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Better farming practices are being employed in some cases, and coffee is being planted at higher elevations than before. The cup is still quite basic in some ways, as the varieties planted, environment and altitudes do not culminate in creating a Central America type flavor profileFlavor Profile implies a graphical impression of a particular coffee, whether it be an artistic portrait or data graph of the perception of flavor compounds. In the case... ...more, or other established origins. But it has a soft coffee quality, balanced, good bodyAssociated with and sensed by mouthfeel, body is sense of weight and thickness of the brew, caused by the percentage of soluble solids in the cup, including all... ...more, and a modicum of acidity
Acidity is a positive flavor attribute in coffee, also referred to as brightness or liveliness. It adds a brilliance to the cup, whereas low acid coffees can seem... ...more.
While there is China coffee production of robusta
Ateng is a common name for Catimor coffees widely planted in Sumatra and other Indonesia isles.: Ateng, with several subtypes, is a common name for Catimor coffees widely... ...more on the island of Hainan and in Fujian Province, most organized arabicaArabica refers to Coffea Arabica, the taxonomic species name of the genus responsible for around 75% of the worlds commercial coffee crop.: Arabica refers to Coffea Arabica, the... ...more coffee production is from 4 zones in the Yunnan province. So our experience has been entirely with Yunnan coffee.
Starting 10 years ago, we began receiving some interesting emails about Chinese Yunnan Arabica coffee. I had only cupped various types of commercial grade Yunnan coffees grown under 1000 meters.
The emails would read “You can order this coffee in whatever style you want : Central American wet-processed style , Brazilian semi washed or dry-processed style, Sumatran semi wet hull style. It is unique”. The fact is, until recently I have not found much of any flavor in these commercial coffees. It is suited toward the mass “industrial coffee market” meaning the R & G (roasted and ground) coffee market and institutional roasting.
I know that every originIn coffee talk, it refers to a coffee-producing region or country; such as, "I was just at origin." Of course "Origin" for most product we use is not... ...more that is newly introduced to the market piques the interest, but that doesn’t always make it good! VarietyA botanical variety is a rank in the taxonomic hierarchy below the rank of species and subspecies and above the rank of form (form / variety / subspecies... ...more without quality is not really sustainable.
But more recently I received a sample of Yunnan coffee that was markedly better, a specialty-level coffee judging by the cupping
Cupping is a method of tasting coffee by steeping grounds in separate cups for discrete amounts of ground coffee, to reveal good flavors and defects to their fullest.... ...more results. It was from the ManLao River Plantation, that ranges from 3500-4500 feet, with the coffee coming from smallholder farms as well as a large estateA "coffee estate" is used to imply a farm that has its own processing facility, a wet-mill. In Spanish this is called an Hacienda. A Finca (farm) does... ...more. In fact the main focus of the project is to assist the adjacent farming communities.
The cup was clean, bright and had good sweetnessSweetness is an important positive quality in fine coffees, and is one of five basic tastes: Sour, Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Savory (Umami). In coffee, sweetness is a highly... ...more, and was well processed. It was not a fresh new cropRefers to fresh shipments of green coffee within the first month or two of the earliest arrivals ... not quite the same as Current Crop, which means the... ...more sample so it scored 84, but it could be an 85-86 point in the future.
Yunnan can produce good coffee, and sometimes it’s simply a matter of what you are exposed to that colors those perceptions about specific coffee origins.
Sadly for us, the program we were connected to ended, and since then we haven’t seen coffee with the same taste profile, or the same intention to provide a market to small scale producers. We hope to learn more about the quality potential of arabica coffee in China, and see what other zones might be able to produce good coffee!
Check to see if we are offering China from Coffee
Country Profiles:
Terrain of coffee land in Yunnan, China
Terrain of coffee land in Yunnan, China
Yunnan arabica coffee in China
Yunnan arabica coffee in China
Forestry of coffee land in Yunnan, China
Forestry of coffee land in Yunnan, China
Terrain of coffee land in Yunnan, China
Terrain of coffee land in Yunnan, China
Manlao coffee farm China
Manlao coffee farm China
Pulped coffee in process, Yunnan China
Pulped coffee in process, Yunnan China
Coffee varieties Yunnan, China
Forestry of coffee land in Yunnan, China
Yunnan arabica coffee cherryOriginally coffee literature referred to the fruit of the tree as a "berry" but in time it became a cherry. It is of course neither. Nor is the... ...more in China
Yunnan arabica coffee cherry
Either a flavor in the coffee, or referring to the fruit of the coffee tree, which somewhat resembles a red cherry.: Either a flavor in the coffee, or... ...more in China
SM-Coffee-China-Yunan-Manlao-10
Manlao coffee farm China
Yunnan arabica coffee in China
Yunnan arabica coffee in China
Road in Yunnan coffee area China
Road in Yunnan coffee area China
Manlao coffee farm China
Manlao coffee farm China
Coffee farm in Yunnan China
Coffee farm in Yunnan China
Coffee farm in Yunnan China
Coffee farm in Yunnan China
Images in our gallery are courtesy of ManLao River Plantation, supplied when we last stocked their coffee. Sadly availability has been slim, and the local market is buying most of the production.
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