What is Blue Mountain Coffee? Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Taste and Flavor Characteristics, Brewing Recommendations

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The Legendary Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue Mountain Coffee is the most superior coffee in the world. The Blue Mountains are located in eastern Jamaica. When the weather is clear, the sun shines directly on the azure Caribbean Sea, and the mountain peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence the name.

The highest peak of the Blue Mountains reaches 2,256 meters, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. This area is situated in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air free from pollution, and a humid climate with year-round fog and rain. Such climate conditions have created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, as well as the world's highest-priced coffee.

Blue Mountain Coffee possesses all the characteristics of excellent coffee. Not only does it have a rich and mellow flavor, but due to the perfect balance of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness, it has no bitterness at all, only a moderate and perfect acidity. It is typically consumed as a single-origin coffee, but due to its extremely limited production and exorbitant price, the market generally uses coffees with similar flavors as substitutes.

The Secret Behind Blue Mountain's Purity

The "secret" to Blue Mountain Coffee's pure flavor lies in their meticulous processing methods. All coffee trees grow on rugged mountain slopes, making the harvesting process extremely difficult—only skilled local female workers can perform this task competently. Selecting perfectly ripe coffee beans during harvesting is crucial, as under-ripe or over-ripe beans will affect the coffee quality. After harvesting, the coffee beans must be hulled the same day, then fermented for 12-18 hours. Following this, the beans undergo washing and screening. The next step is drying, which must be conducted on concrete floors or thick blankets until the coffee bean moisture content drops to 12%-14%. The beans are then stored in dedicated warehouses. When needed, they are taken out for roasting and then ground into powder. These procedures must be strictly controlled; otherwise, the coffee quality will be compromised.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Grades

Coffee from the Jamaican Blue Mountain region has three grades:

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

Both Blue Mountain Coffee and High Mountain Coffee are further divided into two grades each. Ranked from highest to lowest quality: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, High Mountain No. 1, High Mountain No. 2, and Jamaica Prime Coffee.

Typically, only coffee grown between altitudes of 457 to 1,524 meters can be called Blue Mountain Coffee.

Coffee grown between altitudes of 274 to 457 meters is usually called Jamaica Prime Coffee Beans. In terms of price, Blue Mountain Coffee costs several times more than High Mountain Coffee.

Meticulous Processing Methods

During the green bean processing stage of Blue Mountain Coffee, only ripe red cherries are harvested, and manual selection along with the elimination of floating beans is a basic requirement. Next, farmers send the selected coffee cherries to another washing station for a second selection, and the pulp removal process is completed before evening. The coffee beans are then placed in large water tanks, where any over-fermented, unripe, or pest-damaged cherries are carefully screened out before the mucilage removal process begins. After mucilage removal, the parchment beans are placed on cement stone slabs for sun-drying for 5 days, then bagged and stored in warehouses for at least 10 weeks. Finally, the hulled green beans undergo one final manual selection process to remove any imperfections.

Rich Historical Heritage

Jamaican coffee beans have a long and storied history. In 1728, the then-British Governor Sir Nicholas Lawes imported coffee from the French island of Martinique to Jamaica. Due to the local climate being extremely suitable for coffee cultivation, Jamaica exported 83,000 pounds of high-quality coffee just nine years after introduction. The Blue Mountain Coffee production area is located in eastern Jamaica. Only coffee grown at altitudes of 3,000 to 5,500 feet within this region can be considered authentic [Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee]. Coffee grown at altitudes of 1,500 to 3,000 feet can only be called [Jamaica High Mountain Coffee], while coffee grown below 1,500 feet is [Jamaica Supreme] or [Jamaica Low Mountain]. Areas above 5,500 feet are protected forests where coffee cultivation is prohibited.

Government Quality Control

The Jamaican government's serious efforts were mainly aimed at increasing coffee production and building central coffee processing facilities to improve coffee processing and green bean grading. These measures did improve quality but were not entirely successful. In 1943, Canada, then the largest buyer of Jamaican coffee, still found the quality unacceptable. In 1944, the Jamaican government established a central coffee [wet] processing plant, where all coffee intended for export had to be sent for processing and grading. From this point, the quality of Jamaican exported coffee gradually improved. In June 1950, the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board was established, officially making the state responsible for the quality of exported coffee beans. Currently, there are five government-certified 100% Blue Mountain Coffee processing plants: Wallenford, Mavis Bank, Old Tavern, Silver Hill, and Moy Hall.

Quality Challenges and Japanese Market

Blue Mountain Coffee is high-quality Caribbean coffee that, like coffee from other countries, suffers damage from natural hurricanes. Too many damaged beans have shown cabbage flavors during cupping. In years when hurricanes strike, prices are always affected, sometimes making the coffee unsellable. Additionally, the hot and humid environment of island nations often causes coffee beans to suffer from pest damage or develop white spots. Truly flawless coffee beans are always scarce. Coupled with Japanese buyers purchasing 70-80% of Blue Mountain Coffee, prices remain high. Truly high-altitude 100% pure Blue Mountain Coffee is produced by Jamaican national processing plants. The coffee is packed in special wooden barrels, and each barrel comes with a certificate.

RSW Blue Mountain Coffee

RSW Blue Mountain Coffee is composed of three local coffee estates in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region: Resource, Sherwood Forest, and Whitfield Hall. It represents the most stable and best quality Blue Mountain Coffee. Each estate has a history of over 180 years. The estate owners joined hands in cooperation, and after several years, they created the legendary barrel-aged Blue Mountain estate brand coffee. RSW only processes coffee from its own group of estates and never buys beans from other estates. They primarily use the Sherwood Coffee Processing Plant (built before 1800) as their exclusive processing facility. Coffee cherries from all three estates are sent here for processing. Freshly harvested coffee cherries are stored in a humidity-controlled storage room, and every detail of the processing process is handled with extreme care to provide buyers with the finest Blue Mountain Coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's [Blue Mountain Coffee] comes from the Clifton estate and is recommended to be brewed with water at 88°C. You can choose a KONO dripper, medium-coarse grind, and control the brewing time within two minutes. It offers captivating flavors of dark chocolate and nuts, with a brown sugar-like aftertaste. The perfect fusion of acidity, sweetness, and bitterness creates an endless memorable experience.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473