What Makes Yunnan Coffee Beans Worth Watching?

Starbucks has released Yunnan Reserve coffee beans for multiple consecutive years, from Fengwu Xiangyun to the Puer Baoshan Blend and Qingkai Farm Reserve, in both single-origin and blend forms. The beans come from Yunnan's main growing regions, Dehong, Baoshan, Lincang, and Puer, and signal that the region's quality has gained market recognition.

The three major varieties Typica, Bourbon, and Catimor differ in flavor, and Yunnan plantings center on Typica and Catimor, with Front Street Coffee running a dedicated Arabica plantation in Baoshan. Washed processing shapes the cup, and a cold brew method offers a practical way to brew Yunnan beans at home.

Yunnan coffee's presence in the specialty market is steadily growing. Starbucks has launched Yunnan Reserve series for multiple consecutive years, from Fengwu Xiangyun to Puer Baoshan Blend and Qingkai Farm Reserve, all presenting Yunnan flavors in single-origin or blend forms. Meanwhile, Front Street Coffee operates an exclusive Arabica plantation in Baoshan, continuously promoting Yunnan Typica and Catimor varieties. This article will systematically review the flavor characteristics of Starbucks' two Yunnan Reserve coffee beans, the growing conditions and historical context of Yunnan's main producing regions (Dehong, Baoshan, Lincang, Puer), the differences among the three major varieties Typica/Bourbon/Catimor, as well as the washed processing method and a complete guide to making Yunnan cold brew coffee, providing coffee enthusiasts with a reference that combines origin knowledge and practical value.

As the specialty coffee wave continues to advance, Yunnan coffee has also accelerated its pace of market expansion. Taking Starbucks as an example, in recent years it has continuously stocked Yunnan Reserve coffee beans, and since 2017 there have been new Yunnan products almost every year—the latest Puer Baoshan Blend coffee beans and Qingkai Farm Reserve coffee beans both originate from Yunnan, which sufficiently demonstrates that Yunnan coffee's quality and potential have gained recognition. Front Street Coffee likewise owns a dedicated Arabica coffee plantation in Baoshan, Yunnan. Below, Front Street Coffee will sort out the flavors and characteristics of these two Starbucks Yunnan beans, and discuss the current landscape of the Yunnan coffee market.

Starbucks Fengwu Xiangyun Coffee Beans

According to Front Street Coffee's understanding, Starbucks has used China's high-quality Arabica beans to create the "Fengwu Xiangyun" series for ten years. In 2017, Starbucks launched its first single-origin Yunnan coffee beans, and this year two brand-new Yunnan Reserve coffee beans have arrived. Starbucks uses its industry position to endorse Yunnan coffee, fulfilling its promise to "bring Yunnan coffee to the world," and also indirectly confirming that Yunnan beans' quality is indeed worth anticipating.

Reserve coffee is Starbucks' representative product in the specialty coffee segment. It has extremely strict requirements for flavor and has always been a key focus of the brand. Therefore, launching Yunnan Reserve single-origin coffee beans not only conveys Starbucks' confidence in Yunnan beans, but also reflects the results of its long-term investment in Yunnan, as well as the key role it has played in the growth of China's Yunnan coffee market.

Qingkai Farm Reserve Coffee Beans

Qingkai Farm Reserve coffee beans come from Qingkai Farm in Puer, Yunnan, and use a dryer processing method, which minimizes the risk of mold caused by the overlap between the harvest season and the rainy season, giving the sun-dried process more stable quality performance.

Flavor description: A smooth chocolate-like mouthfeel softly brings out herbal spice flavors reminiscent of sage and thyme.

Puer Baoshan Blend Coffee Beans

This is Starbucks China's first Yunnan Reserve blend coffee bean, blended from beans from Baoshan Zuoyuan Coffee and Puer Menglian County Jinshan Coffee Cooperative. The two places are nearly a thousand kilometers apart, and both use washed processing. This product is also Starbucks China's first Reserve coffee bean lightly roasted using the "Blonde Roast profile" in the domestic market.

Flavor description: After the two coffee beans are blended, the flavors become more integrated. Within the passionate bell pepper flavor bursts a fruity sweet-and-sour note, and the syrup-like mouthfeel leaves an endless aftertaste.

The above is the basic information and characteristics of the two Starbucks Yunnan beans compiled by Front Street Coffee. As mentioned earlier, Yunnan coffee has enormous potential. Precisely because of this, Front Street established a dedicated estate in Baoshan, Yunnan for growing Typica coffee beans. Next, Front Street Coffee will explain what exactly makes this land of Yunnan so charming.

Characteristics of Yunnan Coffee Bean Producing Regions

Yunnan is located in southwestern China, with the Tropic of Cancer running across its southern part. It features mountainous plateau terrain, of which the mid-altitude areas between 1,000 and 3,500 meters above sea level account for about ninety percent of the province's land area. The climate is a subtropical plateau monsoon type, with pronounced day-night temperature differences and abundant rainfall. As stated in previous articles by Front Street Coffee, coffee growth requires high altitude, suitable temperatures, and rainfall in order to produce high-quality coffee cherries, and Yunnan happens to satisfy these conditions. Therefore, the basic quality of Yunnan coffee fruit is inherently guaranteed.

