Major Chinese Tea Hub Branches Into Coffee As Tastes Change Across Newer Generations – CoffeeTalk

Pu’er, a type of richly fermented tea, has been known across East Asia and beyond for centuries. However, as younger Chinese cultivate a taste for punchy espressos, frothy lattes, and flat whites, growers are increasingly branching out into tea’s historic rival. Liao, a trained roaster and barista, has run the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation for three generations. Nestled in a shady valley, spindly coffee trees line its steep hillsides, their cherry-like fruit drying on wooden pallets outside.

Every year, Pu’er’s plantations sell tens of thousands of tons of coffee to major Chinese cities, according to government data. The area is still better known for its centuries-old tea trade. Liao’s grandfather, Liao Xiugui, said “nobody knew anything about coffee” when he arrived in Pu’er a few decades ago. The region’s relatively high altitude and temperate climate were well-suited to the unfamiliar crop.

Liao Xiugui himself drinks two or three cups a day, and credits the caffeinated beverage for keeping him spry in his advanced years. Drinking coffee can make him younger and healthier, and prevent ageing. Additionally, everyone is tired at work these days and wants to give their brains a boost.

China’s coffee output has risen dramatically in recent years, though it still lags far behind traditional powerhouses such as Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia. Yunnan, near three borders with Southeast Asian nations, accounts for virtually all of China’s coffee production, much of it concentrated in Pu’er.

Keen to further expand the sector, officials have rolled out policies to improve production, attract investment, and boost exports. They have also merged coffee production with tourism, dovetailing with a central government push to increase domestic consumption. Longtime farmer Yu Dun, 51, said she had opened new income streams with plantation tours, homestays, and a restaurant fusing coffee with the cuisine of her native Dai ethnicity.

Longtime farmer Yu Dun, 51, said her prospects were bright, adding that she also earned “10 times” more revenue from her beans since learning to process and roast them herself. “We used to say only rich people could drink coffee, but that’s all changed now,” she said.

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