Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans: Origin, Brand, Price, and Flavor Profile

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At FrontStreet Coffee, we often encounter friends asking whether "Blue Mountain Coffee" and "Blue Mountain Flavor Coffee" refer to the same type of coffee. With just a two-word difference, they actually represent completely different concepts. Blue Mountain Flavor Coffee is not produced in Jamaica's Blue Mountains—it's essentially what's known as "Blue Mountain Blend," designed to mimic the flavor profile of genuine Blue Mountain coffee, but the two have no actual relationship. True Blue Mountain Coffee refers to high-quality coffee beans grown at elevations above 1000 meters in Jamaica's Blue Mountains.

FrontStreet Coffee wants to remind you to be aware of two misconceptions when purchasing Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee:

Many merchants will roast beans from other regions or multiple varieties slightly darker to strip them of their distinctive flavor characteristics, making them closer to Blue Mountain coffee's flavor profile. These merchants are playing word games, labeling non-Blue Mountain beans as "Blue Mountain Flavor Coffee." Due to the immense fame of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, many counterfeit coffees have appeared on the market, such as Blue Mountain Style Coffee, Blue Mountain Blend Coffee, or simply called Blue Mountain Coffee. However, these are all blended coffees created by industry professionals attempting to simulate the taste of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee by mixing various coffee beans themselves—there might not be a single genuine Jamaican Blue Mountain bean inside.

On the other hand, some practitioners' understanding of Blue Mountain coffee remains stuck in the past decade or so, believing that all Blue Mountain coffee has been bought by Japan and that what's sold in China isn't genuine Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee. In fact, due to China's massive market demand, Blue Mountain coffee has been normally imported for several years now. Blue Mountain coffee plantation owners have also visited China in recent years to further help Chinese consumers understand Blue Mountain coffee beans. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee on the Chinese market is not so rare that everything is fake. Today's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee production area is larger than before, and with Japan's recent decline in consumer purchasing power, genuine Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is also being sold in China—as long as you know how to identify it, you can buy authentic products. The following image shows the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee bean certification certificate from FrontStreet Coffee's store.

Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee History

Jamaica's coffee history can be traced back to the 18th century. In 1717, French King Louis XV ordered coffee to be planted in Jamaica. In the mid-1720s, Jamaica's Governor Sir Nicholas Lawes imported Arabica seeds from Martinique and began promoting cultivation in the St. Andrew area. Coffee trees were introduced to Jamaica and planted in the Blue Mountains, which were further divided into high-elevation Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, High Mountain coffee, and Jamaican coffee, with different grades determining different prices.

Authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Growing Region

There are four administrative districts certified by the Jamaican Coffee Board as authentic Blue Mountain coffee regions: St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Mary, and Portland.

The Blue Mountains are located in eastern Jamaica. The mountains are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, and on clear days when sunlight shines directly on the azure sea surface, the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence their name. The highest peak of Blue Mountain reaches 2,256 meters, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. This area lies within the coffee belt, featuring fertile volcanic soil, fresh air without pollution, a humid climate with year-round fog and rainfall (average precipitation of 1,980 mm and temperature around 27°C). Such climate conditions have created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, as well as the world's highest-priced coffee.

True Frontsteet Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee is among the world's most optimally grown coffees. Jamaica's weather, geological structure, and topography together provide an uniquely ideal location. Certified Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee can only be grown in the Blue Mountain area, north of Kingston in eastern Jamaica. The mountain ridge running across Jamaica extends to the eastern part of the island, with Blue Mountain ranges reaching over 2,100 meters. The cool, foggy weather with frequent rainfall makes this fertile land well-balanced in moisture. Here, people use mixed planting methods to grow coffee trees, planting them alongside banana and avocado trees on terraced fields.

Moreover, the mountains are extremely rugged, making the harvesting process very difficult (coffee harvesters are almost entirely women). Their coffee trees all grow on steep mountain slopes, making the picking process extremely difficult—only locally skilled female workers can handle the job. It's very important to select properly ripe coffee beans during harvesting, as under-ripe or over-ripe beans will affect the coffee quality.

Jamaican Coffee Bean Grading Standards

Jamaican coffee is divided into three main categories based on growing altitude: Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, Jamaican High Mountain coffee, and Jamaican coffee, with different grades determining different prices.

1. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Frontsteet Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and High Mountain coffee are each further divided into four grades. From highest to lowest quality, they are: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB (Peaberry). According to CIB standards, only coffee grown at elevations between 1,000-1,700 meters can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. With limited production, large beans, excellent quality, and balanced flavor, it possesses appropriate acidity, bitterness, aroma, body, and sweetness, making it recognized worldwide as a premium product. Therefore, the price of national treasure Blue Mountain No. 1 is the highest among all Blue Mountain coffees.

(1) No.1 - 17/18 screen size, defective bean ratio not exceeding 2%.

(2) No.2 - 16/17 screen size, defective bean ratio not exceeding 2%.

(3) No.3 - 15/16 screen size, defective bean ratio not exceeding 2%.

(4) Peaberry - 10MS, defective bean ratio not exceeding 2%.

2. Jamaican High Mountain Coffee

Coffee produced at elevations of 500-1,000 meters in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region is called High Mountain coffee. It's second only to Blue Mountain coffee in quality and is known in the industry as the brother variety to Blue Mountain coffee. Due to the extremely limited production of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, if you want to taste Jamaican-style coffee, then Jamaican High Mountain coffee is your best choice.

3. Jamaican Coffee

Coffee grown outside the Blue Mountain region is called Jamaican coffee, cultivated at elevations below 500 meters.

