Jamaican Coffee Estate Introduction: How Does Jamaica Silver Mountain Coffee Taste

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Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee: Harvest and Processing

The harvest period for Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is from June to November each year, typically using hand-picking methods. After harvesting, the coffee beans undergo a series of processes including washing, pulping, fermentation, dehydration, sun-drying, hulling, and roasting to become roasted Blue Mountain coffee beans. During the green bean processing, each step has dedicated personnel responsible for quality supervision. For the precious Blue Mountain coffee, the Jamaican government also uses distinctive packaging and transportation methods.

Unlike other coffees that are packaged and transported in 60kg burlap bags, Blue Mountain coffee is transported in wooden barrels with standards of 70kg/barrel, 18kg/barrel, and 15kg/barrel. Jamaica is also the last country still using traditional wooden barrels for coffee packaging and transportation. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans must receive a quality certification from the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board, which is the only organization authorized to issue such certificates in Jamaica.

Additionally, each batch for export is handled by dedicated quality supervision experts who conduct sampling, roasting, grinding, and brewing to determine whether it meets standards. The "secret" behind Blue Mountain coffee's pure flavor: their coffee trees all grow on rugged mountain slopes, making harvesting extremely difficult. Only local skilled female workers can handle this task. Selecting properly ripe coffee beans during harvest is crucial, as underripe or overripe beans can affect coffee quality.

After picking, coffee beans must be hulled the same day, then fermented for 12-18 hours. Following this, the beans undergo washing and sorting. The next step is drying, which must be done on concrete floors or thick blankets until the bean moisture content drops to 12%-14%. The beans are then stored in dedicated warehouses. When needed, they are taken out for roasting and then ground into powder. These procedures must be strictly controlled, otherwise coffee quality will be affected.

Blue Mountain Coffee Estates and Market

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 this region are considered small-scale by international standards. Many estate owners are small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries. Jamaica's coffee industry faces a series of challenges, including hurricane impacts, increasing labor costs, and difficulties in mechanizing terrace farming. Many small estates and farms struggle with rational cultivation.

However, Blue Mountain coffee is a product that reputable coffee retailers must keep in stock regardless of circumstances. A major UK retailer stated: regardless of price, he will continue to sell Blue Mountain coffee year-round because he has many customers who only recognize "Blue Mountain."

Currently, 90% of post-harvest Blue Mountain coffee is purchased by the Japanese. In 1992, Jamaica sold 688 tons of Blue Mountain coffee to Japan, 75 tons to the United States, and 59 tons to the United Kingdom. Now, since only 10% of Blue Mountain coffee production is available to the rest of the world, Blue Mountain coffee is always in short supply regardless of price. In the UK, for many years, Langford Brothers was the sole supplier. Later, the Edmonds Group also obtained supply from Jamaica's Salda Foods.

Langford Brothers is a licensed Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee brand.

The difference between Blue Mountain coffee and other coffees in transportation is that it uses 70kg wooden barrels, which are replicas of the Bonifieur barrels produced on Guadeloupe Island last century. These barrels were originally used to transport flour from Britain to Jamaica and typically carried brand names and manufacturer information. The Coffee Industry Board issues certificates for all authentic Jamaican coffee and stamps them with approval before export.

The Jamaican government previously insisted that all Blue Mountain coffee be roasted in Jamaica to ensure consistent quality. In reality, roasting is a refined art that requires experience, training, and expensive equipment. From a consumer perspective, coffee beans should be obtained and consumed immediately after roasting. Roasting coffee in Jamaica cannot meet this requirement. Now, Jamaican green coffee beans can be exported.

Jamaica Coffee Profile

Location: Central America

Area: 11,100 square kilometers

Population: 2,826,000

Official Language: English

Coffee Cultivation Area: 9,000 hectares

Coffee Production: 27,000 bags

Coffee Varieties: Arabica

Special Regional Coffee Certification:

Jamaica

Population: 2,711,000

Jamaica has only one coffee production area, which is also the most famous growing region in the world.

BLUE MOUNTAIN

Blue Mountain coffee, the most successful work in coffee history, has this specific region in Jamaica clearly defined and well-protected. Only coffee grown between elevations of 900 to 1,500 meters (3,000 and 4,900 feet) within the parishes of Saint Andrew, Saint Thomas, Portland, and Saint Mary can be called "Jamaica Blue Mountain." Coffee grown between elevations of 450 and 900 meters (1,500-3,000 feet) is called "Jamaica High Mountain," while beans from lower regions are called "Jamaica Supreme" or "Jamaica Low Mountain." The traceability of Blue Mountain coffee can cause some confusion because most coffee is sold according to the name of the processing factory where it was processed. These factories might occasionally purchase coffee from a single large estate, but typically they buy from countless small farmers in the region. For a long time, most of Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee has been exported to Japan in small wooden barrels rather than burlap bags. It's also worth mentioning that due to Blue Mountain coffee's ability to command high prices, there are numerous counterfeit products on the market.

Elevation: 900-1,500m

Harvest: June - July

Varieties: Jamaica Blue Mountain (a Typica derivative), Typica

In 1728, Sir Nicholas Lawes, then Governor of Jamaica, introduced coffee from Martinique. Jamaica was an ideal place for growing coffee, and nine years after introducing coffee, they began exporting approximately 83,000 pounds of coffee beans annually. Between 1728 and 1768, Jamaica's coffee industry developed extensively in the foothills of St. Andrew, but gradually moved toward the Blue Mountains. In June 1950, Jamaica's Coffee Industry Board established official standards for the quality of exported green coffee beans.

The Blue Mountain region refers to the eastern part of Jamaica, and only coffee grown in this area can be called Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee (JBM). Jamaica High Mountain Coffee refers to coffee grown in high mountain areas outside the Blue Mountain region. Wallenford, Mavis, Old Tavern, and Moy Hall are the four most famous legally authorized Blue Mountain green coffee processing factories in Jamaica. However, these four are not coffee farms; they are green coffee processing factories that do not grow their own coffee but instead purchase unprocessed green coffee beans from small farms in the Blue Mountain region and process them according to official quality standards.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that truly premium Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee has a pure, clean, gentle, and very light flavor, but this also makes Blue Mountain coffee more difficult to roast. Like other island-grown coffee beans, even the best, highest altitude Jamaican coffee has lower altitude compared to other coffees grown at similar high elevations. Lower altitude beans have lower density, so they require different attention during roasting. Without experience in roasting high-quality coffee, even excellent Blue Mountain green beans might be roasted into a lifeless, ordinary coffee. Additionally, regarding the general rule for brewing Blue Mountain coffee, it's recommended to increase the bean quantity by 20% to achieve that rich, elegant, charming aroma characteristic of Blue Mountain coffee, which is also why Blue Mountain coffee needs to be sold at a higher price. Moreover, when choosing the roast level for Blue Mountain coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends roasting it to medium-dark to highlight the characteristics of low acidity, rich body, and balanced flavor! FrontStreet Coffee lets Blue Mountain coffee develop for four minutes after the first crack to produce more caramelization reaction products.

Although good beans can be brewed in any way, since these beans are typically roasted darker, FrontStreet Coffee still recommends choosing low water temperature + coarse grinding for extraction.

Related recommendations: Why are authentic Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee prices so expensive? First, you need to ensure it's authentic.

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