Introduction to the characteristics of Yunnan Tieka Coffee Flavor Manor

The so-called new variety actually refers to catimor (Katimo), which is the hybrid of timor and Arabica of the Roberta family. Compared with the old variety, it lacks rich aroma and taste, and has a relatively shallow smell of grass and soil, but it has the advantages of resistance to diseases and insect pests, easy to manage, large yield, and its yield per mu can reach up to 350kg raw beans, which is more than twice that of the old variety.

So when Nestl é succeeded in promoting high-yield new varieties in Pu'er in the 1990s, brown farmers in Baoshan area also cut down old varieties and changed them to new ones. With a round of coffee expansion, new varieties are increasing and old varieties are decreasing day by day. Finally, today's situation: the old varieties have almost been cut down, and the little ones that survived are all "old, weak, sick and disabled". Most of the trees are more than 20 years old. Over the years, the output and quality are not as good as they used to be.

Of course, if it is used to make instant coffee or general commercial beans, high-yield catimor is a good choice, but if you want to look for Yunnan specialty coffee, then the old variety of iron pickup has become the first choice because of its congenital excellent genes. Therefore, this trip to Yunnan also followed the trail of the old varieties. But the reality is really cruel. Before going, Brother Zou told me that there was an old variety in his relative's house, but what he saw excitedly was a crazy growing coffee forest, which belonged to his aunt. Because the aunt was too old and did not have the strength to replant and renovate-- these old varieties survived, but the aunt was unable to manage it alone, so he let the tree grow naturally and pick some fruit when it was ripe.

The Root-seeking Journey of Coffee in Yunnan (2)-- the Old Variety Iron pickup & the New Variety Katimo

(for more than 20-year-old varieties, some of the old coffee trees next to them had just been cut down when we went there.)

Later, I went to the village of Zhang Bao's younger brother in another mountain. Several hills nearby are coffee gardens in their village, but at present there are only two mu of old varieties in the village. Fortunately, this family still looks very healthy because of its good management, and it is still in the harvest period. I saw the ripe red fruit of coffee. After discussing with the owner, we decided to buy back 10 kilograms of raw beans and taste them. The fruits just picked at the end of last year are still preserved in the warehouse in the form of shell beans. The next morning we shelled and processed together. After shelling, there were 18.5 kilograms of raw beans of different sizes. There were many broken beans, adzuki beans and bad beans. After drying, there were still many defective beans, so we chose them by hand on the spot. By the time the final selection was made, there were still 9 kilograms of qualified ones left-and by this time most of the morning had already passed.

The Root-seeking Journey of Coffee in Yunnan (2)-- the Old Variety Iron pickup & the New Variety Katimo

So what about the new variety? If you look at the coffee tree, you can see its advantage.

The Root-seeking Journey of Coffee in Yunnan (2)-- the Old Variety Iron pickup & the New Variety Katimo

(the left is the new variety, the right is the old variety-the output is twice the same, but the price is about the same. Although the price of the old variety is higher in recent years, it is only a difference of a few yuan, which is the main reason why the old variety is becoming less and less.)

I heard that the old variety of coffee trees in Yunnan was originally reduced from 50000 mu to 5000 mu, but now there are no more than 500mu left. do the old varieties really want to become extinct?

Add: I was a little surprised to see that this article had more than 2000 hits. I looked back at the text written in 2012 for fear of misleading everyone because of what I had seen. In fact, this article was just a situation and feelings at that time five years ago. I went to Yunnan every year in the past few years, and the development of the producing area is better than one year. Interested friends please refer to the latest trip to Yunnan in 2016.