How to Identify Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee - Not All Jamaican Coffee is Blue Mountain

Not All Coffee Labeled "Blue Mountain" is Real Blue Mountain: The Difference Between Jamaican Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain Flavored Coffee

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When it comes to drinking coffee, many friends will immediately say, "Give me a cup of Blue Mountain." Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is famous, has limited production, and a long history. It can be said that even if you haven't had specialty coffee, you've heard of Blue Mountain coffee. On the market, you often see "Blue Mountain Coffee," "Blue Mountain Flavored Coffee," and "Blue Mountain Blend," which can be dazzling. Not all coffee with the words "Blue Mountain" is authentic Blue Mountain coffee. If you're not careful, you might drink fake Blue Mountain. So how do we distinguish which Blue Mountain coffees are real? First, let's understand what Blue Mountain coffee is.

History of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

The history of Jamaican coffee can be traced back to the 18th century. In 1717, King Louis XV of France ordered coffee to be planted in Jamaica. In the mid-1720s, Jamaican Governor Sir Nicholas Lawes imported Arabica seeds from Martinique and began promoting cultivation in the St. Andrew area. Coffee trees were introduced to Jamaica and planted on the Blue Mountain range, which was further divided into high-altitude Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, High Mountain coffee, and Jamaican coffee. Different grades also determine different prices.

Growing Altitude

The Blue Mountain range is located in the eastern part of Jamaica. When the weather is clear, the sun shines directly on the azure Caribbean Sea, and the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence the name. The highest peak of Blue Mountain reaches 2,256 meters, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. Located in the coffee belt, it has fertile volcanic soil, fresh air, no pollution, humid climate, and is foggy and rainy year-round (average precipitation is 1,980 mm, temperature around 27°C). Such climate has created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and also the world's highest-priced coffee.

True Blue Mountain coffee is one of the coffees with the best growing conditions in the world. Jamaica's weather, geological structure, and topography together provide an ideal natural setting. Designated Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee can only be grown in the Blue Mountain area, which is located in the eastern part of the island, north of Kingston. The mountain range that runs across Jamaica extends to the eastern part of the small island, with the Blue Mountain range reaching above 2,100 meters. The cool, foggy, and frequent rainfall makes this fertile land well-balanced with rain. Here, people use mixed planting methods to grow coffee trees, making them grow alongside banana trees and avocado trees on terraces.

Moreover, the mountains are very uneven, making the harvesting process extremely difficult (the harvesters are almost entirely women). Their coffee trees all grow on rugged mountain slopes, making the picking process very difficult. Only skilled local female workers can handle this job. It's very important to select properly ripe coffee beans during harvesting, as underripe or overripe beans will affect the coffee quality.

Washed Processing Method: Blue Mountain Only Uses Washed Processing

Using washing and fermentation methods to remove the pulp, skin, and mucilage. Farms using the washed method must build washing pools and be able to bring in a continuous supply of fresh water. During processing, the pulp and skin are first removed, allowing fermentation for 12-18 hours. Then the fermented beans are placed in the pool and moved back and forth, using the friction of the beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still encased in parchment, with a moisture content of 50%. They must be sun-dried to reduce the moisture content to 12-14%, otherwise, they will continue to ferment, become moldy, and spoil. Afterward, the coffee beans are sorted and then stored in special warehouses. These procedures must be strictly controlled; otherwise, the coffee quality will be affected.

The Three Major Growing Regions of Blue Mountain Coffee

The Blue Mountain area is a small place with only 6,000 hectares of planting area, so it's impossible for all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. Another 12,000 hectares of land are used to grow two other types of coffee (non-Blue Mountain coffee): High Mountain Supreme coffee and Jamaican coffee.

Today's St. Andrew growing region is still one of the three major growing regions for Blue Mountain coffee. The other two major regions are the Portland region and the St. Thomas region. 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 of these estate owners are small landholders whose families have worked on this land for two centuries.

Currently, symbols that can represent the origin of Blue Mountain coffee include M.B.C.E (Mavis Bank Central Factory), M.H.C.C.T. (Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative Factory), P.X.X.S.H. (Portland Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative Factory), Coffee Industry Board (Wallenford), Coffee Industry Board (St. John's Peak), and J.A.S (Blue Mountain), among other 6 types of symbols. Some estate-level coffees will also be indicated on wooden barrels.

Varieties

Typica has bronze-colored young leaves, oval or slender-pointed beans, tall tree bodies, slightly inclined branches at 50-70 degrees, elegant flavor, but weak constitution, poor disease resistance, and very low fruit yield per tree.

