What is Jamaica Coffee Board Certified Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Beans_How to Brew Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee by Pour-Over?

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee: The World's Most Regulated Coffee

Jamaica is the only country in the world with a government coffee management agency, the Coffee Industry Board (CIB), which sits under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Jamaica. The CIB's functions include technical guidance on cultivation, processing training, fair trade, quality supervision, and a range of matters related to the quality and brand of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. The board members of the CIB are all estate owners who hold a certain amount of coffee plantation in Jamaica; because of industrial shifts, a newly certified Jamaica Blue Mountain estate must now cover an area of more than 50 hectares. The CIB stipulates that only Blue Mountain coffee beans produced in regions above 2,200 feet in Jamaica may be called Jamaica Blue Mountain. Grades are classified by bean size as NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and hand-selected PB. The basic standards for NO.1 Blue Mountain green beans are beans above 17 mesh, a defect rate below 3%, and a moisture content of around 13%. In addition, to this day Jamaica Blue Mountain green coffee has only one processing method, washed, with no sun-dried or other methods.

One other company worth mentioning is Coffee Trades, whose estate is named CLYDESDALE. Its coffee factory sits in the backyard of the CIB office building, and the estate lies on the Blue Mountainside at about 1,200 meters. The other two most famous Blue Mountain coffee companies in Jamaica are Wallenford and Mavis Bank. These two were originally state-owned holding companies. Wallenford's production exceeds 60% of Jamaica's total Blue Mountain output, while Mavis Bank's exceeds 20%. Mavis Bank is also one of the few Jamaica Blue Mountain companies that offers all three grades: Jamaica Blue Mountain, Jamaica High Mountain, and Jamaica Prime Coffee.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Classification and Grading

The history of Jamaican coffee can be traced back to the 18th century, when the British introduced coffee seeds to Jamaica and planted coffee in the Blue Mountains. It is further divided into high-altitude Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, Jamaica High Mountain coffee, and Jamaica coffee, with different grades determining different prices.

(1) Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Both Blue Mountain coffee and High Mountain coffee are each divided into four grades. Ranked by quality from top to bottom, they are NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB, where PB refers to peaberry. According to CIB standards, only coffee grown above 666 meters in altitude may be called Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. The finest of the fine, coffee produced in the mountainous areas of Jamaica's Blue Mountains at heights of approximately 2,000-2,256 meters, grows on steep mountainsides, which keeps production low while yielding large beans of excellent quality and harmonious flavor. It possesses appropriate acidity, bitterness, aroma, richness, and sweetness at the same time, and is recognized worldwide as a premium coffee, which is why the price of National Treasure Blue Mountain No.1 is the highest among all Blue Mountain coffees.

(2) Jamaica High Mountain Coffee

Coffee produced in the Blue Mountain region below 666 meters is called High Mountain coffee. It is the coffee whose quality ranks second only to Blue Mountain coffee, and the industry knows it as the brother variety to Blue Mountain coffee. Because the production of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is extremely limited, if you want to taste Jamaican flavored coffee, Jamaica High Mountain coffee is your best choice.

(3) Jamaica Coffee

Coffee grown outside the Blue Mountains region is called Jamaica coffee. In the past, coffee professionals in China generally held the misconception that only coffee grown in the Blue Mountain region above 1,800 meters could be called Blue Mountain coffee. In fact there is only one estate on the crown of the Blue Mountains above 1,800 meters, called Amber. Its owner is of Chinese descent, with the surname Lin and ancestral roots in Guangdong, China. The estate covers only 30 hectares, and its production is very limited. Blue Mountain coffee is mainly distributed across five mountainous areas of the Blue Mountains: John Crow, St. John's Peak, Mossman's Peak, High Peak, and Blue Mountain Peak.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-Over Parameters for Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Daily brewing: filter cup selection of V60, Kalita wave, and KONO are all suitable.

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

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

Other Extraction Method Parameter Recommendations:

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

Siphon: grind level 4, water temperature 89°C

AeroPress: grind level 2.5, water temperature 88°C

Authentic FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Flavor Description:

The taste is very clean, and it is one of the sweetest coffees in the world. Jim Reynolds of Peet's Coffee and Tea described the flavor this way: "The best examples of Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee have a fragrant, smooth, and rich quality that feels to me like a gem-like quality. It's precious like a gemstone. It's complex but very gentle, it's sweet, it has very strong body. You have to taste it to know what I'm talking about." Unique growing conditions and meticulous care throughout all production processes have made FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee very famous. It has a rich and mellow flavor, with a perfect balance of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness: none of the bitterness at all, only a moderate and perfect acidity with a lasting fruity aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To drink this regulated, meticulously graded coffee at its best, look for the top tier. FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 is the highest grade of the crop and is traced back to the historic Clifton Estate, where coffee has been grown since around 1750 at an average of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters). Certified beans, the original transport barrels, and complete origin documentation accompany the lot, so the source is fully traceable.

FrontStreet Coffee roasts its Blue Mountain No. 1 medium-dark to draw out the bean's hallmark balance, and the cup unfolds in layers of nuts, dark chocolate, cream caramel, and soft sweetness, with acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aroma in harmony. It is equally at home as an everyday specialty coffee or as a refined gift, and it carries the timeless appeal this legendary coffee has held for decades.