolate and nuts while also retaining some fruit acidity. During cupping, Front Street sensed from Front Street Yunnan Small Bean Typica aromas of chocolate, nuts, dried apricot, and brown sugar, as well as a rounded melon-and-fruit sweetness. After swallowing, a black-tea-like aftertaste still remained in the mouth.

Front Street Yunnan Small Bean Coffee Pour-Over Recommendation

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 to form a dome and let it bloom for 30s, then pour in a thin stream in circles from the inside out until 125g, pause, and when the coffee bed has dropped to half the height of the dripper, continue pouring the third stage with the same thin stream until 225g, until all the coffee liquid has finished filtering, then remove the dripper. The time is about 2 minutes.

Front Street Yunnan Small Bean Everyday Coffee flavor: It smells strongly of nuts; on the palate there are herbal notes, chocolate, and caramel; the aftertaste carries a faint fruity acidity; the overall taste is balanced with good cleanliness.

Front Street 2013 Natural Typica Coffee flavor: The dry grounds present aromas of caramel, nuts, and citrus; when hot, there are chocolate, fermented notes, and berries; as the temperature drops, plum-like acidity appears, with a sweet finish of black tea and sugarcane. Medium-high body, clear mouthfeel, rich and varied layers.

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