Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee: Authenticity Verification, Flavor Profile, Growing Regions and Origin Characteristics

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How to Identify Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee

1. Appearance

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee beans are greenish when raw, with very uniform appearance, medium to small size, and slightly curled ends. After roasting, they expand significantly in volume and become very full.

2. Grinding

Authentic FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee beans grow at high altitudes, and their cellular structure is relatively loose. When ground by hand, they feel crisp, smooth, and continuous, without any sense of resistance.

3. Aroma

The aroma is very rich and dense; so-called Blue Mountain coffee blends do not have this kind of aroma.

4. Taste

Authentic FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee has a balanced and rich taste, without any flavor being too prominent or lacking, which is also the most crucial identification point that no other coffee beans can match. Blue Mountain peaberry beans have a more subtle aroma and relatively stronger taste.

5. Feeling

As the world's finest coffee, FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee has classic balanced characteristics. When tasting, there will inevitably be some subconscious, indescribable sense of satisfaction.

When it comes to Jamaica, everyone's eyes immediately light up because it produces the world's best "Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee." We absolutely believe that FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is the finest coffee, with very balanced acidity, sweetness, richness, and bitterness, aromatic flavor, and a very smooth drinking experience.

The earliest "Jamaica Blue Mountain" referred to coffee produced by "Wallenford Estate" and "Silver Hill Estate," with the former having the best quality; today's Jamaica Blue Mountain refers to coffee beans grown in the Blue Mountain region east of Jamaica's capital "Kingston" (at altitudes exceeding 1000 meters). Now Mavis Bank is the largest estate, with its wooden barrels marked M.B.C.F. Jamaica Blue Mountain has very strict quality control, certified by the government's "Coffee Industry Board."

Coffee beans generally grown at low altitudes and in other regions can only be called "Jamaica High Mountain" or "Jamaica Washed," and compared to Jamaica Blue Mountain, their flavor differs greatly. However, these growing areas are twice the size of the true Blue Mountain region and account for 75% of the country's production, so when buying Jamaican coffee, don't assume you're buying Blue Mountain coffee.

Due to the great fame of Jamaica Blue Mountain, counterfeit Blue Mountain-style coffee has appeared on the market, or simply called "Blue Mountain Coffee." Basically, these are blends formulated by the stores themselves, which may not contain a single genuine Jamaica Blue Mountain bean.

Jamaica's Coffee Growing Regions

Today's St. Andrew region is still one of the three major Blue Mountain coffee growing regions, with the other two being the Portland region and the St. Thomas region.

Today's Blue Mountain region is a small area with only 6,000 hectares of planting area, making it impossible for all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. An additional 12,000 hectares are used for growing two other types of coffee (non-Blue Mountain): High Mountain Supreme and Prime Washed Jamaican.

Authentic FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee is one of the world's coffees grown under the most superior conditions. Jamaica's weather, geological structure, and topography together provide a uniquely ideal venue. The mountain range running through Jamaica extends to the eastern part of the island, with the Blue Mountain Range reaching over 2,100 meters above sea level. The cool, foggy, and frequent rainfall weather makes this fertile land well-balanced in moisture. Here, people use mixed cropping methods to grow coffee trees, making them grow alongside banana and avocado trees on terraces.

Some small estates also grow Blue Mountain coffee, such as: Wallenford Estate, Silver Hill Estate, and J. Martinez's Atlanta Estate, etc. Even the largest estate owners in this region are considered small-scale by international standards, with many estate owners being small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries.

Characteristics of Jamaican Coffee

The best Blue Mountain coffee is undoubtedly one of the finest coffees available. This coffee tastes more expensive than it looks. To taste its best flavor, you must use more coffee beans than when drinking other coffees, otherwise the flavor is somewhat undeserved of its reputation, so the true cost of delivering flavor lies in using 10%-15% more coffee beans than the next most expensive coffee.

Authentic FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee is made from the finest local raw coffee beans. Its flavor is rich, balanced, fruity, and acidic, satisfying people's various needs. In addition, high-quality fresh Blue Mountain coffee has a particularly lasting flavor—endless aftertaste. Blue Mountain coffee is divided into five grades: No. 1 Blue Mountain; No. 2 Blue Mountain; Selected Peaberry Blue Mountain; No. 3 Blue Mountain.

Flavor Profile

Very rich aroma, excellent sweet aftertaste

Recommended Roasting Method

Medium roast

Rating

★★★: Excellent

Currently, the Jamaica Coffee Board can issue certificates for all exported Blue Mountain coffee.

Certificates are divided into three types:

1) Quality certification certificate issued by the Jamaica Coffee Board

2) Authorized sales certificate issued by Blue Mountain coffee manufacturers

(Blue Mountain coffee is distributed by 4 Jamaican government-licensed processing producers and exported by 16 licensed exporters)

3) Certificate of origin for Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee

Quality certification certificates indicate time and quantity. The Jamaica Coffee Board randomly selects a package from the submitted Blue Mountain coffee for inspection. If it meets Blue Mountain coffee conditions, a certificate is issued.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

(Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee), which includes Blue Mountain coffee and High Mountain coffee, each further divided into four grades. By quality, from top to bottom: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB, where PB is peaberry. According to CIB standards, only coffee grown above 666 meters altitude is called Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee;

Jamaica High Mountain Coffee

(Jamaica High Mountain Supreme Coffee Beans) Coffee produced in the Blue Mountain region below 666 meters is called High Mountain coffee, also second only to Blue Mountain coffee in quality, known by industry insiders as the brother variety of Blue Mountain coffee. Due to the extremely limited production of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, if you want to taste Jamaican flavor coffee, Jamaica High Mountain coffee is your best choice.

