Who Should Drink Blue Mountain Coffee? The Right Way to Brew and Enjoy Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee — Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans

Country: Jamaica
Region: Newcastle Area
Estate: Clifton Estate
Altitude: 1,310 meters
Variety: Typica
Processing: Washed
Grade: Blue Mountain No.1

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee Beans Flavor Description

Chocolate, nuts, cream, with a well-balanced sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. The flavor is rich and mellow.

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee Region Introduction

Jamaica is an island located in the Caribbean Sea. Jamaica's Blue Mountain is the highest mountain in the western Caribbean (2,256 meters high). The unique flavor of Blue Mountain coffee beans is related to the exceptional geographical location and climate conditions of the Blue Mountains. Located in the coffee belt at 25 degrees north latitude, the Blue Mountains have fertile new volcanic soil, fresh and unpolluted air, year-round rainfall, high humidity, and significant day-night temperature differences. The nitrogen and phosphorus-rich soil here is very suitable for coffee growth. The fertile volcanic soil, regular rainfall, and the island's misty cloud cover that shields it from harsh sunlight all combine to create today's Blue Mountain coffee.

Blue Mountain coffee beans have always been processed using the washed method, with their mellow, balanced flavor being particularly impressive. It wasn't until 2019 that Blue Mountain coffee beans began experimenting with natural processing, with small batches of natural-processed Blue Mountain coffee beans first exported in 2020. Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans come from Jamaica's Blue Mountain Clifton Farm. The farm's average altitude is 1,310 meters, and it first started growing coffee in the mid-18th century. It is Jamaica's oldest continuously operating historic farm, and Clifton Farm is Jamaica's only coffee farm certified by the "Rainforest Alliance." The Blue Mountain region is a small area with only 6,000 hectares of cultivation, making it impossible for all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there.

Today's Clifton Estate is the largest estate in this region, but by international standards, it's still considered small-scale cultivation, with many estate owners being small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries. As early as the mid-18th century (around 1750), Clifton Estate began cultivating and producing coffee. The coffee cultivation and processing areas here are situated at an average altitude of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters). The sufficient altitude, gentle afternoon clouds that provide shade, adequate sunlight, and mineral-rich cultivation soil provide excellent growing conditions for coffee trees and extend the maturation period of coffee cherries.

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans Natural/Washed Brewing Comparison

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share a brewing comparison between the natural and washed processing methods of Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans:

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans Natural/Washed Flavor Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee uses a KONO dripper for brewing both Blue Mountain coffees. The KONO's ribs stop at less than half the height of the dripper. This design ensures that the filter paper closely adheres to the dripper wall after wetting, restricting airflow and increasing the water absorption time of the coffee grounds. This results in more uniform extraction and enhances the mellow mouthfeel. Additionally, the groove structure at the bottom of the KONO dripper is a key design that creates a siphon effect during brewing.

Recommended Water Temperature: 88-89°C
Grind Size: Fujiyama鬼齿 4.5 (coarse sugar size)
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee Beans Brewing Method

Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. When the water reaches 125g, perform a split pour. Continue pouring to 225g when the water level drops to just above the coffee bed. Stop pouring and wait for the water level to drop to just above the coffee bed, then remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the bloom) Total extraction time is 2'00".

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans Natural Flavor Description

Initial taste reveals brown sugar sweetness accompanied by berry acidity. Overall balance with black cocoa and nut flavors, featuring slight fermentation notes and a smoky sensation.

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans Washed Flavor Description

The flavor is very clean, complex, and exceptionally mild, with chocolate sweetness and very strong body. The taste is rich and mellow, with a perfect combination of coffee's sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. It has no bitterness at all, only moderate and perfect acidity, with a persistent fruity aftertaste. Through comparison, it's found that natural-processed Blue Mountain coffee beans have more layered flavor complexity, with slight berry acidity that evokes dark plums and mulberries, along with a mild tea-like sensation. Meanwhile, washed Blue Mountain coffee beans maintain the classic distinctive flavor of Blue Mountain coffee beans—那种一口到底的顺滑、明亮和醇厚.

Coffee Bean Grading and Classification

Coffee bean grades are typically determined by defect rates, bean size, altitude, green bean density, processing standards, and other factors. Due to various factors such as historical reasons, trade interests, climate, and terrain, each country and region cannot be graded using unified standards or solely by altitude. Nor can grades from one country be compared with those from another.

FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Bean Grades

Jamaica Blue Mountain region coffee beans have three grades:

• Blue Mountain Coffee
• Jamaica High Mountain Supreme Coffee Beans
• Jamaica Prime Coffee Beans

Among these, Blue Mountain Coffee and High Mountain Coffee are each further divided into two grades. Ranked by quality from highest to lowest: Blue Mountain No.1, Blue Mountain No.2, High Mountain No.1, High Mountain No.2, Jamaica Prime. According to CIB standards, the basic criteria for No.1 Blue Mountain green beans include beans of 17 screen size or larger, defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, etc. FrontStreet Coffee selects the highest grade of Blue Mountain coffee beans: Blue Mountain No.1.

How to Identify Genuine Blue Mountain Coffee?

Below, three key points will be used to identify genuine "Blue Mountain Coffee": national coffee board designated export companies, the only region that uses wooden barrels for green beans, and Clifton Rainforest certification.

