How is Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 Classified? What's the Price of a Cup of Blue Mountain Coffee No. 1?

In the era when the concept of specialty coffee had not yet become popular, Blue Mountain Coffee, as the king of the second wave of specialty coffee, became a top single-origin coffee that was widely discussed among coffee enthusiasts. Compared to its flavor, what people mentioned more was the "expensiveness" of Blue Mountain. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss why Blue Mountain coffee is so expensive.

How much does a cup of authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 cost?

FrontStreet Coffee emphasizes authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 because there is often a "Blue Mountain style" blended coffee on the market. The so-called "Blue Mountain blend" actually has no connection to Blue Mountain - it generally uses other coffee varieties roasted to mimic the flavor profile of Blue Mountain coffee beans. This situation arose because early Blue Mountain coffee was rare and expensive, so operators created coffee that approximated the Blue Mountain taste by mixing beans with dark roasting to match the Blue Mountain flavor profile. Therefore, conscientious merchants in domestic and international markets will tell customers that this is blended Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain style, or Blue Mountain-type coffee beans, not genuine Blue Mountain coffee.

Before the millennium, drinking a cup of Blue Mountain black coffee in China would cost dozens or even hundreds of yuan, which was extremely luxurious for the consumption level at that time, and it might not even be authentic. With the Jamaican government allocating more Blue Mountain quotas to consumer markets in various countries, it's now much easier to drink genuine Blue Mountain in China. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans are sold at 158 yuan per 100g package, and tasting at the Dongshankou store costs only 60 yuan per cup (approximately 200ml). The Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee that FrontStreet Coffee purchases comes from the historic Clifton Mountain Estate in Jamaica, processed using the washed method.

Rarity Breeds Value

The high quality of Blue Mountain coffee is naturally inseparable from its advantageous growing environment. The Blue Mountain range is surrounded by Caribbean Sea waters, creating a unique island-style tropical rainforest microclimate. During the rainy season, rainfall is concentrated with good drainage. Volcanic ash from active volcanoes enriches the soil with nutrients, so coffee trees don't require excessive irrigation and fertilization. With abundant year-round sunshine, surrounded by thin mist, the cool and comfortable high-altitude growing area is very suitable for the growth of various crops. Local people typically plant coffee trees alongside banana trees on Blue Mountain.

The CIB (Coffee Industry Board) has designated an area of about 6,000 hectares in the Blue Mountain range, strictly stipulating that only Typica coffee produced in this region can be called "Blue Mountain Coffee." Coffee from other regions is called High Mountain Coffee. According to the area divided by the CIB, the forest area where Blue Mountain coffee is grown has an altitude of about 910-1700 meters, mainly distributed in St. Thomas, St. Mary, St. Andrew, and Portland. The total area accounts for one-third of the entire Blue Mountain growing region.

The Blue Mountain coffee variety belongs to Typica. When grown in higher altitude environments, the flavor expression of Typica becomes more prominent. Additionally, the Typica variety has poor disease resistance and is very susceptible to diseases, coupled with low fruit yield per plant, requiring more careful human attention. Furthermore, the terrain at high altitudes in Blue Mountain is not flat, making management and harvesting very difficult. This requires high skill levels from harvesting personnel, further affecting production. In recent years, less than 15% of coffee beans produced in Jamaica can be labeled as Blue Mountain coffee, approximately 900 tons. After harvesting, coffee cherries are immediately transported to processing plants for processing, using the washed method to remove the coffee fruit pulp and then drying.

Japanese Market "Monopoly"

Before the 1960s, Jamaican coffee beans were already very popular in the entire specialty market. In 1969, Jamaica was severely affected by hurricane disasters, and multiple industries fell into difficulties, including the coffee industry. At this time, Japan's UCC company provided financial assistance to Jamaica's coffee industry and introduced scientific ecological planting methods. The Jamaican government, grateful for the help, signed a 30-year contract with Japan, agreeing to supply 90% of the quality Blue Mountain coffee quota to Japan, with the remaining 10% quota allocated to European and American countries.

During this period, Blue Mountain coffee was not completely consumed within the Japanese domestic market. They would sell some Blue Mountain coffee at high prices to other Asian countries and regions. Coupled with increased promotional efforts by the Japanese, coffee enthusiasts in neighboring countries also began to pursue Blue Mountain coffee, such as Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Since 2000, the "Blue Mountain craze" gradually spread to mainland China, leading to the phenomenon of Blue Mountain coffee being expensive and hard to find.

