One of the unique flavor of coffee produced in Taiwan, Yunnan and Vietnam is it’s tea like taste notes. It somehow even correlates to the taste of tea produced in that area – Oolong and Pu’er.
Is the tea tone coming from the soil and micro-climate of these regions? Or it’s coming from the processing (and marketing as well?) that these experienced producers trying to position their coffee. No matter how that happened, as a roaster, I’m more than happy to follow the game. Roasting these coffee lighter is the best way to present these tea like coffee. Let’s enjoy the coffee while thinking about tea.
Taiwan Alishan Oolong
Taiwan Alishan is a famous Oolong growing area. Farmers are already in a their 3rd or 4th generation growing tea that can reach export grade. Growing high quality tea makes enough money for the farmers to raise family and kids. They are well educated and with proper market information. When the newer generation taking over the farm, they capture the opportunity of speciality coffee market. Now more and more farmers in the region grow both tea and coffee side-by-side.
Taiwan has a long history of growing coffee, dating back to the time when Japanese were ruling the island. But coffee growing on the island never match the other islands like Sumatra or Java. It’s only until recently, when farmers are trying to grow speciality coffee that production start ramping up. Among a dozen growing regions that Taiwanese farmers tried, Alishan in Chaiyi county produces the best cup.
Alishan has very high altitude farms, some can go up to 2000m above sea level. It’s not the only reason for producing high quality cup, but the practice of the farmers. Most of the award-winning coffee producers in Alishan, e.g. Zou Estate, Zhouwu Coffee Farm, etc. are running by very experienced famers. With full access to electricity, small machines, and knowledge (they are Q-grader & SCA AST instructors themselves), pulling quality to the limit is only a matter of time.
More reading: A guide to the Taiwanese coffee sector, Perfect Daily Grind 17/2/2022
China Yunnan Pu’er
Pu’er is a name of a fermented tea and also a city in Yunnan province in Mainland China. HKer drink a lot of Pu’er, especially drinking together with dim-sum. We are very familiar with this black tea taste.
Tea growing area in Yunnan are located in those valleys between high mountain ranges around Pu’er city, e.g. Menglian 孟连县, Xishuangbanna 西双版纳. That’s also where the Yunnan speciality coffee being grown. When Starbucks first enter China market, they initiate a research projects in this area to see whether coffee can grow. After 15 years, some coffee farms have been able to produce constantly. Most of the production are commercial grade coffee feeding the local market for espresso blend.
In 2018, the first Pu’er International Specialty Coffee Expo was organised. For most traders and roasters, this is the first time they know China can grow speciality grade coffee. But traceability is still a big problem of Pu’er coffee. Although it’s so closed to Hong Kong physically and culturally, we still cannot source trust Pu’er coffee that easily.
More reading: Single-origin coffee from Yunnan in China, known for Pu-erh tea, finds fans in the West and at home, SCMP 23/7/2022
Vietnam Central Highlands
Vietnam Central Highlands is the largest tea growing area in Vietnam. Vietnam is not focus on high quality speciality grade tea. Rather they capture a decent share of high volume commercial grade tea market. Same case followed by coffee growing.
Vietnam has surpassed Colombia to become the world 2nd larger coffee producing country just behind Brazil. But most of them are commercial grade coffee, 95% are Robusta. Very few producers are growing Arabica. That’s why we seldom see Vietnam in speciality coffee shop or roaster.
Central Highlands are where majority of Vietnam coffee grown. For speciality Arabica, it’s mainly grown by smallholders in mountainous areas at high altitudes with lower temperatures. Regions like Da Lat, Dien Bien, Nghe An, Son La, and Quang Tri start gaining reputation of producing speciality coffee for Vietnam.
More reading: A breakdown of Vietnamese coffee-producing regions, Perfect Daily Grind 1/12/2021
Growing Tea and Coffee
Drinking tea is a tradition in these Asian chopsticks diet countries. There is no point to argue giving up tea growing. Indeed Yunnan is believed to be the birthplace for wild tea, just like the Ethiopia’ position in coffee. A more interesting perspective is how to grow coffee and tea together, by borrowing tea farming practice, processing, and appreciation to coffee.