Jamaican Authentic Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans Flavor Profile Characteristics Blue Mountain Coffee Brewing Temperature and Grind Size

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee is a coffee bean known to all, you could say it's famous before you even taste it. People's understanding of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee is that of a mellow, balanced black coffee, and a very expensive, high-quality coffee. This has also become the benchmark for how many people used to define coffee. There are many coffee beans on the market labeled as "Blue Mountain flavor" or "Blue Mountain blend," but none of those are actually Blue Mountain coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans are sourced from Clifton Mountain Estate, Jamaica's oldest coffee estate. They are Blue Mountain coffee beans designated for export by the Coffee Industry Board (CIB), packaged in wooden barrels for green beans, and carry Rainforest Alliance certification. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss authentic FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee.

Coffee Growing Region

The Blue Mountain range is located in the eastern part of Jamaica. The mountain gets its name because on clear days, when the sun shines directly on the azure Caribbean Sea, the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater. Blue Mountain is situated in the coffee growing belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh and unpolluted air, a humid climate with year-round fog and rain (average precipitation of 1980mm, temperature around 27°C). Such climate conditions have created the world-renowned Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.

Designated Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee can only be grown in the Blue Mountain area, located in the eastern northern part of Kingston, Jamaica. The mountain ridge that runs across Jamaica extends to the eastern part of the island, with the Blue Mountain range reaching over 2100 meters above sea level. Here, people use mixed cultivation methods to grow coffee trees, planting them alongside banana and avocado trees on terraces. At the same time, the rugged terrain (all coffee trees are planted on steep mountain slopes) makes the harvesting process extremely difficult - only local skilled female workers can handle the job. It's also very important to select properly ripe coffee beans during harvest, as under-ripe or over-ripe beans will affect the coffee quality.

Clifton Mountain Estate

The two FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffees currently available come from Clifton Mountain Estate. Clifton Mountain is Jamaica's oldest coffee producing area that is still in normal operation today, and it's the only farm in Jamaica with Rainforest Alliance certification. Clifton Mountain Estate began planting and producing coffee as early as the mid-18th century (around 1750). The coffee cultivation and processing areas here are situated at an average altitude of 4300 feet (1310.64 meters). Sufficient altitude, gentle afternoon clouds and mist surrounding the mountains for shade, adequate sunlight, and mineral-rich planting soil provide excellent growing conditions for coffee trees and also extend the ripening period of coffee cherries.

What is Rainforest Alliance Certification?

Rainforest Alliance certification means: farms that meet the standards set by the "Rainforest Alliance" receive protection for the farm and its surrounding ecosystem, restrictions on pesticide use, and evaluation of benchmarks such as waste management. Only coffee that passes assessment and certification can be called "Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee." The certification standards for coffee specify: traditional cultivation methods under native forest shade, which are beneficial to protecting the ecosystem. Part of the alliance's revenue is also used for wildlife protection in tropical rainforest conservation areas and improving workers' living conditions.

Coffee Bean Varieties

The variety of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee is Typica. Typica variety trees have bronze-colored young leaves, long oval-shaped leaves with smooth surfaces, tall tree bodies with slightly inclined branches, elegant flavor, but weak constitution and poor disease resistance. Each tree produces very low yields with few fruit. Typica variety coffee trees have long terminal branches with few branches, and their white flowers grow at the base where leaf stems connect to branches. The mature coffee fruits are bright red, shaped like cherries, and the coffee beans are oval or slender-pointed in shape.

Blue Mountain Coffee Bean Processing Method

Before 2019, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee from Clifton Mountain Estate was always processed using the washed method. During processing, the pulp and skin are first removed, then fermented for 12-18 hours. The fermented beans are then placed in pools and moved back and forth, using the friction of the beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still encased in parchment with a moisture content of 50%. They must be sun-dried to reduce the moisture content to 12-14%, otherwise they will continue to ferment, becoming moldy and spoiled. Afterward, the coffee beans are screened and then stored in dedicated warehouses.

