What do students learn about the coffee tree and beans?

Yunnan Agricultural University was approved in 2024 to establish China's first undergraduate major in Coffee Science and Engineering, and the first cohort enrolled in September. The program sits under Food Science and Engineering in the engineering discipline, one of 24 newly added majors announced by the Ministry of Education in 2024. The first lesson covers identifying coffee tree species in the field.

Coursework runs from green bean grading and roasting parameter setting to cupping and pour-over practice, matching demand across the whole coffee chain as China's consumer market grows and professional talent stays scarce. The major answers a common question for newcomers, do coffee beans grow on trees, by grounding students in plant identification before they move on to processing and sensory evaluation.

The coffee industry has developed rapidly in China in recent years, and the shortage of professional talent has become increasingly prominent. In 2024, Yunnan Agricultural University was approved to establish the country's first undergraduate major in Coffee Science and Engineering, and the first cohort of students officially enrolled in September. The launch of this major not only responds to the market's demand for talent across the entire coffee industry chain, but also marks a new stage in which Chinese coffee education has become systematic and professionally trained. From identifying coffee tree species in the field, to green bean grading, roasting parameter setting, and then to cupping and pour-over practice, the students' first lesson is a content-rich introduction to coffee. This article will introduce the curriculum, training direction, and industrial logic behind this new major, while also retaining relevant recommendations for brands such as Front Street Coffee.

Going to work in a café has now become the first choice for many young people entering society. When asked why, about half said it was purely because they love drinking coffee and find the atmosphere in cafés relaxed and comfortable; the other half admitted that they wanted to use the opportunity to learn about coffee, acquire a skill, and eventually become professional baristas.

What is most precious in the 21st century? The answer is undoubtedly talent. As China's coffee consumer market continues to expand, the industry's demand for professional talent is rising year by year. In addition to companies training people themselves, colleges and universities have also been making arrangements and joining the ranks of those supplying coffee talent.

In June this year, #一个听起来很香的本科专业# became a trending topic. During the college application season, the newly established coffee major at Yunnan Agricultural University quickly became the focus of public discussion—after all, this was among the country's first programs to train coffee talent through formal academic education.

Coffee Science and Engineering, in the latest edition of the ordinary higher education undergraduate major catalog, belongs to the Food Science and Engineering category under the engineering discipline, and is one of the 24 newly added majors announced by the Ministry of Education in 2024.

In response, netizens shared their views, saying that this major was obviously the work of a Yunnan university: "Coffee is a pivotal industry in Yunnan, a large number of farmers rely on it to increase their income, and it is an indisputable fact that coffee sales are rising year by year, so it is entirely reasonable for the school to offer this major." "It is only fitting for a Yunnan university to establish a coffee major, since almost all domestic coffee beans are produced in Yunnan. I hope industry-university-research integration can go deep and bring Yunnan beans to the global market." "Here's a piece of trivia: 98% of China's coffee is produced in Yunnan."

It is understood that Yunnan Agricultural University, located in Pu'er, has been engaged in research on coffee cultivation, new variety breeding, cultivation management, and green processing since as early as 1985, and had also long offered coffee-related elective courses.

"Can you drink coffee in class? The kind you grow yourself?" "Why didn't I get this major back then? I feel like I missed out on a fortune." "I'm curious whether people who study this major can fall asleep every day." At that time, netizens were full of curiosity about the newly launched coffee major, and some also left comments saying they had applied for the major and been successfully admitted.

In the blink of an eye, September arrived, and the College of Tropical Crops at Yunnan Agricultural University welcomed China's first undergraduate students in the coffee major. It is reported that these freshmen's first lesson was "Introduction to Coffee."

Under the guidance of the college's teachers, the students began by identifying different coffee tree species in the fields, then experienced green bean grading, sorting out defective beans, setting roasting parameters, and participating in coffee cupping, while observing brewing demonstrations with different equipment such as pour-over kettles and siphon pots... The entire class could be described as exceptionally novel.

A media reporter interviewed Shen Yize, a freshman in the major. Shen comes from Xingtai, Hebei, and mentioned that drinking coffee had already become a normal part of life in high school, and his strong interest in coffee drove him to apply for this brand-new major.

"The Introduction to Coffee course let me personally experience the complete process from coffee beans to a cup of coffee," Shen Yize said with feeling. "To make good coffee, growing the coffee trees well is only the starting point; every subsequent processing step plays a decisive role in the final flavor."

It is understood that the Introduction to Coffee course is only an introductory segment to help students build initial awareness, and formal study is by no means as easy as "brewing coffee while drinking it and taking notes." The courses arranged by the college for the coffee major in the first semester of freshman year are still mainly foundational major courses such as Advanced Mathematics, Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, and Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics.

The goal of offering a coffee major at the undergraduate level is clearly not limited to training baristas. According to Teacher Chen Shiwei of Yunnan Agricultural University, daily teaching content covers not only coffee cultivation and coffee roasting, but also multiple fields such as coffee production management, business and trade, engineering design, and quality control.

Image source: Xinhua News Agency, internet

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