Chuanwei

Yunnan arabica: why Chinese coffee is worth buying

· Chuanwei

Yunnan sits at the same latitude band as the classic arabica origins and grows at 1,200 to 1,700 m, which is why it can produce clean, sweet coffee despite the habit of treating "Chinese coffee" as a novelty. The province has grown arabica since the 1980s, mostly Catimor and Caturra, and the speciality end has moved to washed and anaerobic lots from named farms.

What is on the shelf

Green lots for home roast and roasted lots for the grinder, from Luyuan, Baoshan, Ximeng, Menglian, Yiwu and Pu'er. Varieties include Geisha, Purple-Leaf Typica, Caturra and Catimor, with washed, honey, anaerobic and wine-yeast natural processing.

Green or roasted

Green beans are held in the US by the importer and shipped unroasted; they keep for a year in a cool dry place. Roasted stock is held in New York and dispatched domestically with the roast date on the bag. Neither needs a signature and neither counts toward the tobacco cap.

Roasting it yourself

Yunnan washed lots take a normal profile. The anaerobics need a gentler ramp or the ferment turns to vinegar. Start at 200 g batches until you know the bean.

See the coffee list.

All guides

Tobacco is 21+: an adult signature and a government photo ID are checked at the door, and one tobacco parcel is capped at 10 lb, about 18 cartons. Coffee needs neither and never counts toward that cap. Parallel-import or importer-held stock throughout, so packaging and tax stamps vary by batch.