For this reason, the vast majority of coffee currently on the Chinese market comes from Yunnan. Yunnan accounts for 98% of the national coffee market and can basically represent China's coffee-growing industry.

Yunnan Coffee Bean Producing Regions

The cultivation of Yunnan small-bean coffee is mainly distributed in the south and west, among which Puer, Baoshan, Dehong, and Lincang are relatively well known. The Yunnan coffee beans grown on Front Street Coffee's estate come from Baoshan. Front Street Coffee believes that coffee beans produced in Baoshan have a flavor that is rich but not bitter, aromatic but not harsh, with distinct regional characteristics. Below, Front Street will briefly introduce the characteristics of these Yunnan producing regions.

Dehong: Known as the "Home of Chinese Coffee." The coffee-growing altitude in Dehong Prefecture is all above 1,000 meters, of which 30,000 mu is planted on mountainous land above 1,600 meters. In addition, coffee cultivation in Dehong Prefecture mainly uses organic fertilizer and organic pesticides, so the coffee produced is of relatively high quality and is one of the world's rare high-quality coffee producing areas. Baoshan: Coffee cultivation in Baoshan began in the mid-1950s. The first coffee seedling was introduced from Southeast Asia by the late patriotic overseas Chinese Mr. Liang Jinshan. In recent years, with the expansion of international trade, the small-bean coffee of Lujiangba has become even more famous far and wide. Merchants from Europe, America, and Arab countries, especially those from Britain, the United States, Egypt, Hong Kong, and Macau, all regard it as a top-grade coffee, and demand exceeds supply. In December 2010, upon review by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, it was decided to implement national geographical indication product protection for "Baoshan Small-Bean Coffee."

Lincang: Its unique geographical location and climatic conditions have made Lincang a focus of attention for many coffee enterprises, and high-quality coffee seedling bases of 200 mu and 100 mu were established in Mengding Town of Gengma Autonomous County and Lincang Xingfu Farm respectively, with coffee cultivation carried out in Gengma, Zhenkang, Yunxian, Cangyuan, Yongde, and other places. Puer: Puer, the hometown of tea, has a 150-year history of coffee cultivation. In the early 1990s, Puer City began to cultivate coffee as an advantageous pillar industry for adjusting the industrial structure and increasing farmers' income.

History of Coffee Cultivation in Yunnan

Although Yunnan coffee has not appeared on the specialty coffee market for a very long time and can be called a rising star, according to Front Street Coffee's understanding, Yunnan's history of coffee cultivation is actually very long and can mainly be divided into four stages:

First stage: In the 1880s, the Qing government was forced to sign a treaty with France, ending the Sino-French War, and opened Mengzi (Mengzi County, Honghe Prefecture) as a trading port. In 1889, Mengzi Customs opened, marking the beginning of mutual exchange between the southwestern border region and the outside world. Suddenly foreign merchants gathered, and foreign firms followed one after another.

Second stage: In 1902, a French missionary with the Chinese name Tian Deneng brought coffee from Vietnam to a mountain village called Zhukula in Binchuan County, Dali, Yunnan Province, for planting. To this day, descendants of that batch of coffee still survive.

Third stage: In 1952, experts from the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences distributed 80 kg of coffee seeds to farmers in Lujiangba, Baoshan. Several years later, they guided large-scale planting, which is how the swaying coffee trees along the Yunnan-Burma Road came to be. Due to the huge demand for supplies to the Soviet Union, Yunnan's coffee cultivation experienced a rapid development.

Fourth stage: In 1988, Nestlé established a joint venture in China and began supporting the local coffee industry in Yunnan by launching coffee planting projects and other methods, and Yunnan coffee rose again. Starting in 1992, Nestlé established a coffee agriculture department to specifically guide and research the improvement and cultivation of Yunnan coffee, and purchased coffee according to prices on the U.S. spot market. Up to now, not only have coffee giants such as Nestlé, Maxwell, Kraft, and Starbucks all engaged in coffee business in Yunnan, but local coffee enterprises have also gradually grown stronger.

It was precisely after the above four stages that Yunnan began to study coffee cultivation, and now the coffee farmers in Yunnan producing regions mainly grow small-bean coffee. Therefore, Yunnan coffee is also called Yunnan small-bean coffee. Next, Front Street Coffee will explain the coffee varieties currently grown in Yunnan.

Yunnan Coffee Bean Varieties

The most widely grown coffee bean in Yunnan at present is Catimor, though there are still small amounts of Typica and Bourbon coffee beans grown in the Baoshan area. Although broadly speaking they all belong to the Arabica species, these varieties still differ greatly in essence.

