What is the Taste of Blue Mountain Coffee - Bitter or Sweet? Is Authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Delicious?

Some say Blue Mountain coffee is light and delicate as water; others say it is elegant and refined as honey. FrontStreet Coffee believes both descriptions are correct, because Blue Mountain coffee is actually an agricultural product that is also affected by climate, so its flavor will vary from year to year.

Overall, the flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee is rich, balanced, and full of fruity and acidic notes, satisfying various preferences. High-quality fresh FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee has a particularly long-lasting flavor, just as wine connoisseurs would say - an endless aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee perfectly blends the unique sour, bitter, sweet, and mellow flavors of coffee, creating a strong and enticing elegant aroma that other coffees cannot match.

Understanding True FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Beans

FrontStreet Coffee emphasizes true FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain mainly because "Blue Mountain style" blended coffees often appear on the market. These so-called "Blue Mountain blends" actually have nothing to do with Blue Mountain - they typically use other bean varieties roasted to imitate Blue Mountain's flavor profile. This situation arose because early Blue Mountain coffee was rare and expensive, so operators created coffees close to Blue Mountain's taste by mixing beans and using dark roasting based on Blue Mountain's flavor profile. Therefore, conscientious merchants in domestic and international markets will tell customers that these are comprehensive Blue Mountain, blended Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain style, or Blue Mountain-style coffees, not true Blue Mountain coffee.

Before the millennium, drinking a cup of Blue Mountain black coffee in China cost dozens or even hundreds of yuan, which was extremely luxurious for the consumption level at that time, and it might not even be authentic. With the Jamaican government allocating more Blue Mountain quotas to consumer markets in various countries, it's now much easier to drink authentic Blue Mountain in China. FrontStreet Coffee's FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No.1 beans are sold at 158 yuan per 100 grams, and tasting at the Dongshankou store costs only 60 yuan per cup. FrontStreet Coffee's FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No.1 comes from the historic Clifton Mountain Estate in Jamaica and is processed using the washed method.

The high quality of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee is naturally inseparable from the advantages of its growing environment. The Blue Mountain Range is surrounded by Caribbean Sea waters, creating a unique island-type tropical rainforest microclimate. During the rainy season, rainfall is particularly concentrated with good drainage. The volcanic ash from active volcanoes enriches the soil with nutrients, so coffee trees require minimal irrigation and fertilization. With abundant year-round sunshine, surrounded by thin mist, the cool and comfortable high-altitude growing area is very suitable for various crops. Locals typically plant coffee trees alongside banana trees on the slopes of the Blue Mountains.

The CIB has designated an area of approximately 6,000 hectares in the Blue Mountain Range, strictly stipulating that only Typica coffee produced in this region can be called "Blue Mountain Coffee." Coffee from other regions is called High Mountain Coffee. According to the area designated by the CIB, the Blue Mountain coffee growing forests are at altitudes of approximately 910-1,700 meters, mainly distributed in St. Thomas, St. Mary, St. Andrew, and Portland. The total area accounts for one-third of the entire Blue Mountain growing region.

The Blue Mountain region is a small area with only 6,000 hectares of growing land, making it impossible for all coffees labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. Today's Clifton Estate is the largest estate in this region, which, by international standards, is still considered small-scale cultivation. Many estate owners are small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries. FrontStreet Coffee, through comparison, believes that Clifton Estate's Blue Mountain No.1 performs exceptionally well and can serve as one of the outstanding representatives of Blue Mountain coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee Varieties

FrontStreet Coffee's FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain is of the Typica variety, which is a very ancient Arabica subspecies. Typica is an ancient variety of Arabica that we often hear about. Around the 15th to 16th centuries AD, due to human collection, it was moved from southwestern Ethiopia to Yemen for cultivation, and later brought to various parts of the world by French and Dutch merchants. The characteristics of Typica are taller coffee trees, bronze-colored young leaves at the top, and beans that are relatively large and long, with pointed ends that somewhat resemble eggs. Typica coffee often has citrus acidity with a sweet aftertaste, praised by many as elegant and clean coffee beans. Unfortunately, due to its low yield and poor resistance to leaf rust disease, it has gradually been replaced by farmers with more robust varieties.

Typica was introduced to this country by Sir Nicholas Lawes in the 18th century and soon spread to Blue Mountain for cultivation, with over two hundred years of history to date. The Typica in Blue Mountain has also adapted to the local island-type tropical rainforest climate, evolving stronger disease resistance, particularly much stronger resistance to coffee berry disease than typical Typica. Quality varieties, growing environment, green bean quality, and processing methods together create the very balanced and harmonious taste profile of Blue Mountain Typica coffee.