Typica variety trees have a characteristic feature: the leaf tips are reddish-brown, known as red-top coffee. The opposite leaves of the coffee tree are long oval, with smooth leaf surfaces, long terminal branches with few branches, and white flowers that bloom at the base where leaf stems connect to branches. Mature coffee cherries look like cherries and are bright red.

Why Did Japan Have Priority Purchasing Rights Back Then?

In 1950, the Jamaican government established the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board, which sets quality standards for Jamaican coffee and supervises the implementation of these standards to ensure the quality of Jamaican coffee. The board grants special official seals to raw and roasted coffee exported from Jamaica. Because Japanese loans were used to improve production quality, this guaranteed the market.

By 1981, Jamaica had another 1,500 hectares or so of land opened for coffee cultivation, followed by investment in another 6,000 hectares of coffee land. In fact, today's Blue Mountain area is a small place with only 6,000 hectares of planting area, so it's impossible for all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. Another 12,000 hectares of land are used to grow two other types of coffee: High Mountain Supreme coffee and Jamaican coffee.

According to 2013 Jamaican Coffee Board export statistics, of the limited Blue Mountain coffee bean quota, 85% is exported to Japan, 5% to the United States, 5% to Europe, and 5% to other countries. However, in the global consumption distribution of authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, China accounts for 15% of consumption according to the International Coffee Association statistics. This is because some of Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee shares from Japan, Australia, and Europe are exported to Taiwan through directly-operated branches.

Jamaica is the only country in the world with a government coffee management organization - the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board (CIB for short), which is under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Jamaica. The CIB's functions include cultivation technical guidance, processing training, fair trade, quality supervision, and other matters related to Jamaican Blue Mountain quality and brand. Members of the CIB board are all estate owners who own a certain amount of planting estates in Jamaica (due to industrial shifts, newly certified Jamaican Blue Mountain estates now need more than 50 hectares). CIB stipulates that only Blue Mountain coffee beans produced in regions above 2,200 feet in Jamaica can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain. Its grades are divided according to bean size into NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and manually selected PB. The basic standard for NO.1 Blue Mountain raw beans is beans above 17 mesh, defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, etc. Additionally, to date, Blue Mountain raw beans only use one processing method - washed processing, with no sun-dried or other processing methods.

Another noteworthy company is Coffee Trades, with the estate name CLYDESDALE. The company's coffee factory is located in the backyard of the CIB office building, and the estate is located on the mountainside of Blue Mountain at around 1,200 meters. Jamaica's other two most famous Blue Mountain coffee companies are Wallenford and Mavis Bank. Both companies were originally state-held companies. Wallenford's production exceeds 60% of all Jamaican Blue Mountain production, and Mavis Bank's production exceeds 20%. Moreover, it is one of the few Jamaican Blue Mountain companies that has three grades of coffee: Jamaican Blue Mountain, Jamaican High Mountain, and Jamaican Prime coffee.

Classification and Grading of Blue Mountain Coffee

The history of Jamaican coffee can be traced back to the 18th century when the British introduced coffee trees to Jamaica and planted them in the Blue Mountain range. These were further divided into high-altitude Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, Jamaican High Mountain coffee, and Jamaican coffee. Different grades also determine different prices.

(1) Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue Mountain coffee and High Mountain coffee are each divided into four grades. From top to bottom in terms of quality, they are: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB, where PB refers to peaberries. According to CIB standards, only coffee grown above 666 meters altitude can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The supreme among coffees, the coffee produced in the mountains of Jamaica's Blue Mountain range at about 2,000-2,256m altitude. Due to its location on treacherous mountainsides, production is small, beans are large with excellent quality, and the taste is balanced, combining appropriate acidity, bitterness, aroma, body, and sweetness. It is recognized worldwide as a supreme coffee, so the price of national treasure Blue Mountain No.1 is the highest among all Blue Mountain coffees.

(2) Jamaican High Mountain Coffee

Coffee produced below 666 meters in the Jamaican Blue Mountain area is called High Mountain coffee. It is also second only to Blue Mountain coffee in quality and is called the brother variety of Blue Mountain coffee by industry insiders. Due to the extremely limited production of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, if you want to taste Jamaican-style coffee, then Jamaican High Mountain coffee is your best choice.