1. Genuine Blue Mountain Coffee is exported by companies designated by the National Coffee Board.

Some authentic Blue Mountain NO.1 in the Chinese market is primarily exported to China through direct branches from Japan, Australia, and Europe. According to 2013 statistics from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Japan accounted for 85% of the allocation, while the United States, Europe, and other countries each accounted for 5%. ICO statistics show that China accounts for 15% of Blue Mountain coffee consumption. It's worth noting that limited Blue Mountain NO.1 is mostly allocated to Japan, the United States, and Europe. Among these, because Japan invested in Jamaica's coffee industry, most Blue Mountain coffee was bought out by Japan. In 1992, Jamaica sold 688 tons of Blue Mountain coffee to Japan, 75 tons to the United States, and only 59 tons to the United Kingdom.

In 2005, Jamaica's Minister of Agriculture announced that Blue Mountain coffee should be roasted in Jamaica, so direct allocation倾向于从牙买加直接流通到消费国家. This allocation system has been recognized by the Jamaica Coffee Board (CIB). (Note: CIB board members are estate owners who own a certain scale of coffee plantations in Jamaica).

In addition, the officially registered logo of the Jamaica Coffee Board is used for certification and inspection of exported Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The BLUEMOUNTAINCOFFEE trademark is the标志 on the outer packaging of authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

Coffee Industry Board (CIB)

2. Genuine Blue Mountain Coffee is the only coffee region that uses wooden barrels for green beans.

Blue Mountain coffee is至今为止 all coffee in the only region that uses wooden barrels for green beans. Other coffee exports all use jute bags.

During the British colonial period in the mid-18th century, flour shipped from Britain to Jamaica left empty barrels that were recycled to transport coffee and rum, isolating the coffee aroma to ensure quality. The wooden barrels used today are made from wood from temperate forests in the United States.

3. The frog on Clifton barrel lids is rainforest certification.

Clifton Estate is Jamaica's oldest coffee estate, and only Clifton Farm in Jamaica has the (RFA) rainforest tree frog logo.

Only those that comply with "Sustainable Agricultural System Standards" can obtain certification, and their wooden barrels bear the rainforest certification logo.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain is Blue Mountain coffee that is exported by companies designated by the National Coffee Board, uses wooden barrels for green beans, and has rainforest certification.

Extended Reading: Blue Mountain's Changes

2020 was an important year for Blue Mountain's transformation. As is well known, until 2019, Blue Mountain coffee circulating in overseas markets was all washed-processed Typica variety. It was precisely this single processing method and coffee variety that created Blue Mountain's consistently high quality over the past decade, with its balanced, mellow flavor being favored by many enthusiasts. In 2020 (news from 2019), Blue Mountain first launched natural-processed Blue Mountain No.1 coffee, changing the situation where only washed processing was available. Later, it introduced Blue Mountain Geisha, breaking Blue Mountain's monopoly of having only Typica variety. Although there have been ongoing reports that Jamaica is trial-planting Bourbon varieties.

While FrontStreet Coffee admires Blue Mountain's courage to make changes, it also contemplates why Blue Mountain, which maintained such focused consistency for a decade, began to diverge in thinking and innovate in recent years. Before the popularity of lightly roasted acidic coffee, the public's impression of coffee was of mellow, rich flavor, like traditional Mandheling and Colombian coffees. In that era, traditional Blue Mountain coffee was like the king of all birds, with its clean, mellow, and balanced flavor becoming the object of subsequent imitation, earning the title of "one king and one queen" in the coffee world alongside Hawaii Kona.

However, times changed. First came the fruit-exploding Yirgacheffe coffee beans, followed by the world-famous Panama Geisha coffee beans, sparking a worldwide wave of appreciation for coffee's pleasant acidity. Facing this situation, traditional Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee growers felt that Blue Mountain's position was being shaken and gradually began innovating. The newly added natural-processed Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain Geisha this year are excellent examples. When the news of Blue Mountain Geisha was released, FrontStreet Coffee was among the first to obtain a barrel of Blue Mountain Geisha green beans (Geisha variety has scarce production) to experience its fragrance.

It must be understood that coffee is a plant, and it's not as simple as "transplanting coffee from one place to another for cultivation." This involves "the adaptability and stability of new species to new environments." To achieve good flavor cultivation, excellent agronomic experience, time for adaptation, suitable growing environment, and sufficient coffee processing experience are all necessary.

It's evident that Blue Mountain started planting other varieties quite early, undergoing years of breeding and flavor adjustment. The Geisha variety was discovered in 2004 by Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda for its quality floral and fruit flavors. After more than 10 years of spread, it has become widespread throughout coffee-growing regions, with even Yunnan planting Geisha. This year's launch of micro-batch Blue Mountain Geisha by Jamaica shows Blue Mountain's confidence in this Geisha coffee.

When FrontStreet Coffee received the green beans, it discovered that like traditional Blue Mountain No.1 coffee, Blue Mountain Geisha is exported using wooden barrel packaging, with the barrel bearing the Rainforest Alliance logo (currently, only Clifton in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region has this certification).

After multiple adjustments to the roasting curve to determine the optimal roasting style and degree, during cupping, FrontStreet Coffee's team could all feel significant differences. The micro-batch Blue Mountain Geisha, processed using the washed method, displayed citrus acidity during cupping, reminiscent of the sweet and sour taste of pomelo. As it cooled, a stronger jasmine fragrance emerged, with honey-like sweet aftertaste and accompanying caramel notes.

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