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What's Special About Yunnan Coffee?

What's Special About Yunnan Coffee?

By A'wa Coffee

What’s Special About Yunnan Coffee?

Many things make Yunnan special. For a start, it’s home to the largest number of indigenous communities in China with most of the country’s officially recognised ethnic minority groups residing here, including the fascinating Wa people. 

The traditions and cultures of these groups are preserved in hills and valleys across the region, while the province’s borders with Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar add to the area’s diversity. 

More importantly though (at least in terms of coffee quality), the region offers optimal growing conditions for Arabica coffee plants. The best farms benefit from higher altitudes where coffee takes longer to grow and matures slower, therefore allowing sweeter, more complex and richer flavours to develop. 

Due to its proximity to the world’s tropical zone and its high altitudes, Yunnan’s climate has often been compared to major coffee producing countries like Indonesia and Colombia. 

The rolling hills and high mountains of Yunnan are still primarily used for growing tea, but these very same elevated slopes, fertile lands and temperate microclimates are now becoming home to an ever growing number of specialty coffee farms.  

The best Yunnan coffee farms benefit from higher altitudes where coffee takes longer to grow and matures more slowly, therefore allowing sweeter, more complex and richer flavours to develop.