Yunnan coffee is a coffee that stands on the wave of the times. After a century of tempering, the domestic demand for coffee is increasing, and the quality of Yunnan coffee is also constantly improving.
Yunnan is one of the few areas in my country that can grow coffee. Yunnan is located in the golden belt of coffee cultivation, which is between the North and South Tropic of Cancer. Yunnan arabica coffee also has a long history. It originated from the wild coffee produced in Africa. It was later introduced to Europe through Arabia and became widely known, hence the name. In the 1890s, it was introduced to Zhukula, Binchuan County, Dali, China. Since then, it has taken root and developed in mainland China. The characteristics of Yunnan coffee beans have also become the representative of Chinese coffee, so Yunnan coffee is also called "Yunnan arabica coffee".
Hainan in my country also produces coffee beans, among which the coffee beans produced in Wanning and Xinglong are the most famous. The climate conditions in Hainan are the same as those in Yunnan, which is warm and humid. The average annual temperature is between 22 degrees and 26 degrees, and the annual rainfall is as high as 16,000 millimeters. Even if the conditions for planting Hainan coffee are available, the yield of Hainan coffee is very low. However, Front Street learned that the topography of Hainan coffee and Yunnan coffee are different. For example, the fertile soil of Hainan Island contains volcanic ash. The loose, fertile, and organic soil is very suitable for the cultivation of coffee trees. However, the sunshine in Hainan is too strong, which is undoubtedly a disadvantage for the coffee trees. However, just planting some taller plants such as rubber near the coffee trees can provide shade. On the contrary, the weather in Yunnan is foggy, which can provide a good shade for the coffee trees.
There is also something that everyone is paying close attention to - Yunnan coffee varieties. Yunnan now mainly grows the Catim variety. If you know more about Yunnan coffee, you will find that Yunnan also grows a small amount of Typica and Bourbon coffee. These two ancient coffee varieties are the "fathers" of Yunnan Arabica. Typica is the earliest representative of Yunnan small grains.
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Typica is the oldest native variety in Ethiopia and all Arabica coffee is derived from Typica. The top leaves of Typica are bronze in color, and the bean shape is oval or thin and pointed. It has an elegant flavor, but has poor disease resistance and a low fruit yield. It is suitable for hand brewing and cold brewing.
Typica is easily affected by leaf rust, and its yield is low, so coffee farmers are reluctant to plant it, because it takes at least three or four years from planting to sowing of coffee trees. The low-yielding Typica harvest cannot sustain the lives of the locals, and the high-yielding Catim coffee is naturally more favored by coffee farmers.In addition, Catim coffee has the genes of Arabica coffee and Robusta coffee. While inheriting the disease resistance of Robusta, the extracted coffee oil is also relatively rich. It is not only suitable for hand brewing, but also can be used for brewing in Moka pots and American coffee machines.
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The Catim variety is a coffee variety obtained in Portugal in 1959 through the cross between Timor and Caturra, which is highly resistant to leaf rust, coffee berry disease and has high fruit yield. Because Catim has the genes of the Robusta bean, its flavor is rich and thick, with a hint of imperfection.
Front Street uses a three-stage method to brew this Yunnan coffee bean. First use 30 grams of hot water to fully wet the coffee powder layer. The second water injection time is when the electronic scale displays 30 seconds. Starting from the middle, inject a small water column into the bottom of the powder layer. In order to allow the penetrating power of the water column to be concentrated, the range of movement in the circle should be small, and then circle out.
In this process, try to control the speed of the water flow. The water flow should not be large or small, and the water flow should not be interrupted. Because the small amount of water injected will cause the coffee powder to be incompletely soaked, the coffee will have an obvious rough and astringent feeling in the entrance, and the aftertaste will be short. If the amount of water is too much, the hot water in the steaming part of the first stage will not extract enough coffee ingredients. The flavor of the extracted coffee will be relatively single, and the acidity extracted in the first stage will be obviously prominent, thus covering up other flavors. Front Street believes that the stable water flow circle range can be circled from the inside to the outside, from the outside to the inside, or the center can be filled with water and spread. These hand gestures can be made according to your own habits.
For the third stage of water injection, FrontStreet Coffee recommends that you carefully observe the degree of water level drop at this time, and start the third stage of water injection before preparing to expose the powder bed. Also start from the center and give water in a circle, and the amount of water should not exceed the height of the powder layer. Stop filling water at 1 minute and 50 seconds, and complete filtration in 2 minutes.
Then Front Street came to the following conclusions about the flavor characteristics of these two Yunnan coffee beans through tasting:
Cupping results of Yunnan Huaguoshan coffee beans: rich melon and fruit aroma, herbal aroma, smooth entrance, nutty middle part, chocolate flavor, lively and bright plum acidity at the end, and black tea and brown sugar flavor at the end.
Cupping results of Yunnan arabica coffee beans: bright acidity, soft sourness, good mellow balance, rich layers, obvious aftertaste of dark chocolate, honey, and sucrose, and after complete cooling, the flavor of brown sugar.
Yunnan arabica coffee is relatively neutral in taste, neither too sour nor too bitter. It is a coffee that is truly fragrant but not bitter, strong but not strong, slightly acidic and comfortable, and is more in line with public tastes. If you prefer fruit acidity, you should specifically choose Yunnan arabica coffee beans grown at high altitudes and lightly roasted. These beans have high acidity and weak bitterness. If you just don’t like sourness, then choose dark roasted beans, but the bitterness will be higher.
The method of making cold brew with Front Street Yunnan arabica coffee is actually very simple, we just need to find the right parameters.
Front Street’s cold brewing plan uses 50 grams of coffee powder, and the reduction powder-to-liquid ratio is 1:10. Therefore, by adding 600 ml of cold water, the water absorption rate of the coffee powder will be twice that of itself. Stir evenly, seal and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Then take out the coffee grounds and filter them with filter paper, then use a clean sealed bottle to seal the coffee liquid and store it in the refrigerator for more than 12 hours.
After extraction, it can be kept in the refrigerator for 5 days. During the preservation process, the coffee liquid is still fermenting in the bottle. The fermentation process will also produce different levels of aromatic changes in the taste of the coffee. It is generally recommended to put the extracted cold green coffee in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days before drinking, because during the process of leaving it overnight for 24 to 36 hours, as time goes by, the coffee liquid is fully alcoholized and the flavor is better.
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