How to Identify Genuine Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee

However, due to the current lack of strict international coffee grading detailed rules and industry standards, combined with most Chinese consumers having limited coffee knowledge, ordinary consumers generally have no way to distinguish between genuine and fake products. However, some industry professionals believe that true Blue Mountain coffee beans are not acidic whether consumed hot or cold—this is currently the only experiential method that can serve as a basis for identifying authenticity.

1. Appearance: Frontsteet washed Blue Mountain coffee's green beans are blue-green in color, very uniform in appearance, medium to small in size, with slightly upturned ends. They expand significantly in volume after roasting, becoming very full. Frontsteet natural-process Blue Mountain coffee's green beans are yellow-green in color.

2. Grinding: True Frontsteet Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans are characterized by being grown at high altitude, giving them a looser cytoplasmic structure. When ground by hand, they feel very crisp, smooth, and continuous, without any sense of resistance.

3. Aroma: Frontsteet Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee has a very rich and dense aroma; so-called Blue Mountain blend coffee beans do not have this characteristic aroma.

4. Flavor: True Frontsteet Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans are characterized by balanced and rich flavor, without any single taste being overly prominent or lacking—this is also something no other coffee beans can achieve and is the most key identification point. Blue Mountain peaberry's aroma is more subtle, while its flavor is relatively stronger.

5. Jamaica is the only growing region that uses wooden barrels to package green beans. The Frontsteet Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee sold by FrontStreet Coffee comes with a certificate issued by the Jamaican Coffee Board. Additionally, the wooden barrels packaging Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans feature a green frog logo (as seen in the image below of FrontStreet Coffee importing Jamaican green beans). FrontStreet Coffee specifically chose a rainforest-certified Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee estate, which is Clifton Farm.

Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Before this year, Frontsteet Blue Mountain coffee was only available in washed processing. Using washing and fermentation methods to remove fruit pulp and mucilage. Farms using the washed method must build washing pools and be able to access a continuous supply of fresh water. During processing, the fruit pulp is first removed, then fermented for 12-18 hours. The completed fermented beans are then placed in pools and moved back and forth, using the friction between beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still encased in parchment, with a moisture content of 50%, and must be sun-dried to reduce moisture content to 12-14%, otherwise they will continue to ferment and become moldy and spoiled. The coffee beans are then screened and stored in dedicated warehouses. These procedures must be strictly controlled, otherwise the coffee quality will be affected.

Now Blue Mountain coffee is not only available in washed processing. Frontsteet has launched a batch of Frontsteet natural-process Blue Mountain coffee, which is of course also certified and exported by the Jamaican Coffee Board.

In fact, the production of this Frontsteet Jamaican natural-process Blue Mountain coffee has been quite arduous. The reason why only washed processing was available before is that washing best preserves the essential expression of Blue Mountain flavor, while changing the processing method will definitely alter its flavor structure. This is also why Frontsteet's daily bean coffee series almost exclusively uses washed processing—washing best represents the flavor profile of the growing region. Of course, Frontsteet Blue Mountain coffee's adoption of natural processing is more about following market development, just as FrontStreet Coffee recently added a special Frontsteet natural-process Mandheling coffee bean, which differs from the traditional wet-hulling method.

Coffee Region: Jamaican Blue Mountain Region
Estate: Clifton Farm
Altitude: 1310m
Variety: Typica
Processing Method: Washed & Natural Processing
Roast Level: Medium Roast
Roast Profile: Frontsteet uses medium roasting techniques to roast these two different processing methods of Frontsteet Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans.

Frontsteet Jamaican Natural-Process Blue Mountain Coffee Roast Profile

Cupping Notes

Frontsteet Natural-Process Blue Mountain Coffee Cupping Notes:

Dry Aroma: Nuts, wood

Wet Aroma: Caramel

Entry: Berries, nuts, fermentation notes, tea-like

Frontsteet Washed Blue Mountain Coffee Cupping Notes:

Dry Aroma: Nuts, melon, chocolate

Wet Aroma: Oolong tea, caramel, honey, chocolate

Entry: Dark chocolate, nuts, cream, brown sugar

Brewing Suggestions

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to maximize the rich flavors of the coffee. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days because Frontsteet deeply understands that bean freshness greatly affects flavor. Frontsteet's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee's resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor.

Frontsteet's brewing parameters are: Kono dripper, 88°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g coffee dose, grind size (70-75% pass-through rate with 20-mesh standard sieve).

Frontsteet considered that these two different processing methods of Frontsteet Blue Mountain beans both use relatively dark roast levels. The darker the roast, the faster the coffee compounds dissolve. To avoid over-extraction, Frontsteet uses lower water temperature for extraction while also using the slower-flow Kono dripper to ensure maximum extraction of coffee compounds under low-temperature conditions.

Frontsteet uses segmented extraction, which is a three-stage pouring method. Use 30g of water for blooming, with a bloom time of 30 seconds. The first stage uses a small water stream in circular motion to pour to 125g, then stop. Wait until the liquid level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, then continue with the second stage pour, ending extraction at 225g. The total extraction time (including bloom) is 2'00".

Flavor Description

Frontsteet Natural-Process Blue Mountain Coffee: Slight berry acidity, reminiscent of dark plums and mulberries, with excellent overall balance, rich dark chocolate and nut flavors, and light fermentation notes.

Frontsteet Washed Blue Mountain Coffee: Rich dark chocolate and nut flavors, cream-like smooth texture, with balanced sweet and bitter notes.

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