Coffee is a favorite beverage in Yunnan, as well as a valuable export. Yunnan has a broadly based coffee industry, with coffee farms, coffee mills, coffee manufacturers and coffee shops.
The majority of coffee produced in China is grown in the Yunnan Province. Tea in Yunnan goes back thousands of years, but the history of coffee in Yunnan Province only goes back a little more than a century. The most robust growth in the production of coffee has taken place during the last few decades, when many of Yunnan's fertile hillsides have been planted with coffee.
The climate and topography of Yunnan make it an ideal environment for a huge variety of plants, including coffee. Coffee was first planted in the heart of Yunnan during the 19th Century after missionaries brought coffee plants with them.
As coffee continues to grow in popularity globally, coffee production in Yunnan has expanded. Today coffee is cultivated on some 120,000 hectares in Yunnan.
The Chinese government has declared a focus on coffee production in response to the continued explosion of demand globally. The government is trying to promote a drastic rise in production nationally.
Coffee cultivation in Yunnan is concentrated mostly around nine cities, including Pu’er, Baoshan, Dehong, Lincang, Wenshan and Xishuangbanna, which together produce 95 percent of the coffee grown in Yunnan.
Yunnan washed coffees (Catimors) are characterized by a high body. That combined with other desirable qualities characteristic of the geological profile of the region, creates a unique flavor profile that is gaining a reputation for Yunnan as an Emerging Specialty Origin.
The latitudinal position of Yunnan produces cool evening temperatures at higher altitudes, which tends to increase the sweetness of coffee. So Yunnan produces coffee that is full-bodied and sweet.
Some industry professionals have compared Yunnan coffee to a Columbian washed coffee, but Yunnan coffee has its own fragrance profile, which is gaining popularity as it is exported around the world. In Yunnan you can taste that coffee at its freshest in the land that produced it.
Here are some places to buy or experience the coffee of Yunnan Province.
1. Bayanghai Coffee Studio(八两海咖啡工作室)
Address: Room 104, Unit 2, Building 3, No. 197 Yieryi Street, Kunming City, Yunnan Province (云南省昆明市一二一大街197号3栋2单元104)
2. WARM (暖和)
Address: No.9 Tongren Street, Kunming City, Yunnan Province (云南省昆明市同仁街9号)
3. Salvador's Coffee House (萨尔瓦多咖啡馆)
Address: No.76-16, Wenhua Xiang, Wenlin Street, Kunming City, Yunnan Province (云南省昆明市文林街文化巷76号-16)
The Yunnan coffee planting area is distributed in Pu’er, Xishuangbanna, Wenshan, Baoshan and Dehong and other places in the south and southwest of Yunnan.
