How to Properly Brew Blue Mountain Coffee - The Best Way to Make Blue Mountain No.1 Drip Bag Coffee Delicious

Many friends have asked FrontStreet Coffee how to brew Blue Mountain coffee, and whether drip bag coffee can still deliver the distinctive flavor of Blue Mountain beans. So today FrontStreet Coffee shares its brewing method for Blue Mountain coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain beans, sold under the full name "FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Beans," are Grade 1 beans from the core growing region of Jamaica's Blue Mountains. In the 1970s Jamaica began revitalizing its coffee industry, establishing the CIB (Coffee Industry Board) to oversee the sector while bringing in investment led by Japanese consortiums including UCC. By the 1980s Jamaican Blue Mountain beans had become world-renowned, with premium Grade 1 Blue Mountain fetching astronomical prices.

Of course, in an era now dominated by Geisha, Jamaican Blue Mountain may seem somewhat overshadowed, but it remains one of the most expensive, famous and delicious coffees available. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain beans come from Clifton Mountain Farm, one of the oldest coffee plantations in the Blue Mountain region, with over 200 years of history. It is also the only organic farm within the Blue Mountain region certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

Brewing Method for FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee traditionally deep-roasts its Blue Mountain beans to highlight the rich, mellow mouthfeel and the traditional coffee charm of sweetness emerging after bitterness. It therefore uses the following pour-over method.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends a Kono dripper, which helps bring out the beans' rich mouthfeel more fully.

Use a standard 15g per serving. It is best to let the beans rest for 4-7 days (counting the roast date as day one) so the brewed coffee develops better flavor.

Grind Size

For the grind, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain should be ground slightly coarser than a light roast bean. Because it is deep-roasted, its structure is more porous and absorbs water more readily, releasing coffee solids quickly. Ground as fine as a light roast, it easily turns out burnt and bitter; ground too coarse, the coffee becomes thin and tasteless, with a watery body. The right fineness is a 75% pass-through on a #20 sieve.

Water Temperature

For water temperature, FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing at 87-88°C. Many cases of burnt bitterness come from water that is too hot. Of course, water that is too cool will also make the coffee flat and tasteless.

Coffee-to-Water Ratio

For the ratio, FrontStreet Coffee recommends 1:15. Some brewing methods suggest 1:13 or an even smaller ratio for a richer taste, but the aim of shrinking the coffee-to-water ratio is partly to avoid bitter, impure flavors in the final extraction that would affect the aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee believes that as long as water temperature and grind size are properly managed, a 1:15 ratio better expresses the overall flavor profile of FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain.

Brewing Technique

The brewing method uses the familiar three-stage pour. Dividing the pour into three stages better expresses both the rich mouthfeel of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain and its caramel sweetness. The water is distributed as follows: the first stage blooms with 30ml of water to fully wet the grounds and allow degassing for better extraction later; the second stage pours 100ml to bring out all the golden foam from the grounds.

The final stage is a gentle center pour of 95ml, which enhances the coffee's sweetness and expresses an overall thick, rich mouthfeel with caramel sweetness, chocolate and nut flavors, and balanced sweet-sour-bitter characteristics.

Is FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Drip Bag Coffee Good?

Blue Mountain drip bag coffee is simply Blue Mountain beans ground into powder and packed in drip bag form. In theory, as long as it is made from genuine FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain, it can certainly deliver Blue Mountain flavor. Drip bag coffee is pre-ground coffee, however, so compared with fresh grinding and fresh brewing it loses more flavor and lacks aroma.

How to Brew FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Drip Bag Coffee?

The equipment is very simple: one drip bag coffee packet, a tall glass and a thermos filled with water boiled that morning. A tall glass also prevents the grounds from soaking continuously in water, which would cause bitterness.

1) First, tear open the drip bag packet and hang it over the cup.

2) Open the thermos and pour the first stage of hot water into the center of the filter bag, filling to 1/2 of the bag, and wait 15 seconds.

3) For the second stage, keep pouring hot water until the filter bag is 9/10 full, stopping around the small card strip attached to the top of the bag.

4) After all the coffee liquid has flowed into the cup, continue with a third stage, pouring hot water until the filter bag is 9/10 full, then stop.

5) After all the coffee liquid has flowed into the cup, continue with a fourth stage, pouring hot water until the filter bag is 9/10 full. Once the coffee liquid has flowed into the cup, you can remove the drip bag.

6) In total there are four pouring stages: the first fills to 1/2, while the other three each wait until all the coffee liquid has finished flowing before refilling to 9/10 full. After numerous tests, FrontStreet Coffee found that this method uses a total of around 150ml of water.

Brewing a cup of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain drip bag coffee takes no complex operations or equipment. This simple, ordinary approach alone yields a delicious cup of drip bag coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 is the estate's flagship Blue Mountain, sourced from the historic Clifton Estate. Clifton began planting and processing coffee in the mid-18th century, around 1750, and its growing and processing area sits at an average of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters); that altitude, the gentle afternoon cloud that shades the hillsides, plentiful sunshine and mineral-rich soil give the trees excellent growing conditions and lengthen the ripening of the cherries. The beans are shipped fresh within 5 days of roasting, so they arrive at full flavor and can be brewed right away, and they are roasted medium-dark to bring out a rich body and the traditional charm of sweetness following bitterness. FrontStreet recommends a Kono dripper at a 15g dose, letting the beans rest 4-7 days (counting the roast date as day one), a grind a little coarser than granulated sugar, 87-88°C water and a 1:15 ratio, poured in three stages: a 30g bloom for 30 seconds, then to 120g, then a gentle circular pour to 225g. The cup is very clean and complex, gentle and chocolate-sweet with strong body, the sweet, acidic and bitter notes in perfect balance, hardly any bitterness, only a moderate and complete acidity, and a lingering fruity finish.