In recent years, with the efforts of many people,Yunnan coffeeThe quality of Yunnan coffee has been continuously improved, and it has received a lot of affirmation. There are many fans of Yunnan coffee in China. For those who have never tasted Yunnan coffee, they must be curious about how it tastes.
Why choose arabica coffee from Baoshan production area?
At present, the coffee planting area in Yunnan Province has stabilized at about 1.8 million acres, with a production of about 139,000 tons, accounting for about 1.5% of global production. High-end commercial coffee beans (75 points or above) account for 10%, and specialty coffee accounts for 5% (according to 2019 data). Yunnan has also developed into China's largest coffee planting area, trade distribution center and export point. Coffee planting is distributed in 35 counties and districts in 9 states and cities, including Pu'er, Baoshan, Dehong, Lincang, Wenshan, and Xishuangbanna. There are more than 380,000 coffee planting households and a coffee planting population of more than 1.14 million people. Among them, Baoshan is one of the earliest places to cultivate coffee.
Since the 1950s, Baoshan has introduced the first batch of coffee tree species to start growing seedlings. Since its development, Baoshan Lujiangba has become the largest coffee planting base in the country and Xinzhai Village, known as the "No. 1 Coffee Village in China". The hills behind every house here are covered with coffee trees, the courtyards are full of coffee beans, and the aroma of coffee fills the house. In the local frost-free warm climate all year round, coffee trees thrive in a moist and comfortable environment. The significant temperature difference between day and night at high altitude delays the maturity period of coffee fruits, allowing the fruits to transform into more flavor substances.
Yunnan coffeeTrees are generally planted on mountains and slopes in scattered patterns. The terrain is not suitable for mechanical harvesting, so mature coffee cherries are harvested manually. Like the harvesting in most coffee-producing countries, Yunnan harvests once a year in winter. The concentrated harvesting season is from November to March of the next year. Coffee cherries mature and turn red in the mountains. We can see busy farmers appearing in the mountains in an orderly manner to harvest arabica coffee.
What type of arabica coffee is it?
Yunnan arabica coffeeAlso known as "Arabica coffee" (coffea arabica L.), in the 1950s, the leading varieties in Baoshan City, Yunnan were Typica, Bourbon and S288. Among them, the oldest variety is Typica, which has a pure and elegant taste. However, its yield is low and it has weak disease resistance and is prone to disease and wilt. So Yunnan introduced the Catimor variety, which can be planted intensively and has strong disease resistance, and it has become the most commonly planted coffee variety in Yunnan today. So we often say "Yunnan Xiaoli” actually refers more to Yunnan’s Katim coffee beans.
Catimor is a cross between Catura and Timor. Catura is a natural mutant of the highly acclaimed Bourbon species. It is often a "frequent player" in various specialty coffee competitions. For example, dozens of front street's own roasted coffee beans use Catura. Timber belongs to the natural mating species of Robusta and Arabica and was discovered on the Timor Island in Southeast Asia in the early 1900s. Robusta is notoriously unpleasant in taste, mainly bitter and strong, but it has super high disease resistance, cold and heat resistance and high yield. Therefore, Katim has also inherited some of the above characteristics, including higher survival rate, fruit bearing rate, and short maturity period, which naturally makes it more popular among coffee farmers and producers.
Yunnan small particle processing method
Most coffee farmers in Yunnan have difficult conditions and do not have expensive processing equipment. Therefore, most of themYunnan coffee beansNatural treatments are commonly used, namely washing and sun drying. Yunnan has abundant fresh water resources, and it is easy to encounter rainy days during the harvest season, so it is more suitable for production by washing. Washing is also the most common green bean processing method in Yunnan.
Recommended washed Yunnan small grains
The coffee cherries will be sent to the washing plant for processing immediately after being picked. First, the coffee cherries will also be floated in the water to remove defective beans.Next, the coffee fruit will be machined to remove the peel and pulp. At this time, the coffee beans are still wrapped with a thick pectin layer. The processing plant will place the coffee beans into a fermentation tank for fermentation, using the power of microorganisms to decompose the pectin layer, and then wash it repeatedly with clean water. The purpose is to wash away the decomposed pectin layer and remaining pulp.
Finally, the cleaned coffee beans will be sent to drying. Unlike the sun-dried process, which retains all the pulp and pectin layer, the water-washed process removes the pulp, peel and pectin, and the water content is much lower than that of sun-dried coffee berries, so the drying time can be reduced by more than half. Depending on the weather, the drying time is generally about two weeks.
Front Street washed Yunnan small coffee beans
Production area: Baoshan, Yunnan, China
Altitude: 1200m
Breed: Catim
Processing method: washed
Flavor: nutty, herbal, chocolate, caramel, with a touch of fruity acidity in the finish.
Solar processing is the most original and traditional post-processing method for green coffee beans. Compared with washing processing, solar processing can give coffee a richer flavor and a qualitative leap in sweetness.After picking the ripe red coffee cherries, Front Street 2013 Typica will spread the complete fruits evenly on the sun bed and turn each fruit over every half hour. Such frequent operations are to allow the coffee cherries to dry evenly and avoid excessive fermentation, which may cause an unpleasant fermentation feeling.
Front Street 2013 Yunnan Iron Pickup
Production area: Lincang, Yunnan
Manor: Front Street Manor
Altitude: 1300 meters
Variety: Typica
Treatment method: Sun exposure
Flavor: Sweet and sour with dried apricots, nutty tones, sweet with brown sugar, and a tea-like aftertaste
When talking about the flavor characteristics of Yunnan coffee on the street, some described it as chocolate, some said it was like sweet potato, and some friends thought it was like Sanhua plum. The flavor of Nanxiaoli is neutral and balanced, that is, it has both sour, sweet and bitter flavors. It is roasted to a medium temperature, highlighting the roasted aroma of chocolate and nuts while retaining some acidity. From the cupping test, Front Street found that the Yunnan small-grain ration beans present aromas of nuts, herbs, and brown sugar, as well as the sweetness of melons and fruits, as well as the acidity of plums, with a balanced taste. The sun-dried Typica shows the fermentation of chocolate, baked bread, tropical fruits, and the aftertaste of black tea.
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
