Coffee came to Yunnan in the late nineteenth century, brought by French missionaries, but it only became an industry in the late 1980s when the provincial government and international buyers started planting arabica on a large scale. Today Yunnan produces the overwhelming majority of China's coffee, and the better lots - grown at 1,000 to 1,600 metres in Pu'er, Baoshan, Lincang and Dehong - are sold as single origin.
Where to go
Pu'er, in the south of the province, has the densest concentration of farms and processing stations, many of them set among tea terraces and forest, with tasting rooms and guest accommodation. Baoshan, west of Kunming, is the other major area and has the advantage of being closer to the city. Several farms take visitors for a day: a walk through the rows, an explanation of the shading trees used to slow the ripening of the cherry, a look at the pulping station and the raised drying beds, and a cupping or a simple tasting at the end.
When to visit
The harvest runs from around November to February, and that is the only time you can see picking and processing in action. Smallholders pick selectively by hand, often several passes over the same row as the cherries ripen. Outside the season you can still visit, taste and buy, but the drying beds will be empty and the work will be pruning and maintenance.
What the coffee tastes like
Yunnan arabica is generally soft, nutty and chocolatey with moderate acidity - closer to a Brazilian profile than an Ethiopian one - though washed lots from higher farms have more fruit and structure. Honey and natural process lots, which dry the fruit on the bean, are increasingly common and taste distinctly sweeter.
Practical notes
Visits are usually arranged by booking ahead with the farm; day trips from Kunming to Baoshan take around three hours each way by car, and Pu'er is four to five hours or a short flight. Bring cash for beans if you want to buy, and ask for the roast date and whether the bag is valve-sealed - freshly roasted coffee from a farm is a good, light souvenir to carry home.
