Introduction to Four Major Estates of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee - Features of Clifton Estate Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee enjoys tremendous prestige and was among the first wave of specialty coffees recognized by the public in China. FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned in many articles that high-quality FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee is extremely scarce, with only about 900 tons exported annually, primarily produced from Jamaica's four major estates. This article by FrontStreet Coffee focuses on Clifton Mountain Estate, explaining how Jamaican estates produce FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee.

What are the Four Major Jamaican Blue Mountain Estates?

We need to understand that not all coffee grown and produced in the Blue Mountain range can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. There are strict local standards for Blue Mountain classification. The Jamaican Coffee Industry Board (CIB) has designated an area of approximately 6,000 hectares (about 1/3) within the Blue Mountain range, stipulating that only Typica variety coffee from this region can be called "Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee." According to the CIB's designated area, the coffee-growing forest areas range from approximately 910 to 1,700 meters in elevation, primarily distributed across St. Thomas, St. Mary, St. Andrew, and Portland. The estates producing Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee include Clifton Mountain Estate, Stoney Mountain Estate, Golden Cup Estate, and RWS Coffee Estate.

Clifton Mountain Estate is not only the oldest coffee cultivation site for Blue Mountain production in Jamaica but also the only coffee estate with rainforest certification. The coffee trading company under Clifton Mountain accounts for 55% of Jamaica's total green bean exports, making it the most historic and capable coffee company in Jamaica. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans are selected from this estate. Stoney Mountain Estate primarily collaborates with Japanese companies and has limited recognition in China, with an estate history of only 80 years. Golden Cup Estate has an even shorter development history of just 20 years, but it has actually merged two century-old estates, operating with more advanced management techniques. RWS Coffee Estate has merged three century-old estates, with RWS referring to its Resource, Sherwood Forest, and Whitfield Hall estates, also aiming to develop Blue Mountain Coffee.

How Clifton Mountain Estate Produces FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee

Clifton Mountain Estate's Blue Mountain production history can be traced back to the mid-18th century (around 1750), and it was taken over by the current Sharp family in 1978. Clifton Mountain Estate is situated on the scenic Clifton Mountain, with coffee cultivation and green bean processing facilities located at an average elevation of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters). The sufficient altitude, lingering daytime mist, abundant sunlight, rainfall, and mineral-rich planting soil provide excellent growing conditions for coffee trees while slowing down the maturation time of coffee cherries, allowing the fruits ample time to develop more aromatic compounds. The coffee grows on rugged mountain slopes, making harvesting extremely difficult. During the spring harvest season, the Sharp family arranges for skilled workers to manually harvest appropriately ripe coffee cherries on the mountain.

After the Sharp family took over Clifton Mountain Estate, they began by transforming the wild and overgrown jungle within the farm, subsequently introducing various processing equipment and investing in the construction of solar power stations, wastewater treatment plants, and BMCP processing facilities. As the only coffee estate with a "tropical rainforest" certification, all aspects of the estate adhere to environmental principles. Water used for green bean processing is repurposed for agricultural irrigation, and the removed fruit pulp is fermented into organic fertilizer for flower cultivation.

Clifton Mountain Estate places harvested fresh cherries in water pools, using the flotation method to separate ripe beans from unripe ones. Then, water flow in conveyor belts transports the ripe coffee cherries to remove the fruit pulp. The coffee beans, still covered with mucilage and parchment, are placed in water pools for fermentation. After mucilage fermentation, water agitation removes any remaining mucilage residue. The clean coffee beans with parchment are then dried until reaching an 11-12% moisture content before being sent to the BMCP processing plant for one month of resting. This step allows for coffee flavor maturation and stabilization of internal structure and water activity.

How Jamaica Grades Blue Mountain Coffee

Since the Jamaican government established the CIB in 1952, it has standardized the cultivation, production, and sales of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, thereby improving Blue Mountain quality, enhancing coffee production and processing procedures, while coordinating the market sales of Blue Mountain Coffee. The CIB is also responsible for grading the coffee produced in the Blue Mountain range and conducting quality inspections. This means that Blue Mountain Coffee sold worldwide must be certified by the CIB and carry its label. The FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans that FrontStreet Coffee sources are produced by Clifton Mountain Estate, certified by the CIB, and FrontStreet Coffee also possesses quality certification certificates issued by the Jamaican Coffee Board, authorization sales certificates issued by Blue Mountain Coffee manufacturers, and certificates of origin for Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

Compared to other coffee-producing regions, Jamaica was one of the first countries to recognize the "regional flavor" of coffee. The standards for evaluating Blue Mountain green bean quality cover multiple categories: green bean size, defect rate, color, uniformity, cupping performance after roasting (including dry aroma, wet aroma, acidity, flavor, body, cleanliness, and other factors).

