How to Appreciate Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee? Flavor Description and Benefits of Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee

Introduction to Blue Mountain Coffee

Before the concept of specialty coffee became popular, even grandparents who didn't drink coffee had heard of the famous Blue Mountain Coffee. Its reputation far surpassed any other single-origin coffee. However, the market has been flooded with various counterfeit products bearing the "Blue Mountain" name, making it essential to learn how to identify authentic FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee.

Certificates of Authentic FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee

As consumers, we can identify authentic Blue Mountain Coffee through merchants who use handcrafted oak barrels for transporting green coffee beans. Jamaica is the only coffee-producing region in the world that uses oak barrels as coffee transport containers. The barrels come in three specifications: 70kg, 30kg, and 15kg. Compared to coarse burlap bags, oak barrels have the advantage of absorbing and releasing internal and external humidity while preventing the escape of coffee aroma, allowing coffee beans to maintain more stable moisture content for more consistent roasting. Later, these barrels also became one of the identifiers for authentic FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee.

Additionally, producers and distributors of Blue Mountain Coffee must be licensed by the Jamaican government and authorized by the Jamaica Coffee Board. All Blue Mountain batches exported from the region must undergo quality testing and certification by the Coffee Board and carry its labels. Therefore, we can ask merchants to present relevant Blue Mountain certificates to verify authenticity. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee is produced by Clifton Mountain Estate and comes with a quality certificate issued by the Jamaica Coffee Board, an authorized sales certificate from the Blue Mountain Coffee manufacturer, and a certificate of origin for Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. The Dongshankou store also displays the oak barrels used for storing Blue Mountain green beans.

What is CIB?

When discussing the grading classification of Blue Mountain Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee must first introduce the CIB, which plays a very important role in the Jamaican coffee industry. The Coffee Industry Board (CIB) of Jamaica was established by the Jamaican government in 1952 and authorized to improve, control, and maintain the quality and reputation of Jamaican coffee. It is a statutory body that regulates the coffee industry through core processes such as licensing, certification, and consulting.

According to the regions divided by the CIB, the forest area where Blue Mountain Coffee is grown is at an altitude of approximately 910-1700 meters, mainly distributed in St. Thomas, St. Mary, St. Andrew, and Portland. The high-altitude Blue Mountains create a unique terroir climate, but the rugged terrain makes management and harvesting quite challenging. During each harvest season, locals arrange for skilled women familiar with the terrain to manually harvest coffee cherries at optimal ripeness. In recent years, Blue Mountain Coffee production has accounted for less than 15%, making it extremely rare. This is one of the reasons why FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is so expensive.

In terms of green bean quality control, the CIB regulates the cultivation, production, and sales of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee to improve coffee quality, standardize coffee production and processing procedures, while coordinating the market sales of Blue Mountain Coffee. 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 packaged and sent for quality testing, where they are graded according to size specifications and defect rate after processing: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, Blue Mountain No. 3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry. Various mesh-sized sieves are used to determine bean size - coffee beans that do not pass through the sieve holes meet the required specification standards. Top-grade Blue Mountain No. 1 green beans must meet specifications of 17 mesh or larger, have a defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, and exhibit rich coffee aroma, smooth and balanced taste, mild acidity, and persistent aftertaste in cupping.

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

Flavor Profile of Roasted FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee

When FrontStreet Coffee receives Blue Mountain No. 1 green beans, they are uniform, plump, evenly sized, and have an overall translucent blue-green color. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the chocolate and nutty aromas of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, creating an overall balanced taste.

Freshly roasted FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee was immediately cupped by FrontStreet Coffee. The dry aroma revealed nuts, sweet melon, and chocolate. After adding hot water, notes of oolong tea, caramel, honey, and dark chocolate emerged. When tasted, it showed rich dark chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, cream, and brown sugar, with clean and clear flavors, mellow texture, and lasting aroma. To ensure everyone can experience these aromas, FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans that are freshly roasted within 5 days, so customers receive them at the optimal tasting stage.

How to Brew Authentic FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee?

Authentic FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee has a dense, full aroma and rich, varied flavors. FrontStreet Coffee recommends enjoying it as pour-over black coffee for the best experience. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee is made from the ancient Arabica variety - Typica, which has relatively low caffeine content, elegant and pure flavors, and balanced acidity and bitterness, making it easy to accept even for first-time coffee drinkers.

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

• Filter: KONO dripper
• Water temperature: 88°C
• Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
• Coffee grounds: 15g
• Grind size: EK43s - setting 10.5 (75% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve)

When FrontStreet Coffee brews coffee beans with bitter notes, they prioritize using the KONO dripper to highlight the coffee's mellow texture. The upper part of the KONO dripper allows better fit with the filter paper. Compared to the V60 dripper, the extraction method is mainly immersion-based, increasing the overall concentration and enhancing the coffee's body. FrontStreet Coffee first wets the KONO dripper, then places the aligned filter paper for a better fit. After pouring out the water from the serving pot, they add 15g of coffee grounds, bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, then begin pouring in small circular motions from the center until reaching 125g, wait for the coffee bed to drop to half the dripper's height, then pour the second portion using the same technique until reaching 225g. Once all dripping is complete, remove the dripper.

FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee delivers the sweet aroma of dark chocolate, caramel sweetness, and soft, elegant acidity. Each flavor is perfectly balanced, with a smooth and rich texture, exhibiting very typical Blue Mountain characteristics.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473