In 2008, during the global economic crisis, Jamaica attempted to sell Blue Mountain coffee to more countries, and coincidentally, the agreement with Japan had expired, allocating more Blue Mountain coffee quotas to other countries. With the expansion of China's coffee market demand, many domestic merchants can now directly import Blue Mountain coffee beans from Jamaica. This is why Blue Mountain coffee is now cheaper to drink than before.

How High is the Grade of Blue Mountain No. 1?

The CIB was one of the first institutions to use scientific and objective methods to grade coffee quality, combining green bean size, color, uniformity, defect rate, moisture content, and cupping performance for grading.

Before export, Blue Mountain green beans are packed and sent for quality testing, graded according to size and defect rate after processing: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, Blue Mountain No. 3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry. Bean size is determined using various mesh sizes - coffee beans that don't pass through the holes meet the required standard specifications. Top-grade Blue Mountain No. 1 green beans must meet specifications of 17 mesh or larger, defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, and present rich coffee aroma in cupping, with smooth, balanced flavor, low and mild acidity, and persistent sweet aftertaste.

To ensure Blue Mountain coffee beans maintain better quality until roasting and avoid moisture infiltration during transportation, Jamaicans insist on using handcrafted wooden barrels as carriers for Blue Mountain green beans. The wooden barrels have also become one of the important symbols of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy aims to present the most classic flavor profiles of coffee, such as the bright lemon citrus aroma of Yirgacheffe, the rich, caramelized flavor of Indonesian Mandheling coffee, and naturally, Blue Mountain should also highlight its classic Blue Mountain flavor. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the presentation of chocolate and nutty aromas while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, making the overall flavor tend toward balance.

How to Brew Authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee for the Best Taste?

As the coffee atmosphere in China continues to thrive, you can now brew a fragrant and delicious cup of Blue Mountain coffee at home without going to a coffee shop. Many friends consult FrontStreet Coffee on how to brew it better after purchasing Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will explain the extraction approach based on store brewing methods~

First, FrontStreet Coffee will confirm the freshness of the coffee beans before brewing. If the roasting date has exceeded more than a month, FrontStreet Coffee will choose fresher coffee beans. Because coffee beans have an optimal tasting period after roasting, and the coffee aroma accelerates loss with storage time, making it difficult to present the original flavors during brewing. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee insists on only shipping coffee roasted within 5 days - FrontStreet Coffee hopes every guest can enjoy the most complete optimal tasting period of the coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee considers that medium-dark roasted coffee has undergone a certain degree of roasting, making the internal structure of the beans more porous than light-roasted coffee, thus having better water absorption. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee chooses a grind size with 75% pass-through rate on a standard No. 20 sieve, along with 88°C water temperature, paired with FrontStreet Coffee's customary three-stage pouring method.

When brewing coffee beans with predominantly bitter flavors, FrontStreet Coffee prioritizes using the KONO dripper, aiming to highlight the rich body of the coffee. The upper part of the KONO dripper allows better contact with the filter paper. Compared to the V60 dripper, the extraction method is mainly immersion-based, increasing the overall concentration of the coffee to enhance its body. Similarly, the KONO dripper is also suitable for brewing Brazil Queen Estate coffee beans and Golden Mandheling coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's store brewing parameters for Blue Mountain No. 1 are:

Dripper: KONO dripper
Water temperature: 88°C
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Coffee dose: 15g
Grind size: EK43s - setting 10.5 (75% pass-through rate on standard No. 20 sieve)

Here, FrontStreet Coffee first wets the KONO dripper, then places the filter paper aligned to fit better with the dripper. After pouring out the water from the sharing pot, add 15g of coffee powder. After blooming with 30g of water for 30s, start pouring small streams in a circular motion from the center until reaching 125g, then pause. When the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, begin pouring the second stage using the same technique until reaching 225g. Wait for all dripping to complete before removing the dripper.

Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee has the sweet aroma of dark chocolate, caramel sweetness, and soft, elegant acidity. Each flavor is balanced in combination, with a smooth and rich mouthfeel, presenting a very typical Blue Mountain flavor profile.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473