Bean size is evaluated using various mesh sieves, with coffee beans that do not pass through the sieve holes meeting the specified size standards. Color assessment includes visual observation and colorimeter readings, with blue-green being the highest grade. Combining these various standards, Blue Mountain Coffee is divided into four grades, from highest to lowest: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, Blue Mountain No. 3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry. Top-grade Blue Mountain No. 1 green beans must meet specifications of 17 mesh or above, defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, and exhibit rich coffee aroma in cupping, with smooth, balanced flavor, low acidity, and lasting aftertaste.

After quality inspection, Blue Mountain Coffee beans are transported using different materials based on their grades. Blue Mountain No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 are the only coffees in the world exported in wooden barrels, available in three specifications: 70kg, 30kg, and 15kg. Other grades of Jamaican coffee are exported in 60kg burlap bags. Compared to coarse burlap bags, oak barrels have the advantage of absorbing and releasing internal and external humidity while preventing coffee aroma from escaping, helping coffee beans maintain more stable moisture content for more consistent roasting. Later, wooden barrels also became one of the identifiers for authentic Blue Mountain Coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's stores display the barrels used for transporting Blue Mountain green beans.

Flavor Characteristics of FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Clifton Mountain Estate Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee

The roasting process is equivalent to the cooking step in gourmet cuisine. High-quality ingredients combined with appropriate cooking techniques enhance the food's flavor. The ultimate goal of roasting is to produce a delicious cup of coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy aims to present the most classic flavor profile of the growing region while highlighting the unique characteristics of the beans. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe's bright lemon citrus aroma, FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling coffee's herbal full-bodied taste, and FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee naturally aims to highlight the classic Blue Mountain flavor. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the presentation of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee's chocolate and nutty aromas while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, creating an overall balanced flavor profile.

Immediately after fresh roasting, FrontStreet Coffee conducted cupping of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee. The dry aroma revealed nuts, sweet melon, and chocolate. After adding hot water, notes of oolong tea, caramel, honey, and dark chocolate emerged. The taste featured rich dark chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, cream, and brown sugar, with clean and clear flavor, full body, and persistent aroma. To ensure everyone can experience these aromas, FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans that are freshly roasted within 5 days, so when you receive them, they are at their optimal flavor stage. Below, FrontStreet Coffee will explain several key factors for hand-brewing FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee according to in-store standards.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Hand-Brew Reference

FrontStreet Coffee typically uses a KONO dripper for extracting medium-dark roasted coffee beans. The upper part of the KONO dripper features a smooth curved surface that allows better filter paper adhesion. Compared to the V60 dripper, KONO primarily uses immersion extraction, enhancing overall coffee concentration and increasing body. Besides KONO, common Kalita trapezoidal drippers and flannel filters with slower flow rates are also suitable.

Additionally, considering that medium-dark roasted coffee has undergone a certain degree of roasting, the internal structure of the beans will be more porous than lightly roasted coffee, thus having better water absorption. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee chooses a grind size with 75% pass-through rate on a #20 standard sieve, along with 88°C water temperature, paired with FrontStreet Coffee's customary three-stage pouring method.

Hand-brew parameters: 88°C water temperature, grind size similar to coarse sugar (75% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve), 15g coffee beans, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, three-stage extraction.

First stage: Gently pour 30g of water for blooming, with a 30-second bloom time. Second stage: Pour to approximately 125g of water, moving in even, steady outward circles. Then wait for the coffee liquid to drop, and when it reaches halfway, pour the final stage to 225g. After waiting for all coffee to finish dripping, the total extraction time is typically around 2 minutes.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Flavor: At high temperatures, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee presents rich dark chocolate aroma, very full-bodied with distinct almond aftertaste. As the temperature decreases, roasted hazelnuts and creamy sweetness emerge, silky smooth with a hint of soft acidity and caramel sweetness, with aroma persisting in the mouth.

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