Typica

Typica is the oldest native Arabica variety on the coffee market today, and almost all coffee bean varieties belonging to Arabica are derived from Typica. Typica has an elegant flavor, but it is physically weak, has low disease resistance, and is susceptible to leaf rust. Therefore, its coffee bean yield is low and cannot meet economic benefits. In recent years, Typica in Central and South America has gradually been replaced by Caturra and Catuai. As a result, Typica is seen less and less. Although Typica has an elegant flavor, it is not as widespread as Bourbon.

The coffee trees mainly grown on Front Street Coffee's estate in Yunnan are of the Typica variety, because Typica coffee has its own uniquely serene and clean flavor, as well as balanced characteristics and a high degree of clarity in the cup. So although Typica coffee trees are not easy to cultivate, as the oldest native Arabica variety, their flavor quality naturally should not be underestimated. Front Street Coffee wants coffee-loving friends to taste Yunnan coffee that presents the best flavor, so it mainly grows Typica coffee trees.

Bourbon

It is a secondary variety produced by a mutation of Typica and, together with Typica, belongs to the oldest existing coffee varieties. Its green fruit turns bright red when ripe. Compared with Typica, Bourbon has broader leaves and denser growth. Although its yield can be higher than Typica, its harvest period is also two years, so it is still considered a low-yield variety, yet it has a high-quality mouthfeel, with a wine-like acidity and a sweet finish.

Catimor Coffee Variety

Catimor is a combination of the Arabica species and the Robusta species. Robusta has good resistance to leaf rust and rich oils, high yield, and is easy to cultivate. Therefore, after being crossed with the Arabica species Typica, Catimor has 25% Robusta genes. It improves resistance to leaf rust, retains rich oils, and at the same time has some of the rich taste of the native Typica species.

Catimor coffee beans are currently also the most widely grown coffee variety in Yunnan, China. Although at present many coffee enthusiasts still cannot accept Catimor coffee beans and consider their flavor poor, their potential is indeed enormous. Take Indonesia's PWN Golden Mandheling as an example: the coffee bean variety used in the latest 2020 batch of Golden Mandheling is also Catimor, which is enough to prove that Catimor coffee beans have endless potential.

Yunnan Coffee Processing Methods

According to Front Street Coffee's understanding, many processing methods have been used for Yunnan coffee beans up to now, but the Yunnan coffee beans produced by Front Street Coffee currently all use the washed processing method, because the washed method is the processing method that best expresses a coffee bean's most original flavor and can also make the coffee bean's flavor cleaner and brighter while reducing off-flavors. Therefore, Front Street Coffee uses the washed processing method in handling coffee beans, with the aim of allowing coffee-loving friends who come to Front Street Coffee's shop to drink the most authentic and original Yunnan coffee bean flavor.

Above, Front Street Coffee introduced the growing conditions, varieties, and processing methods of Yunnan coffee to coffee-loving friends. This is because the flavor expression of a single-origin coffee bean depends precisely on its growing environment, that is, the producing region, as well as the coffee variety and processing method. These are all decisive factors affecting coffee flavor expression. Therefore, before launching each new coffee bean, Front Street Coffee learns about the origin story of that bean and the three basic factors in flavor formation, briefly summarizes this content on the packaging, and writes an article so that coffee-loving friends can understand it in depth. This is also one of the pleasures of tasting single-origin coffee. Next, Front Street Coffee will share two single-origin coffee beans produced by Front Street's Yunnan coffee estate with everyone.

Front Street Coffee: Front Street 2013 Typica Coffee Beans

Country: China Producing region: Baoshan, Yunnan Altitude: 1450-1550m Variety: Typica Processing method: Washed Flavor: Citrus, nuts, plum, melon and fruit aromas, brown sugar, black tea-like notes

Front Street Coffee: Yunnan Small-Bean Coffee Beans Country: China

Producing region: Baoshan, Yunnan Altitude: 1200m Variety: Catimor Processing method: Washed Flavor: Herbal, nutty aroma, chocolate, caramel

Making Yunnan cold brew coffee is actually very simple. Just first prepare a clean sealable container, then prepare 40 grams of Yunnan small-bean coffee beans ground into powder, about the consistency of fine granulated sugar (85% passing through a No. 20 sieve), pour it into the container, then add 480 milliliters of cold water, and stir evenly with a spoon.

After stirring evenly, seal the mouth with plastic wrap, place it in the refrigerator to chill for 12 hours, then take it out and strain the grounds. After filtering out the coffee grounds, you obtain a clear coffee liquid that can be drunk immediately. You can also pour the filtered coffee liquid into a bottle and continue to refrigerate it for 4 hours, and the flavor and mouthfeel will be even better.

Generally speaking, for the sake of flavor experience and health safety, whether it is ice drip or cold brew, for any extraction method carried out in a low-temperature environment, Front Street recommends that everyone finish drinking it within 5 days (counting from the production date).

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