What is the attraction of Qiongzhong local coffee?

Clusters of red coffee fruit hang on the branches. Photo by Hainan Daily reporter Yuan Chen.

Located in the hinterland of Hainan Island, Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County in winter is still verdant and full of vitality.

This is a good place, the contiguous rainforest has nurtured a number of high-quality agricultural products. Among them, the coffee beans produced in Qiongzhong Feipushan Manor and Limushan Hainan Nongken Mushan Coffee Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as Mushan Coffee), recently held in Shanghai Hongqiao International boutique Coffee Exhibition and "China's Choice (TOC)" global coffee beans competition, swept the title of the Robsta Group.

The competition attracted 82 kinds of green coffee beans from 65 farms in 16 countries, including China, Colombia, Mexico and Kenya. Why did Robusta coffee beans from Qiongzhong win from such fierce competition?

The green mountains are full of the intoxicating aroma of coffee

Step into the Waterfall Hill Manor, the answer is clear. The manor is located in Heping Changxing Village, more than 200 meters above sea level, in the world's high-quality coffee in the north latitude of 18 degrees golden area, bathed in warm sunshine all year round, forming a suitable temperature difference between day and night. The air is pure, moist and sweet, which is because there is a beautiful Feishuiling waterfall near the manor, which carries clear and moist mountain spring water continuously to this pure land.

"The right humidity, sunshine and rainfall for Robusta production, combined with a good selenium rich soil and other natural conditions, produce a smooth, clear, sweet, well-layered coffee." Huang Xiuwu, head of Feipushan Manor and owner of Qiongzhong Feipushan Coffee brand, proudly said that coffee seeds fall into this soil and can grow luxuriant without management.

In this competition, Robusta anaerobic treated beans from Feipushan Manor won the first prize and honey treated beans won the second place. Won the third place Mushan coffee "Dafeng No. 1" honey treatment beans, the planting base is located in Qiongzhong Limushan town. Limushan is shrouded in clouds, with a cool climate and a high amount of pure negative oxygen ions. Developed from granite, the yellow brick red soil is fertile, rich in selenium and high in organic matter, and has all the elements of high-quality coffee production.

To produce quality Robusta coffee beans, good seeds and seedlings are essential. In the village of Heping Changxing in Qiongzhong, people have been trying to grow coffee since the 1960s, Huang Xiuwu said. Today, all the coffee seedlings planted in the village are from the old coffee trees that are more than 60 years old and native to the village.

"The new variety not only maintains the genetic characteristics of strong vitality, good resistance to pests and diseases, low planting cost and high extraction rate of Robusta coffee, but also overcomes the defects of uncontrollable fluctuation of yield cycle of Robusta coffee seedlings for a long time." Li Changjian, head of Mushan Coffee, said that this achievement has laid the foundation of germplasm resources for the development of coffee industry in Limushan. From the "Dafeng" brand in 1985, to the "Island" brand, "Qiongfeng", to today's "Mushan" brand, which has won many awards, Mushan coffee has also entered Zhongnanhai, used to receive guests from all over the world.

They worked hard to improve Qiongzhong's "coffee" position

In 1956, the researchers of Hainan Dafeng Breeding Station (the predecessor of Dafeng Farm), after discovering the natural advantages of coffee cultivation in Limushan, introduced Arabica, Robsta and other coffee varieties here, carried out countless trial planting, cultivation, field observation and comparison, and finally succeeded in trial planting.

At that time, coffee from planting to processing, all rely on human shoulders to complete, in such a difficult environment, researchers clenched their teeth, and finally built the first coffee base in the hinterland of Limushan. In 1985, the first set of coffee production equipment was installed in Dafeng Farm, forming the prototype of today's Mushan coffee - Dafeng Coffee. In 1992, Dafeng researchers finally established Robusta as the basic germplasm and further cultivated Haiken "Dafeng No. 1" and "Dafeng No. 2" medium seed coffee.

However, due to factors such as the increase in labor and planting costs, Dafeng coffee fell into silence around the 1990s. Until 2014, Hainan Nongken Yangjiang Farm restarted Dafeng coffee base planting, and in 2017, dug deep into the history of "Qiongfeng" coffee, registered the Mushan coffee trademark, committed to integrating and developing Hainan coffee planting, processing, sales and trade resources, and building a full chain of coffee industry.

In terms of production, Musan Coffee uses modern technology to achieve smart coffee cultivation and deep coffee processing, and adheres to the traditional sun treatment method, retaining more pulp and pectin, resulting in a more intense, sweet and complex flavor, which is favored by the majority of consumers.

At the same time of the rapid development of Mushan coffee, Huang Xiuwu learned to plant and process coffee through self-study and research. In addition, by participating in various coffee making classes and competitions, he became the first Li senior barista in Qiongzhong and led the villagers in Changxing Village to grow coffee to get rid of poverty and become rich. By opening offline stores, developing coffee products, and exploring e-commerce live streaming, he has made high-quality Robusta coffee beans in the mountains go to the vast world. (Reporter Liu Ningyue)