Most of China's coffee is produced in Yunnan Province, which borders coffee-rich countries such as Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Front Street has previously introduced the history of Yunnan coffee, and we will go over it again here to help everyone recall. In 1904, French missionary Tian Deyi introduced some plants to Yunnan, hoping to drink a small cup of coffee every day. So coffee plants were brought in from Myanmar, but on a small scale and more experimental. It was not until 1989 that Nestlé planted the rust-resistant Catimor variety across Yunnan, and coffee became a major cash crop in China.

Today, 98% of China's coffee comes from about 90,000 hectares in Yunnan, producing approximately 100,000 metric tons of coffee annually. It is almost fair to say that Yunnan coffee is Chinese coffee. Of course, coffee crops are also grown in Fujian, Hainan, and other regions, but due to elevation issues, most of the coffee beans are Robusta, whose overly intense flavor does not suit the rising specialty coffee market or the current single-origin pour-over consumer base. As a result, Yunnan, which can produce high-quality Arabica beans, has become the mainstream development direction for Chinese specialty coffee.

The advantage of the Yunnan production area is that, compared with other coffee-producing regions in China, its elevation is higher, ranging from about 800 to 1,850 meters. The large temperature difference between day and night and relatively abundant rainfall lay a good foundation for high-quality green coffee beans. However, according to Front Street's understanding, most Yunnan coffee-growing areas generally hover around the qualifying line for high-quality coffee cultivation, that is, around 1,000 meters. The main coffee-growing areas in Yunnan are in the southwestern part of the province: Pu'er, Baoshan, Lincang, Xishuangbanna, and other regions. At present, the main Arabica coffee varieties grown in Yunnan are Catimor and Typica, but last year the Baoshan region of Yunnan pioneered the introduction of a milestone coffee bean variety—Geisha. Front Street will not elaborate too much on this for now and will give a brief introduction: in 2016, Lao Fan, the owner of Zuoyuan Estate in Baoshan, Yunnan, planted Yunnan's first batch of Geisha in the shady back of a valley at an elevation of 1,400–1,600 meters.

Yunnan Geisha is not mainstream. Today, Front Street will first use its own firsthand experience to introduce the Catimor and Typica coffee bean varieties. Front Street began growing coffee in Yunnan a little earlier than it opened its store. At first, Front Street grew coffee at its base camp—Guangzhou—but because conditions in all respects were very limited, it turned its attention to Yunnan. In May 2016, Front Street planted its first batch of Typica coffee beans on a Yunnan hillside. At the same time, it also figured out why locals choose Catimor. It is simple: the cost-performance ratio is not high. Coffee fans who have done a little research should know that Catimor coffee beans carry the genetic heritage of Robusta coffee beans; this variety is a hybrid of Timor and Caturra.

Catimor was developed in Portugal in 1959. Because the Catimor coffee tree is short, has dense nodes, allows high planting density, and has low requirements for altitude and other natural conditions, it is very suitable for commercial coffee. Of course, Catimor is often criticized by coffee lovers because of its Robusta genes. The taste of Catimor coffee is more intense than that of other Arabica coffee beans. In fact, Yunnan initially introduced the Typica variety. Compared with Robusta coffee, its coffee beans are smaller, so it is called small-bean coffee. Later, as coffee brands such as Nestlé entered and needed more "commercial" coffee varieties to adapt to an evolving coffee market, Yunnan began to widely plant high-yield Catimor coffee. The more mainstream Catimor then became known as Yunnan small-bean coffee.

However, Front Street hoped to take flavor factors beyond yield into consideration, so it still chose the better-flavored Typica coffee bean variety and named it [Front Street 2013].

The popularity of Front Street 2013 can also be judged from its booming sales. For this coffee, Front Street uses natural processing to preserve the overall sweetness of the coffee as much as possible and make up for the insufficient sweetness caused by elevation. After the coffee was sun-dried, Front Street transported it to its roasting factory far away in Guangdong. For this coffee, Front Street used a medium roast. The coffee performs impressively: a balanced mouthfeel of chocolate, nuts, and dried apricot, along with a soft plum-like acidity.

Today's Yunnan small-bean coffee mainly refers to the Catimor variety. Front Street also has Catimor coffee beans from Baoshan, Yunnan. Now Front Street will brew and compare them to see the difference between the Typica coffee beans grown by Front Street and the Catimor from an ordinary Yunnan farm:

FrontStreet Coffee extraction parameters:

V60 dripper

Water temperature 91℃

Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15

Coffee dose 15g

Grind size (75% passing through China's No. 20 standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee extraction method:

Use twice the coffee dose in water to bloom the coffee grounds. Pour with a small stream in circles from the center outward to 125 grams. Wait until the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, then continue pouring to the required total water amount. After the water in the dripper has drained, remove the dripper. The entire extraction time is about 2 minutes.

Characteristics and taste of Yunnan coffee beans:

Natural Catimor: This coffee leans more toward nutty and chocolate flavors, with a higher body and overall balance, and no distinctive acidity.

Front Street 2013: The entry is rich in juicy fruitiness, with a slight herbal aroma, a smooth mouthfeel, and a tendency toward balance, with a short, lively, and bright plum-like acidity. It has rich layers, shifting from apricot-peach to citrus from start to finish. The sweetness leans toward brown sugar.

Front Street believes that the Yunnan production area is located in a region suitable for coffee cultivation, and the overall quality of the coffee is good. But everything has both positive and negative sides. Front Street will list the advantages and disadvantages of Yunnan's coffee industry:

Advantages: Fresh, with a short arrival cycle. Good balance, easy to blend. Some specialty washed coffees have berry and other flavors. Attempts at some special processing methods and new processing methods have brought some distinctive notes and flavors to Yunnan specialty coffee, making it possible for Yunnan specialty coffee to be used as single-origin coffee. Commercial-grade Yunnan coffee beans are cheaper than imported coffee beans.

Disadvantages: Because of the coffee variety issue, the flavor is relatively one-dimensional, the production cost of high-quality coffee is higher, and it is difficult for the selling price to compete with imported high-quality coffee. Domestic roasters use it in a relatively small proportion, and it lacks market share; the brand influence of the production area is insufficient. In addition, due to fixed domestic prejudices about Yunnan coffee and limited awareness of Yunnan coffee, the actual domestic consumption of Yunnan coffee is still very limited. The quality of Yunnan coffee is not very stable, and the standardization and rationalization of cultivation, processing, and handling still need improvement.

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