Why is Jamaican Coffee So Expensive? What Makes Jamaican Coffee So Special?

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The World-Famous Blue Mountain Coffee

When watching Hong Kong TV dramas from the late 20th to early 21st centuries, whenever coffee was mentioned, it was always Blue Mountain Coffee. Blue Mountain Coffee is one of the most famous coffees in the world. Once upon a time, Blue Mountain Coffee was a symbol of status due to its low production, high quality, excellent flavor, and high price. Blue Mountain Coffee became highly sought after, making it extremely difficult to obtain. Subsequently, "Blue Mountain flavor" coffee appeared on the market. At this point, FrontStreet Coffee wants to emphasize something important: "Blue Mountain flavor" coffee is not genuine Blue Mountain Coffee.

The Japanese Classification System

The term "Blue Mountain flavor coffee" actually originated from Japan. Japan is the largest buyer of Blue Mountain Coffee, with at least 80% of Blue Mountain Coffee entering the Japanese market annually. Japan divides Blue Mountain Coffee into three quality and product levels: Blue Mountain Coffee, Blue Mountain Blend, and Blue Mountain Flavor.

• Blue Mountain Coffee requires 100% Blue Mountain coffee beans
• Blue Mountain Blend requires at least 60% Blue Mountain coffee beans
• Blue Mountain Flavor may contain no Blue Mountain coffee beans at all

From this, we can see that "Blue Mountain flavor" coffee beans are not actually grown in Jamaica's Blue Mountains.

Jamaica's Coffee Cultivation History

Those familiar with the spread of Arabica varieties know that in 1616, the Dutch, known as the "sea carriage drivers," stole coffee seedlings from Yemen and carefully transported them back to Amsterdam, nurturing them in a large greenhouse. That coffee seedling later became known as the "European parent plant" - the Typica variety. In 1699, the Dutch transplanted descendants of the "European parent plant" to Java and successfully cultivated them.

In 1708, France also attempted to steal coffee seedlings from Yemen like the Dutch did, but failed. A few years later, in 1714, the mayor of Amsterdam gifted Typica seedlings from Java to French King Louis XIV. In 1720, a French naval officer stole a Typica seedling from the Paris Royal Botanical Garden and escorted it to the Americas, arriving at the French colony of Martinique in 1723, where he planted the coffee seedlings on the island. Subsequently, they bore abundant fruit.

In 1725, British Governor Nicholas Lawes purchased seven Typica coffee seedlings from French Martinique and planted them near the Blue Mountains in eastern Jamaica. Soon after, coffee spread throughout the Blue Mountains.

Region Overview

Blue Mountain Coffee is grown in the Blue Mountain range near Kingston, Jamaica. The Blue Mountains reach an elevation of 2,256 meters, making them the highest and longest mountain range in Jamaica. Since the Caribbean Sea surrounds the Blue Mountains, whenever the weather is clear and the sun shines directly on the azure sea surface, the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence the name "Blue Mountains."

The Jamaican Blue Mountain growing region lies within the coffee belt, possessing fertile volcanic soil, fresh and pollution-free air, a humid climate with year-round fog and rain, and annual precipitation between 1,500 to 2,000 millimeters. The temperature remains around 27°C. Afternoon clouds and mist envelop the mountain peaks, not only providing shade for the coffee trees but also bringing abundant moisture. Such climate conditions have created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, while also making it the second most expensive coffee in the world.

Blue Mountain Coffee Grading System

Blue Mountain Coffee beans produced in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region are classified into three grades based on the altitude where the coffee is grown: Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, Jamaican High Mountain Coffee, and Jamaican Supreme Coffee.

Among these, Blue Mountain Coffee and High Mountain Coffee are each further divided into four grades. Ranked by quality from highest to lowest: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB (Peaberry). According to CIB standards, only coffee grown at altitudes above 666 meters can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. The absolute best of the best - coffee produced in the Jamaican Blue Mountains at approximately 910-1,700 meters elevation - due to its location on precarious mountain slopes, low yield, large beans, excellent quality, and balanced flavor combining appropriate acidity, bitterness, aroma, body, and sweetness, is recognized worldwide as supreme. Therefore, the price of national treasure Blue Mountain No.1 is the highest among all Blue Mountain coffees.

Clifton Estate

Clifton Mountain is Jamaica's oldest coffee producing region still in normal operation today. Clifton Estate is also the only estate in Jamaica with "Rainforest Alliance" certification. The estate is located in the Newcastle area of the island, situated on the eastern slopes of Catherine's Peak. As early as around 1750, Clifton Estate began cultivating and producing coffee.

According to a 1810 survey by the Jamaica Institute, Robert Hamilton was the owner of the farm at that time. Clifton Mountain was divided into two parts: 80 mu of coffee and 427 mu of pasture on the mountaintop; 111 mu of coffee and 264 mu of pasture at the foot of the mountain.

FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1

• Region: Jamaica Blue Mountain Region
• Farm: Clifton
• Altitude: 1,310m
• Variety: Typica
• Processing: Washed
• Grade: NO.1

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

FrontStreet Coffee's roasters have applied a medium roast to the Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans to highlight their balanced and rich flavor. Taking 500g of green beans roasted in a Yangjia 600N semi-direct flame roaster as an example:

Enter the drum at 165°C, heat at 130, damper open at 3; return temperature at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 95.8°C, maintain heat unchanged; at 3 minutes, adjust damper to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat to 140. When drum temperature reaches 153.3°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 8'36", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 10'06", first crack begins, develop for 3 minutes after first crack, drop beans at 198.5°C.

Genuine Blue Mountain Coffee is expensive. This world-class coffee bean grows in fertile volcanic soil with suitable environmental temperatures, possessing rich nutty flavors and a balanced, rich mouthfeel. Blue Mountain Coffee beans are typically used for pour-over coffee. Many coffee enthusiasts worry they cannot brew a cup of Blue Mountain Coffee with balanced acidity, bitterness, and rich body, so they visit FrontStreet Coffee's stores to seek help from FrontStreet Coffee's baristas.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Parameters

When brewing Blue Mountain Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses the following parameters:

• Dripper: KONO Dripper
• Water Temperature: 88°C
• Coffee Dose: 15g
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
• Grind Size: 75% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve

To highlight the rich body of Blue Mountain Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a dripper with immersion capabilities. The upper part of the KONO dripper has smooth walls, while the lower part features short ribs. When the filter paper is wet, it can adhere tightly to the dripper walls, while the lower part's ribs serve to guide water flow, allowing full contact between coffee grounds and hot water, resulting in greater extraction of coffee flavor compounds. Compared to Hario V60, coffee brewed with a KONO dripper shows significant improvement in body richness.

Since Blue Mountain Coffee beans use a relatively dark roast level, FrontStreet Coffee uses a grind size of 75% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve when grinding these beans. Due to the darker roast level, the structure is more porous and coffee compounds extract more easily, so a coarser grind size than light roast coffee beans is used to avoid brewing bitter, burnt flavors.

When brewing Blue Mountain Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee first pours 30g of hot water for a 30-second bloom. After the bloom ends, pour in a fine stream from the center and slowly spiral outward to 125g. When the water level in the dripper drops to just above the coffee bed, continue spiraling to reach 225g total. Total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes.

After brewing, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No.1 displays rich nutty and dark chocolate flavors, with balanced acidity, bitterness, and a rich, smooth body.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473