How to Identify Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee? The Difference Between Jamaica Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain-Flavored Coffee

Introduction

When it comes to drinking coffee, many people will immediately say, "Give me a cup of Blue Mountain." Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is famous, produced in limited quantities, and steeped in history; even someone who has never had specialty coffee has heard of it. On the market you often see "Blue Mountain coffee," "Blue Mountain flavored coffee," and "Blue Mountain blend," which can be dazzling. Not every coffee with "Blue Mountain" in its name is authentic Blue Mountain. If you're not careful, you might drink fake Blue Mountain. So how do we tell which Blue Mountains are real? First, let's understand what Blue Mountain coffee actually is.

History of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

The history of Jamaican coffee goes back to the 18th century. In 1717, King Louis XV of France ordered coffee to be planted in Jamaica. In the mid-1720s, Jamaican Governor Sir Nicholas Lawes imported Arabica seeds from Martinique and began promoting cultivation in the St. Andrew area. Coffee trees were introduced to Jamaica and planted on the Blue Mountains, and were further divided into high-altitude Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, High Mountain coffee, and Jamaican coffee. Different grades also determine different prices.

Cultivation Altitude

The Blue Mountains lie in the eastern part of Jamaica. On clear days the sun shines directly on the azure Caribbean Sea, and the peaks reflect the brilliant blue of the water, giving the range its name. The highest peak reaches 2,256 meters, the tallest in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. The area sits in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh unpolluted air, a humid climate, and year-round fog and rain (average precipitation of 1,980 mm, temperatures around 27°C). This climate created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, as well as the world's highest-priced coffee.

Genuine Blue Mountain coffee has some of the most superior growing conditions in the world. Jamaica's weather, geological structure, and topography combine to provide an exceptionally ideal setting. Designated Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee can only be grown in the Blue Mountain area, in the eastern north of Kingston, Jamaica. The mountain ridges running through Jamaica extend to the eastern part of the island, with the Blue Mountains reaching over 2,100 meters. The cool, foggy, rain-soaked conditions keep this fertile land well balanced with moisture. Here, farmers use mixed cultivation, planting coffee trees on terraces alongside banana and avocado trees.

The mountains are also very uneven, making the harvest extremely difficult; the pickers are almost entirely women. All the coffee trees grow on rugged slopes, so picking is painstaking and only skilled local women can manage it. Selecting appropriately ripe cherries matters greatly, since underripe or overripe beans affect the quality of the coffee.

Washed Processing Method: Blue Mountain Only Uses Washed Processing

Washing and fermentation are used to remove the fruit pulp and mucilage. Farms using the washed method must build washing tanks and have access to a continuous supply of fresh water. During processing, the pulp is first removed and the beans fermented for 12-18 hours. The fully fermented beans are then placed in a tank and moved back and forth, using friction between the beans and the power of flowing water to wash them until they are smooth and clean. After washing, the beans are still wrapped in parchment with a moisture content of 50% and must be sun-dried down to 12-14%; otherwise they keep fermenting and become moldy and spoiled. The beans are then screened and stored in special warehouses. These steps must be strictly controlled, or the quality of the coffee suffers.

Three Major Growing Regions of Blue Mountain Coffee

The Blue Mountain area is a small place with only 6,000 hectares of cultivation. It is impossible for all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. Another 12,000 hectares of land are used to grow two other types of coffee (non-Blue Mountain coffee): High Mountain Supreme coffee and Jamaican coffee.

Today's St. Andrew growing region remains one of the three major growing regions for Blue Mountain coffee. The other two are the Portland region and the St. Thomas region. Some small estates also grow Blue Mountain coffee, such as Wallenford Estate, Silver Hill Estate, and J. Martinez's Atlanta Estate. Even the largest estate owners in the region are considered small-scale by international standards, and many are smallholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries.

Currently there are about 6 symbols that can represent the origin of Blue Mountain coffee, such as M.B.C.E (Mavis Bank Central Factory), M.H.C.C.T. (Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative), P.X.X.S.H. (Portland Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative), Coffee Industry Board (Wallenford), Coffee Industry Board (St. John's Peak), and J.A.S (Jamaica Agricultural Society). Some estate-level coffees are also marked on wooden barrels.

Varieties

Typica has bronze-colored top leaves, oval or slender-pointed beans, and a tall tree with branches inclined at 50-70 degrees. It has an elegant flavor but a weak constitution and poor disease resistance. Yield per tree is very low, with few fruit.

Typica has one characteristic feature: the leaf tips are reddish-brown, which is why it is known as red-topped coffee. The coffee tree's opposite leaves are long ovals with smooth surfaces. The terminal branches are long with few side branches, and the flowers are white, blooming at the base where the petiole meets the branch. Mature cherries look like cherries and are bright red.