(3) Jamaican Coffee

Coffee grown outside the Blue Mountain range is called Jamaican coffee. Originally, Chinese coffee professionals generally had a misconception that only coffee grown in the Blue Mountain area above 1,800 meters could be called Blue Mountain coffee. In fact, on the mountain crown above 1,800 meters in the Blue Mountain range, there is only one estate: Amber. Its owner is of Chinese descent with the surname Lyn (Lin), with ancestral roots in Guangdong, China. The estate has only 30 hectares of land and very limited production. Blue Mountain coffee is mainly distributed in five mountain areas of the Blue Mountain range: John Crow, St. John's Peak, Mossman's Peak, High Peak, and Blue Mountain Peak.

Authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Has Certificate Authentication:

The Jamaican government used to insist that all Blue Mountain coffee be roasted in Jamaica to ensure consistent quality. In fact, roasting is a delicate art that requires experience, training, and expensive equipment. From a consumer's perspective, coffee beans should be obtained and consumed immediately after roasting. Coffee roasted in Jamaica cannot meet this requirement. Now, Jamaican raw coffee beans can be exported.

This year, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) returned from the origin of Jamaican Blue Mountain.

Currently, the Jamaican Coffee Board can issue certificates for all exported Blue Mountain coffee on the market.

Certificates are divided into three types:

(1) Quality certification certificate issued by the Jamaican Coffee Board

(2) Authorization sales certificate issued by Blue Mountain coffee manufacturers

(Blue Mountain coffee is distributed by 4 Jamaican government-licensed processing producers and exported by 16 licensed exporters)

(3) Certificate of origin for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

Quality certification certificates indicate time and quantity. The Jamaican Coffee Board randomly selects a package from the submitted Blue Mountain coffee for inspection. If it meets Blue Mountain coffee conditions, a certificate is issued.

Blue Mountain Coffee Flavor:

The taste is very clean, and it is one of the sweetest coffees in the world. This flavor has been described by Jim Reynolds in Peet's Coffee and Tea: "The best example of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is that it has aroma, smoothness, and richness. It feels to me like gemstone quality. It's as precious as a gemstone."

It's complex but very mild, it's sweet, and it has very strong body. You have to taste it to know what I'm talking about." Unique growing conditions and very careful attention throughout all production processes have made Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee very famous. The taste is rich and mellow, with a perfect balance of coffee's sweetness, acidity, and bitterness, completely without bitterness, with only moderate and perfect acidity and persistent fruity notes.

How to Identify Authentic vs. Fake Blue Mountain?

1. Appearance: Blue Mountain raw beans are greenish, very uniform in appearance, medium to small in size, with slightly upturned ends. They expand significantly after roasting and become very full.

2. Grinding: True Blue Mountain coffee beans grow at high altitudes, and their cytoplasmic structure is relatively loose. When grinding by hand, it feels very crisp, smooth, and continuous, without any feeling of resistance.

3. Aroma: The aroma is very rich and dense; so-called blended Blue Mountain coffee does not have this aroma.

4. Taste: Authentic Blue Mountain coffee has a balanced and rich taste, without any flavor being overly prominent or lacking. This is also something that no other coffee bean can achieve and is the most critical identification point. Blue Mountain peaberries have a more reserved aroma and relatively stronger taste.

Daily Brewing: Filter Cup Selection: V60, Kalita Wave, and KONO are all suitable

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

Technique: 25-30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s; first pour to 120g then stop; vertical water flow, small water flow with slow circular motion; second pour to 225g, water flow and circular speed slightly faster to reduce fine particles blocking the filter, causing over-extraction.

Other Extraction Suggestions:

French Press: Grind size 3.5-4, water temperature 90°C

Siphon: Grind size 4, water temperature 89°C

AeroPress: Grind size 2.5, water temperature 88°C

So, What is Blue Mountain Flavored Coffee?

The so-called "Blue Mountain Blend" actually has nothing to do with Blue Mountain; this situation arose because early Blue Mountain coffee was rare and expensive. Operators created coffee close to Blue Mountain's taste by mixing different beans with dark roasting to imitate Blue Mountain flavor. So conscientious merchants in domestic and international markets will tell customers that this is blended Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain blend, Blue Mountain flavor, or Blue Mountain-style coffee beans, not real Blue Mountain coffee.

True Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain flavor are two different concepts. Generally, other bean varieties are roasted to imitate the taste of Blue Mountain coffee. "Blue Mountain Blend" beans are mixed with relatively large shape differences, making them easy to identify. Also, don't believe in "premium Blue Mountain" for tens of dollars per pound or "Blue Mountain coffee" for a dozen dollars a cup.

Not all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" is real Blue Mountain. Hope this helps everyone distinguish——

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FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse variety of beans. You can find various famous and lesser-known beans, and they also provide online store 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