Processing Methods

Before this year, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No.1 was only available in washed processing batches. The washed and fermentation methods are used to remove the fruit pulp and mucilage. Farms using the washed method must build washing tanks and have access to a continuous supply of fresh water. During processing, the fruit pulp is first removed, allowing fermentation for 12-18 hours. The fermented beans are then placed in the tank 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 enclosed in the parchment with a moisture content of 50% and must be sun-dried to reduce the moisture content to 12-14%, otherwise they will continue to ferment and become moldy and spoiled. Afterwards, the coffee beans are screened and then stored in special warehouses. These procedures must be strictly controlled, otherwise, the quality of the coffee will be affected.

Now FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain is not only available in washed processing. FrontStreet Coffee once offered a batch of sun-dried FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain, which was also certified and exported by the Jamaica Coffee Board. The production of this sun-dried Blue Mountain coffee was actually quite challenging. Previously, only washed processing was available because washing ensures the most essential expression of Blue Mountain flavor, while changing the processing method would definitely alter its flavor structure. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean coffee series almost all uses washed processing, as washed processing best represents the flavor of the producing region. Of course, Blue Mountain coffee using sun-dried processing is more about following market developments, just like FrontStreet Coffee recently added a sun-dried FrontStreet Coffee Mandheling coffee bean, which differs from the traditional wet-hulled method.

Blue Mountain Coffee Grade Classification: Which is the Highest Grade?

When mentioning the grade classification of Blue Mountain coffee, FrontStreet Coffee must introduce the CIB, which plays a very important role in Jamaica's coffee industry. The Jamaica Coffee Industry Board (CIB) was established by the Jamaican government in 1952, authorized to improve, control, and maintain the quality and reputation of Jamaican coffee, serving as a statutory body that regulates the coffee industry through core processes such as licensing, certification, and consulting.

Regarding the quality control of Blue Mountain green beans, the CIB regulates the planting, production, and sales of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, thereby improving coffee quality, standardizing coffee production and processing procedures, while coordinating the sales of Blue Mountain coffee in the market. The CIB was one of the first institutions to use scientific and objective methods to grade coffee quality, combining green bean size, color, uniformity, defect rate, moisture content, and cupping performance for grading.

Before export, Blue Mountain green beans are packaged and sent for cup testing, graded according to size specifications and defect rate after processing: Blue Mountain No.1, Blue Mountain No.2, Blue Mountain No.3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry. Bean size is determined using various mesh-sized sieves, where coffee beans that do not pass through the openings meet the required specifications. Top-grade FrontStreet Coffee's 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 persistent aftertaste.

To ensure Blue Mountain coffee beans maintain better quality until roasting and avoid moisture infiltration during transportation, Jamaicans insist on using handcrafted wooden barrels as carriers for Blue Mountain green beans. Wooden barrels have also become one of the important symbols of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

For coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans to maximize the rich flavors of the coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's shipped beans are all roasted within 5 days, because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that bean freshness greatly affects flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor and ready for immediate brewing.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans, which is also fine. However, FrontStreet Coffee reminds everyone that if coffee beans are ground in advance, they need to be brewed promptly. If already ground into coffee powder, there's no need for further degassing, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide buildup in the package also helps round out the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the coffee powder. Meanwhile, coffee powder oxidizes faster when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate more quickly, and the coffee's flavor won't be as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh for each brew to better taste the coffee's flavor.

Dripper: Kono dripper, Water Temperature: 88°C, Bean Amount: 15 grams, Ratio: 1:15, Grind: Medium-fine grind (Chinese standard 20-mesh screen pass rate 75%)

Using segmented extraction, bloom with twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds, i.e., 30 grams of water for 30 seconds. The blooming process is necessary to allow the coffee grounds to release internal carbon dioxide, making the subsequent extraction more stable. With a small water stream, pour in a circular motion until reaching 125 grams, then continue pouring until 225 grams, then stop. Wait until the water in the dripper has finished dripping, then remove the dripper. Start timing from the beginning of pouring, with an extraction time of 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it evenly, then pour it into cups for tasting.

[FrontStreet Coffee Sun-dried Blue Mountain Coffee] Slight berry acidity, reminiscent of dark plums and mulberries, with good overall balance, rich black chocolate and nut flavors, with a slight fermented sensation.

[FrontStreet Coffee Washed Blue Mountain Coffee] Rich black chocolate and nut flavors, with a creamy smooth texture, and balanced sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473