Coffee was first introduced to China by French missionaries in the late 19th century. Though production halted in the mid-20th century, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank partnered to reintroduce the product in China. In the late 1990s, Nestlé established coffee farms across Yunnan province. In recent years, however, production has gained momentum.

Tea and coffee thrive in the same climates – and Yunnan fits the requirements. Homogeneous tea farms have now made way for mixed-use plantations, and neatly cropped tea terraces are interspersed with coffee shrubs. You can spot the difference from afar thanks to coffee’s irregular planting structure, explains Lisa Wu, a local coffee farmer.

I met Wu at Torch Coffee Labs, a coffee shop and education centre that wouldn’t look out of place in New York’s Brooklyn. Torch aims to promote speciality coffee in the region, working closely with the farming community to encourage training, innovation and, of course, high-quality brews. Wu comes from a long line of tea farmers, but three years ago they made the decision to buy a new plot of land and convert an existing tea plantation into a coffee farm. Tea can fetch a hefty price tag, but the market is flooded, and Wu says that speciality coffee can provide a better source of income.