Jamaica Coffee

(Jamaica Prime Coffee Beans). Coffee grown outside the Blue Mountain range is called Jamaica coffee. Originally, Chinese coffee practitioners generally had a misconception that only coffee grown in the Blue Mountain region above 1800 meters altitude could be called Blue Mountain coffee. In fact, above 1800 meters on the Blue Mountain range, there is only one estate: Amber, owned by a Chinese descendant whose family name is Lyn, with ancestral roots in Guangdong, China. The estate has only 30 hectares of land and very limited production. Blue Mountain coffee is mainly distributed in five mountain areas: John Crow, St. John's Peak, Mossman's Peak, High Peak, and Blue Mountain Peak.

Blue Mountain coffee refers to coffee brewed from coffee beans produced in Jamaica's Blue Mountains. It is further divided by grade into Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee and Jamaica High Mountain coffee.

Blue Mountain coffee is the world's most superior coffee with limited production, making it precious due to rarity. The Blue Mountain Range is located in the eastern part of Jamaica Island. Because the mountain is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, on clear days when sunlight directly hits the azure sea surface, the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence its name. The highest peak of Blue Mountain reaches 2,256 meters above sea level, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. Located in the coffee belt with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air without pollution, humid climate with year-round fog and rain (average precipitation of 1,980 mm, temperature around 27°C), such climate has created the world-renowned Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, as well as the world's second most expensive coffee. This coffee possesses all the characteristics of fine coffee—not only is it rich and aromatic, but because the sweetness, acidity, and bitterness of coffee are perfectly matched, it has no bitterness at all, only moderate and perfect acidity. It's generally consumed as a single origin, but due to extremely limited production and incredibly high prices, it's generally sold as blends with similar flavors on the market.

The Secret Behind "Pure" Blue Mountain Coffee

Why authentic Blue Mountain coffee has pure flavor—their "secret": all their coffee trees grow on rugged mountain slopes, making the harvesting process very difficult. Only skilled local female workers can handle this task. Choosing appropriately ripe coffee beans during harvesting is very important, as under-ripe or over-ripe beans will affect coffee quality. After harvesting, coffee beans must be hulled the same day, then fermented for 12-18 hours. Afterwards, the coffee beans are washed and sorted. The next step is drying, which must be done on concrete floors or thick blankets until the coffee beans' moisture content drops to 12%-14%. Then they are stored in dedicated warehouses. When needed, they are taken out for roasting, then ground into powder. These procedures must be strictly controlled, otherwise coffee quality will be affected.

Because Japan has always invested in Jamaica's coffee industry, most Blue Mountain coffee is controlled by the Japanese, who also have priority purchasing rights for Blue Mountain coffee. In 1992, Jamaica sold 688 tons of Blue Mountain coffee to Japan, 75 tons to the United States, and 59 tons to the United Kingdom. 90% of Blue Mountain coffee is purchased by the Japanese. Since the rest of the world can only obtain 10% of Blue Mountain production, Blue Mountain coffee is always in short supply regardless of price.

The Jamaican Coffee Market

Blue Mountain coffee is a coffee that reputable coffee retailers must stock regardless of circumstances. A major UK retailer said: regardless of price, he will continuously sell Blue Mountain coffee throughout the year because he has many customers who only recognize "Blue Mountain."

Now, 90% of harvested Blue Mountain coffee is purchased by the Japanese. Now because other parts of the world can only obtain 10% of Blue Mountain coffee production, Blue Mountain coffee is always in short supply regardless of price. In the UK, for many years, Langford Brothers was the sole supplier. Later, the Edmonds Group also obtained supply from Jamaica's Salda Foods.

The difference between FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee and other coffees in transportation is that it's transported in 70-kilogram wooden barrels, which are replicas of the Bonifieur barrels produced in Guadeloupe last century. These wooden barrels were originally used to load flour shipped from Britain to Jamaica and usually carry trademark names and manufacturer names. The Coffee Industry Board issues certificates for all authentic Jamaican coffee and stamps them with approval before export.

The Jamaican government always insisted in the past: all Blue Mountain coffee should be roasted in Jamaica to ensure consistent quality. In fact, roasting is a delicate art that requires experience, training, and expensive equipment. From a consumer's perspective, coffee beans should be obtained and consumed immediately after roasting. Coffee roasted in Jamaica cannot meet this requirement. Now, Jamaica's raw coffee beans can already be exported. Jamaica has three coffee varieties:

There are rarely any authentic Blue Mountain coffee beans in "Blue Mountain-style" coffee on the market. There is a "Jamaica Blended Blue Mountain" coffee made from 30% Blue Mountain coffee and 70% of the finest Jamaican High Mountain coffee. Both of the above coffees attempt to imitate Blue Mountain coffee but cannot achieve perfection.

Jamaica

Almost everyone who knows Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee knows it's the most expensive coffee in the world. In 1725, Sir Nicholas Lawes brought the first batch of Blue Mountain coffee trees from Martinique to Jamaica, planting them in the St. Andrew region.

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