What are the main varieties of Chinese coffee? is the quality of Chinese coffee constantly improving?

Until recently, most coffee grown in China was known for its low price and generally low quality. It is mainly exported to the world through companies such as Starbucks and Nestl é. Over the past decade, however, smaller Chinese coffee farms have not only begun to produce better quality coffee, but have also become more sustainable.

Nowadays Yunnan coffee tends to have a remarkable sweetness and unique taste. "distinguished by the characteristics of its tropical fruit, it is also an excellent substitute for mild water-washed coffee, and in terms of price, its fuselage is very good and can perform well in almost any mixture."

The planting area of coffee in China exceeded 1.2 billion square meters in 2016. In the same year, China produced more than 140000 tons of coffee, accounting for about 1.5 per cent of the world's total coffee production.

Due to the improvement of quality and unique flavor characteristics, Yunnan coffee itself is getting better and better, rather than as a part of mixed coffee.

Katim CATIMOR: the mainstay of Yunnan

As a hybrid of Caturra and Timor, Catimor has some genetic roots in canephora (robusta) species, which provides it with stronger disease resistance.

This makes it particularly suitable for growing in China, where coffee leaf rust is a common problem. The yield of Catimor is also relatively high, averaging between 3 and 5.25 tons per hectare per year.

However, Catimor plants tend to grow much faster than other varieties. This may lead to a deterioration in the flavor of coffee because the sugar does not have time to play its full role.

This means that there is some stigma around the quality of Catimor, but Tom Mitchell, president of Strategic Coffee concept and organizer of Pu'er International Specialty Fair, explains why China's Catimor tends to be of higher quality.

"Catimor is not very famous, but by comparison, Catimor grown in China is really good. This is because cool nights in China make cherries grow more slowly. [what we see] some of the 85 coffees are Catimors. " In China, although Typica has been struggling, Bourbons and Pacamaras have performed well in the area of research and development.

Natural processing

Washing is the most common method in China, but more farmers are turning to natural processing for experiments. People want more [Chinese natural], but the cost of production is really high, and it's hard to achieve consistency. Consumers are unwilling to pay a price that makes farmers feel good value for money.

Improve sustainability

Even if the quality has improved recently, China's coffee production still faces many challenges. First, there is a lack of infrastructure to limit capacity growth. In addition, many farmers still rely on outdated or ineffective processing equipment, which can affect quality. Finally, although washing is the most popular method, there are also many droughts in Yunnan.

Most small farmers have scale problems. Most of these farms cannot produce enough coffee or even process it themselves. These producers usually form alliances with a village (or a larger coffee-producing community). Sometimes it's tribal; they're like a cooperative, working with 50 to 500 farms.

But the improvement of Yunnan coffee also lies in achieving consistency, determining the production cost of the farm, and improving the general practices around wet and dry grinding.

Yunnan Cartimos is medium-bodied and high-acidity. Yunnan's natural products have the taste of fudge, plums and black tea, while the washed Yunnan products have obvious fruit flavor and clean acidity.

The Future of Chinese Coffee

More than half of Yunnan's coffee production is concentrated in Pu'er, which creates the potential to grow more coffee. The area has [almost] unlimited land. They have great potential to grow more coffee. There is no reason why farmers cannot produce 10 or 15 million bags of coffee a year. " The uniqueness of Chinese coffee helps to enhance consumer interest and market forces. "

What about the future of internal consumption? Well, the number of coffee shops in China has doubled in the past five years alone. Coffee consumption in China is growing rapidly. This trend is attributed to Chinese millennials, who are more exposed to Western culture than their elders.

The younger generation is promoting higher quality not only in cafes, but also on Chinese farms. "Young people returning to the farm are becoming more and more involved. Many of them are well-educated and formally trained in business, and they understand globalization as if they had been to big cities.

"they are promoting this change. Once they start working on the farm, the quality begins to improve faster. "

Despite the challenges faced by farmers, the demand and quality of Chinese coffee is growing at an alarming rate. As producers seize more opportunities to invest and implement more sustainable agricultural practices, they can certainly take advantage of this potential.