Why Did Japan Have Priority Purchasing Rights Back Then?

In 1950, the Jamaican government established the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board. The board sets quality standards for Jamaican coffee and supervises their implementation to ensure quality. It grants special official seals to Jamaican coffee, both raw and roasted. Because Japanese loans were used to improve production quality, market access was guaranteed.

By 1981, Jamaica had opened another 1,500 hectares for coffee cultivation, followed by investment in another 6,000 hectares. In fact, today's Blue Mountain area is a small place with only 6,000 hectares of cultivation, and it is impossible for all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. Another 12,000 hectares are used to grow two other types of coffee: High Mountain Supreme coffee and Jamaican coffee.

According to 2013 export statistics from the Jamaican Coffee Board, of the limited Blue Mountain bean quota, 85% was exported to Japan, 5% to the United States, 5% to Europe, and 5% to other countries. Yet in the global consumption distribution of authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, according to International Coffee Association statistics, China accounts for 15% of consumption, because some of Japan's, Australia's, and Europe's Jamaican Blue Mountain shares are exported to Taiwan through direct-sales branches.

Jamaica is the only country in the world with a government coffee management agency, the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board (abbreviated CIB), which sits under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Its functions include cultivation technical guidance, processing training, fair trade, and quality supervision, everything related to the quality and brand of Jamaican Blue Mountain. The board members of the CIB are all estate owners who hold a certain amount of cultivated estate in Jamaica (because of industry shifts, newly certified Jamaican Blue Mountain estates now need an area of more than 50 hectares). The CIB stipulates that only Blue Mountain coffee beans produced in the Blue Mountain area above 2,200 feet can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain. Its grades, divided by bean size, are NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and manually selected PB. The basic standards for NO.1 Blue Mountain green beans are beans above 17 screen, a defect rate below 3%, and a moisture content around 13%. To date, Blue Mountain green coffee has only one processing method, washed, with no sun-dried or other methods.

Another company worth mentioning is Coffee Trades, with the estate name CLYDESDALE. Its coffee factory is in the backyard of the CIB office building, and the estate lies on the Blue Mountains at about 1,200 meters. The other two most famous Blue Mountain coffee companies in Jamaica are Wallenford and Mavis Bank. Both were originally state-owned holding companies. Wallenford's production exceeds 60% of all Jamaican Blue Mountain production, and Mavis Bank's exceeds 20%. They are also among the few Jamaican Blue Mountain companies that offer three grades of coffee: Jamaican Blue Mountain, Jamaican High Mountain, and Jamaican Select.

Classification and Grading of Blue Mountain

The history of Jamaican coffee goes back to the 18th century, when the British introduced coffee trees to Jamaica and planted them on the Blue Mountains. These were further divided into high-altitude Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, Jamaican High Mountain coffee, and Jamaican coffee, with different grades determining different prices.

1. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue Mountain coffee and High Mountain coffee are each divided into four grades. From top to bottom in quality: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB (PB stands for Peaberry). According to CIB standards, only coffee grown above 666 meters in altitude can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The supreme of coffees, produced in the Blue Mountains at about 2,000-2,256 meters, has low production due to its location on dangerous slopes, but large beans, excellent quality, and balanced flavor. It holds appropriate acidity, bitterness, aroma, body, and sweetness all at once, and is recognized worldwide as a supreme coffee, which is why national-treasure Blue Mountain No.1 is the highest priced of all Blue Mountains.

2. Jamaican High Mountain Coffee

Coffee produced below 666 meters in the Jamaican Blue Mountain area is called High Mountain coffee. It is the grade second only to Blue Mountain coffee in quality and is called the brother variety by industry insiders. Because Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is so limited in production, if you want to taste Jamaican-flavored coffee, Jamaican High Mountain is your best choice.

3. Jamaican Coffee

Coffee grown outside the Blue Mountains is called Jamaican coffee. Originally, coffee practitioners generally held the misconception that only coffee grown above 1,800 meters in the Blue Mountain area could be called Blue Mountain coffee. In fact, above 1,800 meters on the Blue Mountains there is only one estate: Amber. Its owner is of Chinese descent with the surname Lyn, with ancestral roots in Guangdong, China. The estate has only 30 hectares of land and very limited production. Blue Mountain coffee is mainly distributed across five mountain areas: John Crow, St. John's Peak, Mossman's Peak, High Peak, and Blue Mountain Peak.

Authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Has Certificate Certification

The Jamaican government used to insist that all Blue Mountain coffee be roasted in Jamaica to ensure consistent quality. Roasting, however, is a fine art requiring experience, training, and expensive equipment. From a consumer's perspective, beans should ideally be obtained and consumed soon after roasting, which coffee roasted in Jamaica cannot meet. Today, Jamaican green coffee can be exported.

