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Does Jamaica Blue Mountain Grow Geisha Coffee? Flavor and Taste Differences Between Authentic Blue Mountain and Geisha Coffee

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange For more coffee bean information please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account cafe_style) People always pursue the best things in life, whether it's the most mellow fine wine, the most charming cigars, or the most noble champagne. Coffee is no different. Drinking good coffee brings happiness, so people have started to pursue even better coffee, moving from

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

FrontStreet Coffee believes that today's specialty coffee market is flourishing. First came the rise of Ethiopian coffee beans, then Geisha swept across the globe, and now in the world of post-processing methods, Blue Mountain Coffee still stands tall. Just recently, FrontStreet Coffee obtained Blue Mountain's first-ever micro-batch Geisha coffee, which left FrontStreet Coffee amazed. What kind of spark would be created when Blue Mountain's superior agricultural techniques and exquisite processing craftsmanship are combined with what is currently recognized as the world's best coffee variety?

Jamaica Blue Mountain: Origin and Characteristics

Jamaica is an island located in the Caribbean Sea. Jamaica's Blue Mountain is the highest mountain in the western Caribbean (2256 meters high). The unique flavor of Blue Mountain Coffee is related to Blue Mountain's exceptionally favorable geographical location and climate conditions.

Currently, there are six seals that can represent the origin of Blue Mountain Coffee: Mavis Bank Central Factory (MBCE), M.H.C.C.T., Portland Blue Mountain Coffee Co-operative (P.X.X.S.H.), Coffee Industry Board (Wallenford), Coffee Industry Board (S.J.C.), and J.A.S.

By 1969, the situation had improved because Japanese loans were used to enhance production quality, thereby ensuring the market. Today, this coffee has reached a status of passionate adoration.

By 1981, Jamaica had cultivated about 1,500 hectares of land for coffee planting, followed by investment in another 6,000 hectares of coffee land. In fact, 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. Blue Mountain coffee is therefore considered one of the highest quality coffees.

Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee

The Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee supplied by FrontStreet Coffee comes from Clifton Mountain Estate. Clifton Mountain Estate is the largest estate in this region, but by international standards, it's still considered small-scale cultivation. Many of the estate owners are small landholders whose families have worked on this land for two centuries. This area is recognized as an exceptionally high-quality, world-renowned Blue Mountain coffee producing region.

FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1
Region: Jamaica Blue Mountain Region
Estate: Clifton Mountain Estate
Altitude: 1310m
Variety: Typica
Processing Method: Washed

Blue Mountain Geisha Coffee

Until 2019, Blue Mountain only exported washed Typica varieties to overseas markets. It is precisely because of this single processing method and coffee variety that Blue Mountain Coffee has maintained its consistently high quality for decades. Its balanced, mellow flavor is appreciated by some friends. In 2020 (announced in 2019), Blue Mountain first launched sun-dried processed Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, and then introduced Blue Mountain Geisha.

FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain Geisha
Region: Jamaica Blue Mountain Region
Estate: Clifton Mountain Estate
Altitude: 1310m
Variety: Geisha
Processing Method: Washed

The Evolution of Blue Mountain Coffee

As for why Blue Mountain, after decades of focused consistency, began to diverge in thinking and innovate in recent years - actually, some time ago, news came out that Jamaica was trial-planting Bourbon varieties. When FrontStreet Coffee's team members heard this news, they discussed the reasons behind Jamaica's move. Before the popularity of lightly roasted acidic coffee, the public's impression of coffee was mellow, aromatic, and rich flavors, like traditional Mandheling coffee and Colombian coffee. In that era, traditional Blue Mountain Coffee existed like the king of all birds, with its clean, mellow, and balanced flavor becoming the benchmark that people subsequently imitated. It was known alongside Hawaii Kona as the "king and queen" of the coffee world.

However, times have changed. First came the explosively fruity Yirgacheffe coffee, followed by the world-renowned Panama Geisha coffee, sparking a global wave of appreciation for coffee's pleasant acidity. Many people like to compare Blue Mountain Coffee with Geisha Coffee. FrontStreet Coffee believes it's actually unnecessary to determine which is superior. From the former hegemon (Blue Mountain's rich, bitter balance) to today's rising star (Geisha's fresh floral and fruity sweetness), this undoubtedly reflects the choices of the times. One day, today's Geisha will become yesterday's Blue Mountain, and for Geisha's competitor, it's not other coffee varieties, but people's taste preferences.

