YunLan Estate - Natural Chinese Catuaí

Our First Seasonal Special

Spooky & Scary is the first in our new run of limited-edition seasonal coffees. For Halloween, we wanted something with a bit of character, and this natural Catuaí from YunLan fits the bill perfectly. Catuaí is normally quite an unassuming variety, but combined with Yunnan’s terroir, this one has a personality all of its own.

About the Estate

YunLan Estate was founded in 1999 by Shanghai-born Hongjun Zhang, with one clear ambition: to show the world what Yunnan coffee is truly capable of.

The estate sits in a rainforest valley in Menghai County, part of the Xishuangbanna prefecture in the far south of Yunnan, close to the borders of Laos and Myanmar. Coffee here grows at around 1,600–1,800 metres above sea level, in volcanic soils under a lush, tropical canopy.

Rare Varieties, Carefully Grown

Today, YunLan cultivates more than 20 different coffee varieties, working alongside research institutes to reintroduce rare and characterful plant material to the region. This includes Purple Leaf Typica, SL34 and a Gesha programme grown from seed sourced from Panama’s famous La Esmeralda Estate.

After a fire in 2014, Hongjun rebuilt the estate from the ground up, and that fresh start shaped the careful, quality-led approach the farm is known for today. He’s now 80 and still works on the estate, which we think says everything about the care that goes into these coffees.

Our Relationship With YunLan

We first roasted a Typica from YunLan last year, and we’ve been keen to keep the relationship going ever since. This year we sat down with Yufan from Yundian to cup through the estate’s latest lots, and this Catuaí stood out straight away.

Ripe Cherries, Separate Lots

Every cherry at YunLan is hand-picked at full ripeness, and each lot is kept separate through processing. Rather than following the trend for experimental fermentations, the estate focuses on traditional washed, natural and honey processes, believing that clean, transparent processing is the best way to let the land speak in the cup.

Yunnan, in China’s far south-west, is responsible for almost all of the coffee grown in the country. Its mountainous landscape, high altitudes and subtropical climate make it a natural home for Arabica coffee.

Menghai County is best known around the world as one of the great homes of Pu’er tea, and the same rich soils and misty mountain climate that produce exceptional tea are now producing some truly exciting coffees.

Over the last decade, a growing number of dedicated producers like Hongjun Zhang have been investing in better varieties, careful picking and precise processing, and Yunnan is quickly earning its place on the specialty coffee map.

Catuaí was developed in Brazil by the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC), as a cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra.

It combines the vigour and productivity of Mundo Novo with the compact size of Caturra, making it easier to tend and harvest by hand. It is now grown widely across Brazil and Central America, and is valued for its sweetness, balance and gentle acidity.

Grown at altitude in Yunnan and carefully naturally processed at YunLan, it shows a brighter, fruit-forward side of the variety.

Personally, I tend to prefer Catuaí to Typica, so when we heard YunLan had a Catuaí available this year, I was genuinely excited to taste it. It’s every bit as good as I’d hoped.

In natural processing, the whole coffee cherry is dried with the seed still inside the fruit. As it dries, the fruit has a strong influence on the coffee, often bringing extra sweetness, body and ripe fruit character to the cup.

At YunLan, only fully ripe cherries are selected, then spread out to dry slowly in the sun on raised beds. Raised beds let air circulate all around the cherries, helping them dry evenly and keeping the fermentation clean and controlled. This careful approach helps keep the cup clean and expressive, while still showcasing the fruit-forward character naturals are loved for.

If you'd like to learn more, you can enjoy our extremely comprehensive coffee processing guide, which details all of the coffee processes that you're likely to encounter.

YunLan Estate makes a sweet, fruit-led filter coffee and a vibrant espresso that works beautifully black or with milk. My one tip: this coffee loves a slightly higher dose.

• Rest window: Follow the recommended 18–36 days off roast for the best clarity and balance.
• Filter brewing: Start around 1:15–1:16 with a medium-fine grind, adjusting to balance its juicy red grape sweetness and fresh banana leaf notes. Grind quality makes a big difference with filter, so here’s our pick of the best filter coffee grinders for home.
• Espresso: Start with a longer ratio, such as 1:2.2–1:2.4, to showcase its red grape sweetness and tropical dragonfruit character. An even, level tamp matters here too; see our guide to the best coffee tampers.
• My recipe: I like updosing this one. On the Orea V4, start at 16 g coffee to 250 g water, and don’t be afraid to push it to 16 g to 240 g for a sweeter, juicier cup.

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