Top 10 Blue Mountain Coffee Brands Ranking Introduction: Which Brand Has the Best Blue Mountain Coffee Beans

The Legendary Blue Mountain Coffee

Before the concept of specialty coffee entered public awareness, the market was dominated by rich, mellow, and bitter coffee. During that time, Blue Mountain coffee stood at the pinnacle of the coffee world with its extraordinary reputation. Whenever coffee bean rankings were compiled, Blue Mountain consistently ranked at the top.

How Did Blue Mountain Coffee Become So Famous?

Jamaica's Blue Mountain range, with its exceptional natural environment, has produced the world-renowned Blue Mountain coffee. Before the 1960s, Jamaican coffee beans were already highly popular throughout the coffee market.

In 1969, Jamaica was severely affected by a devastating hurricane disaster. At this time, Japan's UCC company not only provided financial assistance to Jamaica but also introduced scientific ecological cultivation methods to restore Blue Mountain coffee cultivation. To express gratitude for Japanese corporate assistance, the Jamaican government signed a 30-year contract with Japan, promising to allocate 90% of Blue Mountain coffee production quotas to Japan, with the remaining 10% (approximately 245 tons) distributed to other markets for sale. As the saying goes, scarcity makes things valuable. Blue Mountain coffee had inherently low supply, was later monopolized by trade, and was aggressively marketed on the demand side, naturally driving prices higher.

During the period of the agreement with Japan, Blue Mountain coffee was not entirely consumed locally. They would sell some Blue Mountain coffee at high prices to other Asian countries and regions. Coupled with intensified promotional efforts by the Japanese, coffee professionals from neighboring countries also began to pursue Blue Mountain coffee, such as Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Since 2000, the "Blue Mountain craze" gradually spread to mainland China, which is why when we mention coffee to our elders, they immediately recall the great name "Blue Mountain."

During the 2008 global economic crisis, Jamaica attempted to sell Blue Mountain coffee to more countries, and coincidentally, the agreement with Japan had expired, allowing larger quotas of Blue Mountain coffee to be distributed to other countries. With the expansion of China's coffee market demand, many domestic businesses can now directly import Blue Mountain coffee beans from Jamaica. FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee is produced by the historic Clifton Mountain Estate, using traditional washed processing.

Blue Mountain Flavored Coffee ≠ Blue Mountain Coffee

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, Blue Mountain's fame is immense, coupled with high prices and scarcity, so the market is filled with counterfeit products of varying quality. Various inferior coffees that incorporate "Blue Mountain" in their names can easily mislead consumers. For example, what we often see on shopping platforms: Blue Mountain flavor, Blue Mountain blend, Blue Mountain mixture—all bear the Blue Mountain name but are actually far from genuine Blue Mountain coffee.

Touted as the world's best coffee, it certainly wouldn't be cheap, so "Blue Mountain beans" priced at just a few dozen yuan are unlikely to be authentic. As consumers, we can identify authenticity by checking whether merchants use handmade oak barrels for transporting Blue Mountain green beans. Jamaica is the only coffee-producing region in the world that uses oak barrels as coffee transport containers. Compared to coarse burlap bags, oak barrels have the advantage of absorbing and releasing humidity both internally and externally, while preventing coffee aroma from escaping, allowing coffee beans to maintain more stable moisture content for more consistent roasting. Later, wooden barrels also became one of the identifiers for authentic Blue Mountain coffee.

Additionally, Blue Mountain coffee producers and distributors must be licensed by the Jamaican government and authorized by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board. All Blue Mountain batches exported locally must undergo quality inspection and certification by the Coffee Industry Board and carry its label. Therefore, we can ask merchants to present relevant Blue Mountain certification to identify whether it's genuine Blue Mountain coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee is produced by Clifton Mountain Estate and possesses quality certification issued by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board, an authorized sales certificate issued by the Blue Mountain coffee manufacturer, and a certificate of origin for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The Dongshankou store also displays oak barrels containing Blue Mountain green beans.

Which Grade of Blue Mountain Coffee Beans is Best?

If we confirm that the Blue Mountain coffee beans we purchase are authentic, we certainly hope to drink the highest grade of Blue Mountain coffee, after all, the higher the grade, the better the flavor expression.

The grading of Blue Mountain coffee is inspected and certified by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board (CIB). In terms of green bean quality control, CIB regulates the cultivation, production, and sales of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, thereby improving coffee quality, standardizing coffee production and processing procedures, while coordinating the market sales of Blue Mountain coffee. CIB is also responsible for grading coffee produced in the Blue Mountain range and quality inspection. This means all Blue Mountain coffee sold worldwide must be certified by CIB and carry its label.

Compared to other coffee-producing regions, Jamaica was the first country to recognize the "regional flavor" of coffee. The standards for assessing the quality of Blue Mountain green beans cover multiple categories: bean size specifications, defect rate, color, uniformity, and cupping performance after roasting (including dry aroma, wet aroma, acidity, flavor, body, cleanliness, etc.). Bean size is measured using various aperture sieves, with coffee beans that don't pass through the holes meeting the required specification standards. Color assessment includes visual observation and colorimeter readings, with blue-green being the highest grade.

Based on the above various standards, Blue Mountain coffee is divided into 4 grades, from highest to lowest: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB, which are translated in China as 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 larger, a defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, and exhibit rich coffee aroma in cupping, with smooth, balanced flavor, low acidity, and persistent aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations for Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee aims to highlight the rich, rounded mouthfeel of Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee and uses a KONO coffee filter for extraction. The KONO filter's ribs are less than half the height of the filter cup. This design ensures the filter fits tightly against the filter wall after wetting, limiting airflow, which increases the water absorption time of coffee grounds, resulting in more evenly extracted coffee.

Brewing parameters: 15g of coffee, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size: EK43s setting 10.5 (75% passing through China No. 20 standard sieve), water temperature: 87-88°C, brewing method: segmented extraction.

Place the filter paper in the KONO filter cup, pour water to wet the filter paper and ensure it fits snugly. Pour in the coffee grounds and tap gently to distribute the powder evenly. For the first segment, gently pour 30g of water for blooming, with a bloom time of 30 seconds. For the second segment, pour to approximately 125g of water, circling evenly and steadily outward. Then wait for the coffee liquid to drop, and when it reaches halfway, pour the final segment of water to 225g. After waiting for all the coffee to drip through, the total extraction time is typically around 2 minutes.

The hand-poured Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee presents dark chocolate and nutty notes, with remarkable richness and distinct almond aftertaste. As the temperature decreases, roasted hazelnut, creamy sweet silkiness emerge, accompanied by a hint of gentle acidity and caramel sweetness, with the aroma lingering persistently in the mouth.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473