Gui Ben

We chose this natural Catimor for its balance and clarity. Careful, slow drying brings a deep sweetness, with notes of dark grape, a citrus character like kumquat, and a soft cacao finish.

Gui Ben Farm is located in a remote part of Yunnan, east of Pu’er and close to the border with Laos. This is a region long known for growing exceptional tea.

Coffee here is grown on steep hillsides, within Hani, Miao and Dai communities where farming follows long-held traditions and the shape of the land.

The work is led by Mr Tian Cai, Farm Operations Manager at Yunnan Coffee Traders, with day to day care of the farm managed by his family member, Mr Tang.

Together with a small group of families in the Gui Ben area, they grow their own coffee and also buy ripe cherries from nearby smallholders, keeping the work closely connected to the local community.

Specialty coffee in China is still emerging. Over the past decade, small farms have developed their knowledge and refined how they grow and process coffee, bringing out clearer, more expressive flavours.

Most of this work takes place in Yunnan, a fertile, mountainous region in the south west, which produces over 97% of China’s coffee, much of it centred around Pu’er, a place long known for tea and now gaining recognition for its coffee.

Gui Ben, a natural-processed coffee from Yunnan's Gui Ben Farm, showcases the distinctive character of Catimor grown in China's southwestern coffee region. Natural processing—where beans dry within their fruit—tends to amplify fruity and wine-like qualities, a tendency evident here through the roaster's notes of dark grape and kumquat. Dayglow has brought out a balanced profile that pairs these darker, concentrated fruit notes with soft cacao undertones, creating layered complexity. Understanding how natural processing shapes flavor development helps contextualize why this lot emphasizes bold fruit character alongside chocolate notes rather than the cleaner acidity typical of washed coffees. Explore the flavor wheel to map these tasting dimensions further.