Front Street Coffee understands that when most friends first got into specialty coffee, they came into contact with the Yirgacheffe or Sidamo production areas in Ethiopia. When talking about Asian coffee, most people will first think of Mandheling coffee beans in Indonesia. But with the rise of domestic products, Yunnan coffee from China has gradually entered everyone's attention.What are the coffee bean producing areas in China?When it comes to coffee bean producing areas in China, there are three main ones, namely Fujian Province, Hainan Province and Yunnan Province. Arabica is grown at an altitude of 900 to 2,000 meters; Robusca is grown at an altitude of 200 to 800 meters. Friends who are familiar with Chinese geography know that Fujian and Hainan provinces are both coastal areas with an average altitude of less than 500 meters. This is not an ideal planting height for Arabica, so these two provinces mainly grow Robusta beans. Yunnan Province is located in the second terraced terrain with an average altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 meters, which is the ideal planting height for Arabica. When was the first coffee tree planted in Yunnan? 
The earliest place where Arabica coffee beans were grown in Yunnan was Pingchuan Town, Binchuan County, DaliZhukula Village, because in the late Qing Dynasty, Father Tian Deneng from France was thought to have the habit of drinking coffee, so he planted a coffee tree next to the church. According to the "Binchuan County Chronicle": In the 30th year of the Qing Dynasty (1904), the French Catholic missionary Tian Deneng, dispatched by the Dali Diocese Church, brought Frenchman Lu Hongru and Sichuan native Deng Peigen to preach in the Binchuan area... There is also a record in "Yunnan Catholic History": Church name and address: Catholic Church, Pingchuan Zhukula, Binchuan Prefecture, founding time: 30th year of Guangxu (1904).
These documentary records can prove that Father Tian Deneng did fund the construction of a church in Zhukula Village to preach in 1904. But this time point is quite controversial. Some say it is 1892, and some say it is 1902. However, no definite evidence has been found to prove the year in which the first Arabica coffee tree was planted in Yunnan. As an imported product, coffee was actually cultivated for commercial purposes in Yunnan in the 1950s. Professor Qin Renchang, a famous botanist from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, identified red fruits found in the courtyards of Dai farmers in Luxi County, Dehong Prefecture as small-grain coffee. At his suggestion, coffee seedlings were trial-planted at Mangshi Forest Farm and Lujiangba, Baoshan City. The latter was officially put into production in 1955, thus opening up a new era of coffee research and production in China.
Yunnan coffee truly entered the international market in 1988 when Nestlé established a branch in China. It not only introduced high-yielding and disease-resistant varietiesKatim（Catimor）, and also promised to purchase Yunnan coffee beans as raw materials at the then US futures price. Subsequently, Starbucks, McLaren and other brands also successively built factories in Yunnan to purchase green beans. These measures further expanded the coffee planting area in Yunnan. Front Street read relevant information and learned that due to coffee farmers' lack of knowledge about coffee cultivation and rough production and processing methods, Yunnan green coffee beans have long been used as raw materials for instant coffee, suffering from the constraints of international coffee futures prices. If we want to get rid of these, we must carry out industrial transformation and upgrading, and the production of high-quality coffee has become the current new journey of Yunnan coffee.Yunnan coffee bean varieties Yunnan coffee beans are most famous forYunnan Xiaoli. Yunnan small grains were originally named after Typica, because the Typica species is the Arabica small grain variety. The oldest coffee variety in Yunnan is the Typica variety.Later, Nestlé settled in Yunnan. Due to Typica's poor disease resistance and in order to increase coffee bean production, coffee farmers were asked to cut down the Typica coffee trees with good flavor and plant varieties with poor flavor but good disease resistance and high yield. Initially, anti-leaf rustThe S288, and later the higher-yield Catim. In other words, the coffee trees currently planted in Yunnan are mainly Catim species. Typica is one of the oldest varieties of Arabica. Most Arabica is derived from the Typica variety, and beans derived from it can inherit its high-quality flavor genes.The top leaves of the Typica coffee tree are reddish copper, and the opposite leaves are oblong in shape with smooth leaf surfaces. The terminal branches are long and have few branches. The bean body is oval or thin and pointed;Although it has an elegant flavor, it has a weak constitution, poor disease resistance, is susceptible to leaf rust, and has low yields. In recent years, Typica has been gradually replaced by Caturra and Kaduai in Central and South America, so we see Typica less and less. The coffee trees that Front Street Coffee mainly grows in Yunnan are the Typica variety. Because Typica has its own unique quiet tonality and clean flavor, as well as balanced characteristics and a high clean taste, so although it is difficult to grow Typica coffee trees, Front Street still wants everyone to taste the Yunnan coffee that can present the best flavor.Katim itself is a cross between Robusta and Arabica. In 1959, the Portuguese moved the Bourbon variant Caturra of Arabica origin to East Timor and mixed it with the local Timor of Robusta origin. This move resulted in the creation of Katim, which has high disease resistance and productivity.Because leaf rust was prevalent in coffee-producing countries around the world at that time, and Katim happened to be extremely disease-resistant, coupled with its high production capacity, it soon became popular in most coffee-producing countries. Now you can also find Sun-dried Typica and Washed Catim, which are both produced in Yunnan, on the bean list of Front Street Coffee. One comes from Lincang and the other comes from Baoshan. Not only can you taste Chinese coffee, but you can also understand the differences between different varieties.[Yunnan Front Street 2013 Coffee Beans] Production area: Yunnan Lincang Altitude: 1300m Processing method: Sun-dried Variety: Typica[Front Street Coffee: Yunnan arabica coffee] Production area: Yunnan Baoshan Altitude: 1200m Processing method: Washed Variety: KatimThe characteristics of these two Yunnan coffees tend to be more balanced, with neither too much acidity nor too much bitterness. Therefore, our flushing method does not need to be too extreme. The amount of coffee powder is 15 grams, and the ratio of powder to water is recommended to be 1:15. If you want a clearer flavor, you can choose 1:16. Choose a V60 filter cup for the filter cup. The brewing water temperature is 90 degrees Celsius. The purpose is to make the acidity softer. The grinding degree is about the size of fine grinding/fine sugar (No. 20 screen pass rate 75%).
Use three-stage extraction: steam with 30 grams of water for 30 seconds. After steaming, use a small flow of water to circle and inject water to 125 grams for segmentation. When the water level drops and the powder bed is about to be exposed, continue to add water to 225 grams and stop injecting water. When the water level drops and the powder bed is about to be exposed, remove the filter cup. (Steaming starts timing) The extraction time is 2'00'.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
