China’s Coffee Secret Is Hidden Near Myanmar 🇨🇳🇲🇲

I have never seen a coffee pot of this kind. I don't know if the coffee is good, but the way they make it is very vibey. You probably know that China is famous for tea, but deep in the Nuzhang Valley, we discovered a completely different flavor of Yunnan, coffee. In this episode, we're going to discover this hidden coffee world, taste some unique local beans, meet the farmers, and join them for a random mushroom hunt. I think I saw my mushroom. Ah, I found one! Boss, I'd like a big bowl of Ersi. Good morning everyone, welcome back. Right now I'm having a typical Dali breakfast, Ersi. I just got my bowls. You get noodles all over China, but Yunnan noodles are a bit special. Here it's called Ersi, so it's basically a rice cake, a sticky rice cake that is cut into noodle shape and then poured into this broth. And then there are some slow-cooked pork until it gets really, really tender, together with some bean sprouts, some herbs, some chili pepper. Oh yes, Flo got his Hong San Duo. Yeah, it's basically a rice dish with some red vegetables and some pork. It's very delicious. Those are very, very typical Yunnan dishes. I think in Shanghai you probably have to pay 38 for this bowl, but here it's only 9 yuan, and it's a small bowl. And Flo's dish is only 12 yuan, the Hong San Duo. And it's definitely more than enough for one person. Thank you, boss. It's delicious. We just finished our lunch. I'm so full right now. I didn't finish that big bowl of rice noodle. And before I wear my helmet, let me tell you our today's plan. So today we'll be driving south towards Tengchong, and today probably we will end up in Lujiangba or Lushui County. So it's about 300 kilometers ride to a place where you see lots of coffee plantations. So you probably don't know that China even has coffee. And in Yunnan, in Lujiangba, there is China's most famous coffee produce. And I think we're going to visit quite some coffee farms and also coffee factories here. Let's go. This is somewhere near the old town of Dali, so it's quite lovely. Lots of people, lots of small restaurants. And the elevation of Dali is over around 2,000 meters. So even now in July, in Hangzhou, it was super hot. This is like 35, 38 degrees, but here it's 25. Very, very comfortable and lots and lots of sunshine. We're getting closer to Baoshan and Lushui now, and we are just crossing the Lujiang River. This is the Lujiang River. It's so red right now because now it's a raining season, so the river is very dusty. But if we come here in winter, the river will be very clear and very blue. During summer, Lujiang receives a lot of rainfall. We were really lucky today. We managed to avoid getting completely soaked. For now, the sky is still clear and the sun is still on our side. As we are going lower now, it's getting humid and pretty hot. I have never seen a coffee pot of this kind. I don't know if the coffee is good, but the way they make it is very vibey. That is our order, a joker. Smells like a good cup of coffee. It's quite a lot, to be honest. I don't know if we will be able to finish it, but it smells good. Even locals are here for the coffee, but apparently they don't like the bitter coffee. It's not bad. I would say it's a solid 7 out of 10. Really? I think so, it's not bad. But you are not a coffee expert anyway. I'm becoming one. Those stands are all coffee stands. Starting with a simple cup of roadside coffee, we slowly began to discover the atmosphere of the coffee farms here. In this warm valley, tropical fruits grow everywhere. But coffee tells a different story. Most coffee trees are planted higher up in the mountains. The cooler temperatures at higher altitudes slow down the growth of the coffee cherries, allowing the beans to develop more complex flavors. Hello. Come and have lunch with us. Lunch? No, no. Can I visit your coffee fields? No, no, no. He doesn't want to. I want to visit your coffee fields. Okay. Are these all your coffee fields? Yes. Okay. Let's eat. We just had lunch. Thank you. You've been here for a few days. We just arrived. Did you come here a few days ago? No, we didn't. I saw you driving here a few days ago. Did you come here a few days ago? Yes, we did. I saw you driving here a few days ago. Thank you. Go down this way. Okay. There's a windmill over there. Okay. Can you give me a hand? Okay. I don't know if I can do it. This way. What do you want to see? We want to see the coffee you grow. Go down this way. Okay. What kind of coffee do you grow here? What do you want to see? I think we'll probably interrupt them. Wow. What kind of bean is this? This? This is Katimo. Katimo. Yes. When will it be ready? In August or September. In October. Two more months. October. August 15th. This one is red in August or September. August or September. Okay. Come and see it in August or September. They grow coffee. Okay. The coffee here is the same. You can come and see it in a month. Okay. They said under the coffee tree, there are the so-called Hawaii nuts, so macadamia, basically. They are so nice. Okay. And there are lots of goods. Don't