At present, the Jamaican Coffee Board can issue certificates for all exported Blue Mountain coffee on the market.

Certificates are divided into three types:

1. Quality proof certificate issued by the Jamaican Coffee 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. Certificate of origin for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

Quality proof certificates indicate time and quantity. The Jamaican Coffee Board randomly selects a package from the submitted Blue Mountain coffee for inspection. If it meets the conditions of Blue Mountain coffee, a certificate is issued.

FrontStreet Blue Mountain Coffee Flavor

The taste is very clean, and it is one of the sweetest coffees in the world. This flavor was described by Jim Reynolds in Peet's Coffee and Tea: "The best example of Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee is its aromatic, smooth richness, which gives me a feeling of gem-like quality. It's precious like a gem. It's complex but very gentle. It's sweet, and it has very strong body. You must taste it to know what I'm talking about." Unique growing conditions and extreme care in every production step make Jamaican FrontStreet Blue Mountain coffee very famous. 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 flavor.

How to Identify Authentic vs. Fake Blue Mountain?

1. Appearance: FrontStreet Blue Mountain green beans are greenish, very uniform in appearance, medium to small in size, with slightly raised ends. They expand significantly after roasting and become very full.

2. Grinding: Genuine FrontStreet Blue Mountain beans grow at high altitude, and their cell structure is relatively loose. When grinding by hand, it feels very crisp, smooth, and continuous without resistance.

3. Aroma: The aroma is very rich and dense. So-called Blue Mountain blends do not have this aroma.

4. Taste: Genuine FrontStreet Blue Mountain has a balanced, rich taste with no flavor too prominent or lacking, which no other coffee can achieve. This is the most critical identification point. Blue Mountain peaberry's aroma is more reserved, while its taste is relatively stronger.

Daily Brewing

Filter cup selection: V60, Kalita Wave, and KONO are all suitable.

Parameters: 15g of coffee, water temperature 90°C, grind size 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15, total time around 2:00.

Technique: 25-30g of water for the bloom, bloom time 30s; first pour to 120g then stop; vertical water flow, a small stream with slow circular motion; second pour to 225g, with the flow and circular motion slightly faster to reduce fine particles clogging the filter and causing over-extraction.

Other Extraction Suggestions

French Press: grind size 3.5-4, water temperature 90°C.

Siphon: grind size 4, water temperature 89°C.

AeroPress: grind size 2.5, water temperature 88°C.

So, What is FrontStreet Blue Mountain Flavored Coffee?

So-called "Blue Mountain blends" actually have nothing to do with Blue Mountain. The situation arose because early Blue Mountain coffee was rare and expensive. Operators created coffee close to Blue Mountain's taste by blending different beans and roasting them dark, following Blue Mountain's flavor profile. Conscientious merchants, domestic and abroad, will tell customers that this is blended Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain blend, Blue Mountain flavored, or Blue Mountain-style coffee, not genuine Blue Mountain coffee.

Real Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain flavor are two different concepts. Generally, other varieties are roasted to imitate the taste of Blue Mountain. "Blue Mountain blend" beans are mixed with relatively large differences in shape, making them easier to identify. Also, don't believe in "premium Blue Mountain" that costs tens of dollars per pound or "Blue Mountain coffee" that costs around ten yuan per cup.

Not all coffees labeled "Blue Mountain" are real Blue Mountain. We hope this helps everyone tell them apart.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If, after all this, you want to taste genuine Blue Mountain rather than a flavored blend, the place to start is FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1, which belongs to the highest-graded lot and comes from the historic Clifton Estate. Clifton has been growing and processing coffee since around 1750. Its growing and processing areas sit at an average of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters), where sufficient altitude, gentle afternoon cloud cover that shades the hills, ample sunshine, and mineral-rich soil give the trees excellent growing conditions and lengthen the ripening of the cherries.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain is roasted fresh within 5 days, so the beans arrive still full of flavor and can be brewed right away. The traditional medium-dark roast emphasizes a mellow body and the classic bitter-then-sweet character. FrontStreet Coffee suggests a KONO dripper, which better brings out that mellow body, with 15g of coffee rested for 4-7 days from the roast date for the best flavor. Grind a little coarser than for a light roast, about the texture of granulated sugar, and brew at 87-88°C, since water that is too hot is the usual cause of a scorched, bitter cup, while water that is too cool leaves the coffee flat and tasteless. Use a 1:15 ratio and three-stage pouring: 30g of water for a 30s bloom, a second pour to 120g with a vertical, slow, small-stream circling, and a third pour to 225g with the stream and circling slightly faster to reduce clogging and over-extraction. The result is a very clean, complex, remarkably gentle cup with chocolate sweetness and a strong body, a perfect balance of sweet, acidic, and bitter with no bitterness at all, only moderate, perfect acidity and a lasting fruit finish.