Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee in China: Understanding the Three Grade Levels and Identifying Fakes

FrontStreet Coffee - Introducing Jamaica Blue Mountain

Blue Mountain coffee's elite status and sterling reputation rest on one thing: extraordinary quality. The finest Blue Mountain lots must come from the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, the island the world calls the "Black Pearl of the Caribbean." Jamaica has many peaks rising above 1,500 meters, and Blue Mountain Peak, in the island's central section, tops out at 2,256 meters above sea level - the highest point in the Caribbean. The range sits squarely inside the coffee belt, blanketed year-round in mist and rain, with the fertile volcanic soil coffee trees crave, a humid climate, and clean, unpolluted air. It is in this setting that the world-famous Blue Mountain coffee is grown.

Jamaica - Blue Mountain Coffee

Jamaican coffee falls into three categories:

Blue Mountain Coffee (Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee): Both Blue Mountain and High Mountain coffee are further divided into four grades. Ranked from best to least, they are NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB, where PB stands for Peaberry (round beans). Under CIB standards, only coffee grown above 666 meters may be called Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

High Mountain Coffee (Jamaica High Mountain Supreme Coffee Beans): Coffee grown below 666 meters within the Blue Mountain region is classified as High Mountain Coffee, second only to true Blue Mountain in quality.

Jamaica Prime Coffee Beans: Coffee grown outside the Blue Mountain range is simply Jamaican coffee. A common misconception holds that anything grown in the Blue Mountain region is automatically Blue Mountain coffee.

Genuine Blue Mountain coffee does reach China. As Japan's economy cooled, Japanese buyers could no longer absorb the huge volumes they once did, so the Jamaican Coffee Board had to look for new partners. China's coffee culture has grown quickly, with coffee becoming the first choice for many young drinkers, and some domestic green bean importers have brought in authentic Blue Mountain. It remains expensive, though: a single cup can cost over a hundred yuan, which is hard for most people to justify.

Did you know? The Blue Mountain range lies in eastern Jamaica. Because the mountains are ringed by the Caribbean Sea, on clear days when sunlight strikes the azure water, the peaks reflect that brilliant blue light back at the island - and that is how the range got its name.

In Summary

FrontStreet Coffee is a research-driven coffee house, and we are always glad to share what we know with everyone. We hold nothing back, because our goal is simply to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month we run three coffee promotions at deep discounts, so that more people can enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price. That has been our mission for the past six years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For anyone who wants to experience classic Blue Mountain, the FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 is the grade to start with. It comes from the historic Clifton Estate, where coffee has been grown since around 1750, at an average elevation of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters). We roast it medium-deep, so the cup opens with hazelnut, dark chocolate and creamy caramel layered over a soft sweetness, with the sour, sweet, bitter and aromatic notes in perfect balance.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing it with a Kono dripper: 15 g of coffee, a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio and 87-88°C water, poured in three stages (30 g for a 30-second bloom, then to 120 g, then to 225 g). Because every batch is roasted within five days of shipping, the beans reach you at full flavor and can be brewed right away.

Authentic Blue Mountain is traditionally shipped in 15, 45 and 70 kg wooden barrels stamped with the lot details, and each lot carries full origin certification. Those barrels and documents remain the surest proof of a genuine lot, and they are exactly why a certified Clifton Estate No. 1 is worth seeking out.