Coffee was first cultivated in China in the late 1800s on a small scale, introduced by French missionaries in Yunnan. Yunnan province – a mountainous and fertile land in the south west of China, is responsible for over 97% of China’s coffee production. Over half of this production is concentrated around Pu’er – a region famous for centuries old tradition of tea. 

Production at scale didn’t take off for nearly 100 years, despite government initiatives back in the 1960s. Unsurprising in a region known for the amount and quality of tea that grows. It was in 1988, as part of another government-led project assisted by the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank, that coffee began to be commercially produced for export through companies such as Nestle. 

Coffee production stayed relatively small until around 2009, when a significant increase occurred. This is possibly due to the low price of tea at the time and a brief spike in the global coffee prices. The focus on specialty is relatively recent, with the past decade seeing smaller coffee farms and producers improving their knowledge and skills e.g. processing techniques to produce better quality coffee . Until not long ago the best of the Chinese coffee was only available on China, but in the recent years excellent coffees are being exported. This higher quality coffees come from single farms or group of producers and is expected to see better and better quality every year. 

The better coffees coming from China typically are sweet and fruity. Relatively low in acidity and full bodied.