The washed processing method ensures the characteristics of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee - rich aroma, balanced taste, without any flavor being too prominent or lacking. In 2019, Clifton Mountain Estate broke away from its traditional model and used natural processing for the first time. For FrontStreet Coffee, this natural processed FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee, because the processing method changed, essentially changed Blue Mountain's inherent flavor structure. FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), when introducing coffee beans from any region to customers, always recommends washed processed coffee beans first, because washing best represents the flavor characteristics of that region. Of course, Blue Mountain coffee using natural processing is more about following market developments.

How to Distinguish Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee?

CIB stipulates that only Blue Mountain coffee beans produced in the Blue Mountain region above 2200 feet in Jamaica can be called Jamaica Blue Mountain. Its grades are divided according to bean size into NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and manually selected PB (Peaberry). Among these, the basic standards for NO.1 Blue Mountain green beans are beans above 17 screen size, defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, etc. Currently, the Jamaica Coffee Industry 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 Industry 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) Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee origin certificate

FrontStreet Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee is Blue Mountain coffee that is designated for export by the national coffee board, packaged in wooden barrels for green beans, and carries Rainforest Alliance certification.

Blue Mountain Coffee Bean Grading

Blue Mountain No. 1: 96% of coffee beans must be screen size 17/18, with no more than 2% defect beans.

Blue Mountain No. 2: 96% of coffee beans must be screen size 16, with no more than 2% defect beans.

Blue Mountain No. 3: 96% of coffee beans must be screen size 15, with no more than 2% defect beans.

Blue Mountain Peaberry: 96% of coffee beans must be single round beans of screen size 10, with no more than 2% defect beans.

Blue Mountain Triage: A mixture of Blue Mountain No. 1, 2, and 3 beans, with a small amount of minor defect beans that do not affect cup quality.

Blue Mountain Fine Beans: Coffee beans below screen size 15, with no more than 2% defect beans. This portion is sold only in sample mode, with prices determined by demand.

Blue Mountain Triage Peaberry: Mixed Blue Mountain peaberries with a small amount of minor defects but good cup quality, with no more than 4% defect beans.

The FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) bean list are Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans.

How to Brew FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee? What's the Flavor Difference Between FrontStreet Coffee's Natural and Washed Blue Mountain Coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to maximize the rich flavors. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are roasted within 5 days, because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that bean freshness greatly affects flavor. FrontStreet Coffee'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 its peak flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee uses a KONO dripper when brewing FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee. The KONO dripper can bring out a rounder, mellower taste with more direct flavor expression. However, the KONO dripper has relatively poor exhaust effect because its ribs are straight and only extend to one-quarter of the dripper's depth. Above this quarter, the walls form a sealed state. FrontStreet Coffee chose the KONO dripper because its only exhaust area is in those quarter ribs. When the water level rises above the rib area, the water level in the dripper continuously increases, creating pressure through the water's weight. Since the outlet is relatively small, it can extend the contact time between coffee particles and water, and as the water flow carries soluble substances more effectively, it can generally achieve the high mellow thickness effect that customers expect.

Coffee amount: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:13

Water temperature: 88-89°C

Grind size: Medium-coarse grind (60% pass-through rate with No. 20 standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee's segmented brewing technique: 30g of water for bloom, wait 30 seconds, then slowly pour in a small stream from center outward in circles to 100g (total 130g on scale). Then wait until the powder bed drops to 1/2 level, then pour in 65g water with a large stream to reach total water amount of 195g. Remove the dripper after all coffee liquid has flowed into the lower pot to finish extraction. Total brewing time is 1 minute 50 seconds.

Flavor Comparison of Brewed FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee

[FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Blue Mountain] Entry has brown sugar sweetness accompanied by berry acidity, with nut and cocoa flavors in the middle to late stages, creamy mouthfeel, rich and distinct layers, and a finish that brings out walnut aromas.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Blue Mountain] Entry has dark chocolate and nut flavors, high cleanliness, very bright, good body, with balanced sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

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