Which Brand of Blue Mountain Coffee Beans is Best? What are the Flavors of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee?

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Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, known in English as Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, once dominated competitions and auctions with its exceptionally balanced and smooth flavor profile of acidity, bitterness, and sweetness. Grown on the Blue Mountains of Jamaica at elevations above 2,000 meters, only the finest Blue Mountain coffee can be cultivated at such heights. The Blue Mountains represent the highest elevation in the Caribbean region, where rich soil and high-altitude climate impart distinctive flavors to the coffee. Some say that Blue Mountain maintains its balanced taste regardless of brewing temperature. WALLENFORD, MAVIS BANK, SILVER HILL, MOY HALL, and GOLD CUP are renowned estates of Blue Mountain coffee.

The history of Jamaican coffee dates back to the 18th century when the British introduced coffee trees to Jamaica and began cultivating them on the Blue Mountains. The coffee is further categorized into high-altitude pure Blue Mountain coffee, High Mountain Supreme coffee beans, Premium Blue Mountain coffee beans, and low-altitude Blue Mountain coffee beans, with different grades determining different prices.

Like all agricultural crops, coffee depends on favorable weather conditions. As fellow island nations frequently affected by typhoons, we can particularly understand how severe winds and rains can destroy entire crops. Jamaica also suffers from hurricane invasions, and years with hurricanes often lead to production problems for coffee beans, affecting both flavor and yield. Under such circumstances, Japan's UCC company stepped in to provide assistance, introducing hurricane-resistant cultivation methods. Consequently, to express gratitude for Japan's help, the Jamaican government allows Japan to purchase Blue Mountain coffee first each year, with Japanese buyers acquiring 70% to 80% of the production. Other estates and countries attempting to replicate Blue Mountain's flavor use similar-tasting coffee beans, but there remains a noticeable difference in taste, leading to products labeled as "Blue Mountain style" or "Blue Mountain blend." Authentic Blue Mountain coffee commands premium prices exceeding 1,500 Taiwan dollars per pound.

The Secrets of Blue Mountain Coffee

The "secret" behind Blue Mountain coffee's pure flavor: All their coffee trees grow on rugged mountain slopes, making harvesting extremely difficult - only skilled local female workers can handle this challenging task. Selecting properly ripe coffee beans during harvest is crucial, as underripe or overripe beans affect coffee quality. After picking, coffee beans must be hulled the same day, then fermented for 12-18 hours. Subsequently, the beans undergo washing and screening. The next step involves drying, which must be conducted on concrete floors or thick blankets until the beans' moisture content drops to 12%-14%. The beans are then stored in dedicated warehouses. When needed, they are taken out for roasting and ground into powder. These procedures must be strictly controlled; otherwise, coffee quality will be compromised.

Shade trees planted around the coffee are another distinctive feature of Blue Mountain coffee. These shade trees are typically banana trees or Jamaica's native Ackee fruit trees, which protect coffee trees from intense sun exposure and help with soil and water conservation. Caring for coffee trees requires considerable patience and attention - regular pruning is necessary to remove old branches and encourage new growth, and constant monitoring of fruit development is essential to promptly remove underdeveloped fruits to avoid wasting nutrients.

Blue Mountain coffee harvesting is entirely manual. Workers must navigate between bushes on the slopes, picking each ripe coffee cherry individually. Since coffee cherries on the same tree ripen at different rates, harvesting often requires dozens of rounds to collect all coffee, making the process extremely laborious.

After harvesting, the fruits first undergo floating water screening, then the wet-processing method removes the fruit skin and mucilage to reveal the inner coffee beans, which are sent to processing plants for centralized processing. During the coffee season, wet-processed coffee beans (called wet parchment) are spread across the squares beside processing plants like drying grains, receiving sunlight's blessing.

After the coffee beans dry, they undergo rigorous manual selection and machine grading before final packaging for export. Blue Mountain coffee's use of wooden barrel packaging instead of typical burlap bags represents another distinctive feature.

All exported Blue Mountain coffee must pass detailed inspection by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board. Only coffee that passes professional quality control personnel's Cupping Tests can enter the global market.

Blue Mountain Coffee Grades

Jamaican Blue Mountain region coffee 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 by quality from highest to lowest: 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, with Blue Mountain Coffee priced several times higher than High Mountain Coffee.

Blue Mountain Coffee represents high-quality Caribbean coffee that, like coffee from other countries, suffers damage from natural hurricanes. We've seen too many damaged beans that, when cup-tested, have flavors resembling kale. In years with hurricane invasions, prices are always affected and sometimes the coffee becomes completely unsellable. Additionally, the hot and humid environment of island nations often causes coffee to suffer from insect damage or develop white spots. Truly flawless coffee beans are always rare. Combined with Japanese buyers acquiring 70-80% of Blue Mountain production, prices remain high. Authentic high-altitude 100% pure Blue Mountain Coffee is produced by Jamaican official processing plants, with coffee packed in special wooden barrels, each accompanied by a certificate.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee comes from Jamaica's Clifton Farm, which can be described as having a very long history. The 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. Today's Clifton Farm is the largest estate in this region, and by international standards, it's still considered small-scale cultivation, with many estate owners being small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries.

Clifton Farm's coffee cultivation and processing facilities are situated at an average altitude of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters), where sufficient elevation, afternoon gentle mist enveloping the mountain forests for shade, adequate sunlight, and mineral-rich planting soil provide excellent growing conditions for coffee trees and extend the maturation period of coffee cherries.

Clifton's high altitude and long history, combined with its unique processing methods, give Clifton coffee not only the characteristic roundness and smooth mouthfeel of Blue Mountain No. 1 but also subtle floral notes and rich flavor complexity.

This explains why Blue Mountain coffee produced here commands over ten thousand dollars per barrel! However, at FrontStreet Coffee, you can purchase authentic Blue Mountain coffee for just 158, offering excellent value.

To highlight the flavor profile of Blue Mountain coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses a dark roast. Recommended brewing parameters: KONO dripper/88°C/1:14 ratio/time of 1 minute 50 seconds. The result is a rich, balanced cup where chocolate flavors perfectly blend with gentle fruit acidity, and the caramel-like aftertaste in the finish is remarkably persistent.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, also offering online services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473