worry, they'll bite you. I didn't know what macadamia looks like, actually. I didn't know it grows like this. Okay. Okay, wow. Okay. Hey, let's go and get the mushrooms. This is something that I have been dreaming of, looking for mushrooms. And they are going, so we settle going with them for sure. Oh. You know, to look for mushrooms, you really need to go with people who know where the mushrooms grow. Every year, it's the same spot. It's kind of the secret spot. Oh. These are really fast. They are really mountain people. They go really fast. Wow. They are really fast. He was wearing flip flops, but he walked as if it's on flat land. Oh. Oh, wow. I got my first mushroom. Oh, wow. Look, those two. Look, look, three. Oh, wow. Wow. Oh. I found another one, but maybe this one is for me. Ah. Oh, wow. Oh. Ah. There are different kinds apparently. So there are different kinds. They taste all different. This one is a bit bitter, so they don't want it. Oh. Ha, ha, ha. Oh. Ha, ha, ha. After we finished picking mushrooms, the guides insisted that we take some home. They had already found a whole bag in just 20 minutes. I couldn't help thinking if I spent a whole day mushroom hunting with them, I could probably collect a mountain of mushrooms. At that moment, I honestly want to leave Flo behind and stay here picking mushrooms with them. Across the entire Lushanba Valley, there are hundreds of coffee farms and estates. Almost everywhere you go, you can stop by, sit down, and enjoy a cup of locally grown Yunnan coffee. And if you'd like to see the hidden corners of China with us, you can check out our newly released tours. We'll take you beyond the famous sites to discover some of the most unexpected stories from borderland Yunnan. We've tried three different kinds of coffee. So this is the Kati Ma, the most typical bean. That's the Tipica. And that's the Geisha, which is internationally renowned as the most fancy and most expensive bean. It originates from Ethiopia, which is also considered as the mother country of coffee beans. I've just learned that in the last 16 hours of my journey to becoming a coffee expert. And I did a blind test, and I fairly could distinguish them. So this one is a little bit more fruity. This one is a little bit dull and acid-like, I would say. And this one I think is the most flavorful. It has a flowery taste. It's very aromatic. And of course, if it comes to pricing, this one is also the most expensive. But at least when you do the blind test, you figure the difference. This is the most essential. So it's not just imagination. What's interesting about Yunnan is that probably 90% of the coffee beans here are so-called Katimo beans, which is a mixture between the Brazilian Katura bean and the East Timor Hibrido bean. And if you remember, two years ago we've been to East Timor. I can link the video here. And it makes this Arabica bean more robust because it has this robust elements, but it's still considered as an Arabica bean. This makes the bean quite unique. But they also grow other stuff. Like there's also Geisha, for example. There's also Tipica beans here. Is Yunnan coffee good or bad? It's actually a valid question. I think the answer is a little bit of both. There is good coffee and there's also bad coffee. And I think it really depends where you get the coffee from. And it's definitely an emerging market. So probably in a couple of years, you can get quite some really, really good coffee from China. Where we want to go is said to be the highest coffee farm in this region. But this road is just the insanely best. We are now driving on an old road, a Second World War road. And this is called Steel Whale Road, named after the American general, Joseph Steel Whale. And that comes to supply China. It started in the northeastern India in the place of Ledo. And by then, it was a lifeline to support China in the war. I hope my ass can survive this. I swear it's our last coffee today. It's already 7 p.m. But they have one that is so famous. It's a walnut latte. So they kind of press the walnut into a walnut milk, and then they mix it with the coffee. That's the walnut milk. Mmm. It gives you power. Hey, that's actually good. You can taste the sweetness. I think this is good. Very good. Who invented this coffee? We ate walnuts here, and we noticed that the coffee had a strong aroma of oil. So one day, we thought, why not use milk? Because we grow our own coffee. So we thought, we can't buy fresh milk here. So we used walnuts to make walnut milk. The reason why it's so famous is because of the rain here. This is probably the most unique coffee I've ever tried. Wow. It has a real strong walnut taste, mixed with the bitterness of coffee, which I really like. It's nutty, very thick. It has the fragrance of the walnut. Oh, it's so unique. I don't think you will find this coffee elsewhere, anywhere in the world, only here. Mmm. Now it's getting really dark. We have to hurry. Otherwise, it's going to be very difficult to drive down. This is also the end of today's video. We hope you enjoyed watching it. Thanks for being with us. See you next time. Bye-bye.