Which Brand Makes the Best Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans? Is Premium Pour-Over Blue Mountain Coffee Bitter?

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Authentic Blue Mountain coffee comes from coffee beans grown in Jamaica's Blue Mountain range. Compared to many other coffee producing regions, the price is slightly more expensive, but not extremely expensive. However, many products on the market labeled as Blue Mountain flavor, Blue Mountain flavored coffee, Blue Mountain taste coffee, or Blue Mountain blend coffee are not genuine Blue Mountain coffee.

Blue Mountain Coffee Brand

Jamaica is an island located in the Caribbean Sea. The Blue Mountains are the highest mountain range on this island (with the highest altitude of 2256 meters). This area is situated in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air free from pollution, humid climate, and year-round fog and rainfall (average precipitation of 1980mm, temperature around 27°C). Such climate conditions have created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

Although it has an altitude of over 2000 meters, areas above 1700m are nature reserves, so Blue Mountain coffee is cultivated in the 910-1700m region. The authentic Blue Mountain coffee growing regions certified by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board include four administrative districts: St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Mary, and Portland.

Among these regions, there are many coffee plantations/farms of various sizes. Currently, the best coffee plantation in the Blue Mountain region is Clifton Mountain Estate. This estate is Jamaica's oldest coffee producing area that is still in normal operation today, and only Clifton Farm in Jamaica has "Rainforest Alliance" certification.

Clifton Farm began growing and producing coffee as early as the mid-18th century (around 1750). The coffee cultivation and processing areas here are located at an average altitude of 1310.64 meters. Sufficient altitude, gentle afternoon clouds surrounding the mountain forests for shade, ample sunlight, and mineral-rich planting soil provide excellent growing conditions for coffee trees, while also extending the maturation period of coffee cherries.

The Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans currently sold by FrontStreet Coffee all come from Clifton Estate. FrontStreet Coffee chose to sell Blue Mountain coffee because it possesses a balance that other regional coffee beans lack, making it a fine coffee that is rich and aromatic with a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

Is Blue Mountain Coffee Bitter?

When Blue Mountain coffee is properly roasted and extracted, its flavor profile is rich, clean, and balanced, with bitterness that has an excellent sweet aftertaste. Everyone's definition of bitterness differs. As long as it's not burnt or astringent, it's normal to experience a pleasant bitterness in medium-dark roasted coffee beans.

To highlight the nutty flavor profile of Blue Mountain coffee with its balanced sweet, sour, and bitter notes, and to restore a more classic Blue Mountain flavor, FrontStreet Coffee selected several medium and dark roast curves. Through cupping comparisons, it was found that medium-dark roasting better highlights the chocolate sweetness while retaining subtle fruit acidity, enhancing the overall complexity of the coffee.

The deeper the roast level of coffee beans, the faster the dissolution rate of coffee substances. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee uses lower water temperature for extraction and also employs a Kono dripper with slower flow rate to ensure sufficient extraction of coffee substances under low temperature conditions.

Here are the extraction parameters and brewing (water pouring) techniques used at FrontStreet Coffee: Kono dripper, 88°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g coffee dose, and grind size (70-75% pass-through rate with No. 20 standard sieve).

Three-stage pouring technique steps: Use 30g of water for blooming, with a bloom time of 30 seconds. First stage: pour in a small circular motion to 125g, then stop. Wait until the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, then continue with the second stage pour to 225g to complete extraction. Total extraction time (including bloom) is 2'00".

FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over Blue Mountain No. 1 flavor profile: Rich black chocolate and nutty flavors, creamy smooth texture, with perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473