Facing this situation, traditional-minded Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee farmers felt that Blue Mountain's status was being shaken and began to gradually innovate. The newly added sun-dried processed Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain Geisha this year are excellent proof of this.

FrontStreet Coffee also obtained a barrel of Blue Mountain Geisha at the first opportunity. Like traditional Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, exported coffee is packaged in wooden barrels. This batch has limited production and comes from Clifton Mountain Estate. The barrel bears the Rainforest Alliance certification seal (currently, only Clifton Mountain Estate in the Jamaica Blue Mountain region has this certification).

Cultivation and Processing Challenges

We need to understand that coffee trees are plants, and it's not as simple as transplanting coffee from one region to another. This involves the adaptability and stability of new species to new environments. To produce good flavors, excellent agricultural experience, time for adaptation, suitable growing conditions, and sufficient coffee processing experience are all necessary. It's clear that Blue Mountain started planting other varieties long ago and has undergone years of breeding and flavor adjustment. The Geisha variety was discovered in 2004 by Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda for its excellent floral and fruity flavors. After more than 10 years of dissemination, it has spread throughout coffee-growing regions, with even Yunnan planting Geisha. This year, Jamaica's launch of micro-batch Blue Mountain Geisha shows Blue Mountain's full confidence in this Geisha coffee.

Processing Method

Blue Mountain Geisha still uses Jamaica's specialty washed processing. During processing, the fruit skin and pulp are first removed, allowing fermentation 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 smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still enclosed in their 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, mold, and spoil. Afterward, the coffee beans are sorted and then stored in specialized warehouses.

Observing the green beans, they are emerald green in color with a slightly pointed and elongated shape, and an extremely low defect rate, demonstrating the maturity of their processing technology and quality control capabilities.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

For this batch of Blue Mountain Geisha coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters faced a dilemma: should they highlight the Blue Mountain flavor or the Geisha flavor? If they created a Blue Mountain flavor, what would be the point of using Geisha varieties? If they emphasized the Geisha flavor, wouldn't that betray the Blue Mountain name? Facing this challenge, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters first roasted two versions: one traditional, rich, and mellow medium roast, and one light roast with fruity and floral aromas. After several minor adjustments, the roasters decided to use an adjusted light roast curve that emphasizes Geisha's floral aroma and fruit acidity.

Preheat the drum to 180°C, heat at 130, with damper open at 3; Return to temperature point at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 97°C, maintain heat; At 3 minutes, adjust damper to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat to 140. When drum temperature reaches 153.5°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 8'36", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'31", with 1'28" development after first crack, dropping beans at 192°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping

Eight hours after each roast batch, samples are cupped using 200ml standard cupping bowls, with a grind size that achieves 70%-75% retention on a #20 standard sieve, using 11g of coffee. Water TDS is 120ppm, water temperature is 94°C. First, grind and smell the dry aroma, then add water to fill the bowl. Confirm the wet aroma, and after 4 minutes, break the crust and remove grounds for flavor evaluation.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Use 15g of coffee grounds with a 1:15 ratio, water temperature at 91°C, and medium-fine grind (75% retention on #20 standard sieve). Due to the slightly lower planting altitude in the Blue Mountain region compared to Panama, the coffee bean hardness is lower than Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha, so the grind setting will be slightly coarser than that used for Esmeralda Geisha.

Brewing Process

The ground Geisha Blue Mountain will emit a caramel aroma. Add 15g of coffee grounds, gently pour 30g of water in a circular motion to bloom for 30 seconds. Then pour 100g of water in the second stage, using small circular motions to quickly expand the coffee bed and raise the liquid level.

When the coffee bed begins to sink downward, pour the final 95g of water to achieve a total 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. The final stage also uses concentric circular pouring. It's recommended to pour from a height of 5cm to reduce the impact of the water stream on the coffee grounds, avoiding bitterness that can easily occur in the middle to late stages of extraction. Total extraction time is 1 minute and 50 seconds.

This brewed Blue Mountain Geisha has a delicate floral aroma, with clean, clear citrus and honeydew melon's sweet and sour fruity notes. The mouthfeel is round and smooth.

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