Geisha or Blue Mountain? Blue Mountain Launches First-ever Jamaica Blue Mountain Geisha Coffee Beans with Unique Flavor Profile

Blue Mountain Geisha: Jamaica's Exciting New Coffee Innovation

FrontStreet Coffee introduced the new harvest of Jamaica Blue Mountain earlier this year, with a special addition of natural processing. Many people don't understand what this means.

During the era when Blue Mountain coffee was popular, people drank Mandheling, Brazilian, and Colombian coffees with traditional rich flavors. Blue Mountain distinguished itself from them by achieving flavor balance in multiple aspects, thus attaining a considerable position in the coffee world of that time. Today, many coffee merchants still create and sell Blue Mountain flavor and Blue Mountain blend coffees.

However, times have changed.

The coffee we drink has changed. First it was Yirgacheffe, then Geisha, and then various processing methods.

Looking back, you begin to understand Jamaica Blue Mountain's urgency to avoid being forgotten. That's why this year there's natural-processed Blue Mountain - because natural processing makes its acidity more prominent. Those who dislike it might say it has become unbalanced.

Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is of the Typica variety. Later, there were reports that Jamaica was planting some Bourbon varieties. After hearing this news, several colleagues at FrontStreet Coffee discussed what they would do if they were Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee farmers. The conclusion was: plant Geisha! Only by choosing better varieties can they avoid competition with most producing regions while maintaining their status in the coffee world.

Surprisingly, we received Geisha from Jamaica a few days ago!

Is this the end of the story? Not yet. Simply moving a variety to a new place doesn't guarantee good flavor, just like planting Yirgacheffe and Geisha in Yunnan doesn't necessarily result in outstanding flavors after three to four years of harvesting. Only by adjusting the next year's cultivation management and post-processing methods based on the first year's flavor can the flavor results become better, eventually forming a fixed regional flavor profile.

In 1922, the British colonial government established the Scott Agricultural Laboratories in Kenya to study higher-quality coffees suitable for local cultivation. After more than a decade, SL28 and SL34 were selected from dozens of samples as suitable for local cultivation - this process is a microcosm of that journey.

This year has been full of surprises! In the last century, good coffee was defined by Blue Mountain coffee standards, while this century treasures Geisha coffee. So what happens when these two powerhouses combine? That's right - the Jamaica Blue Mountain region has introduced Geisha coffee this year.

Blue Mountain Geisha

Until 2019, Blue Mountain coffees circulating in overseas markets were all washed-processed Typica varieties. It was precisely because of this single processing method and coffee variety that Blue Mountain coffee maintained its high-quality reputation decade after decade. Its balanced, rich taste is favored by some friends. In 2020 (based on 2019 news), Blue Mountain first introduced natural-processed Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, and then later launched Blue Mountain Geisha.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Geisha

Region: Jamaica Blue Mountain Region

Farm: Clifton Farm

Altitude: 1310m

Variety: Geisha

Processing Method: Washed

As for why Blue Mountain began to diverge from its decade-long focus to innovate in recent years: Actually, earlier there were reports that Jamaica was trial-planting Bourbon varieties. When FrontStreet Coffee's team members heard this news, they discussed the reasons behind Jamaica's move. Before the popularity of light-roast acidic coffees, the public's impression of coffee was rich, aromatic flavors like traditional Mandheling and Colombian coffees. In that era, traditional Blue Mountain coffee was like the king among birds - its clean, rich, and balanced flavor became the object of subsequent imitation, and it was known as the "one king and one queen" of the coffee world alongside Hawaii Kona.

However, times changed. First came Yirgacheffe coffee with its explosive fruity aromas, followed by the world-renowned Panama Geisha coffee, which sparked a global wave of appreciation for coffee's pleasant acidity. Facing this situation, traditional Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee farmers felt that Blue Mountain's status was being shaken and gradually began to innovate. This year's additions of natural-processed Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain Geisha are excellent proof.

FrontStreet Coffee also obtained a barrel of Blue Mountain Geisha at the first opportunity. Like traditional Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, exported coffees are all packaged in wooden barrels. This batch has limited production and comes from Clifton Farm. The barrel bears the Rainforest Alliance certification logo (currently, only Clifton Farm among Jamaica Blue Mountain region's coffee farms has this certification).

We need to understand that coffee trees are plants, and it's not as simple as just transplanting coffee varieties from one region to another. This involves the adaptability and stability of new species to new environments. To produce good flavors, excellent agronomic experience, time for adaptation, suitable growing conditions, and sufficient coffee processing experience are all necessary. It's clear that Blue Mountain started planting other varieties quite early, and after years of breeding and flavor adjustment, they have achieved results. The Geisha variety was discovered in 2004 by Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda for its excellent floral and fruity flavors. After more than 10 years of spread, it has basically covered all coffee-growing regions, with even Yunnan planting Geisha. This year, Jamaica's introduction of micro-batch Blue Mountain Geisha shows Blue Mountain's full confidence in this Geisha coffee.

Blue Mountain Geisha Processing Method

Blue Mountain Geisha still uses Jamaica's specialty of washed processing. During processing, the skin and pulp are first removed, allowing fermentation for 12-18 hours. The fermented beans are then placed in pools 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 encased in their parchment with a moisture content of 50%. They must be sun-dried to reduce the moisture content to 12-14%, otherwise they will continue to ferment, mold, and spoil. After this, the coffee beans are screened and then stored in dedicated warehouses.

Observing the raw beans, their color is vibrant green, with a slightly pointed and elongated shape. The defect rate is extremely low, demonstrating the maturity of their processing techniques and quality control capabilities.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

For this batch of Blue Mountain Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters faced a dilemma: should they highlight the Blue Mountain flavor or the Geisha flavor? If they created a Blue Mountain taste, what would be the point of using Geisha variety? If they emphasized the Geisha flavor, would it betray the Blue Mountain name? Facing this challenge, Frontsteet's roasters first roasted two versions: one traditional medium roast with rich, mellow flavor, and one light roast with fruity and floral aromas. After several fine adjustments, the roasters decided to use an adjusted light roast curve that emphasizes Geisha's floral aromas and fruit acidity.

Drum temperature at 180°C, heat at 130, damper at 3; return temperature at 1'32", drum temperature at 97°C, heat unchanged; at 3 minutes damper adjusted to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat to 140. When drum temperature reaches 153.5°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 8'36", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma distinctly changes to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'31", developing for 1'28" after first crack, beans discharged at 192°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping

Eight hours after each batch of beans is roasted, samples are cupped. Using 200ml standard cupping bowls, with a grind size that passes through a #20 sieve at 70%-75% rate, with 11g of coffee. Water TDS is 120ppm, water temperature is 94°C. First grind and smell the dry aroma, then add water to fill the bowl. Confirm the wet aroma, and after 4 minutes, break the crust and remove grounds for flavor evaluation.

Region Introduction

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee - among which Blue Mountain coffee and High Mountain coffee are each divided into four grades. From highest to lowest quality, they are: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB (Peaberry). According to CIB standards, only coffee grown above 666 meters altitude can be called Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.

Brewing Recommendations

This brewing recommendation maintains the principle of highlighting Geisha coffee's aroma and fruit character, using the following parameters:

Bean amount: 15g

Grind size: 78% pass through #20 sieve (normal light roast pour-over grind)

Ratio: 1:15

Water temperature: 91°C

Dripper: V60

Pour-over method:

1. First pour 30g of water, let it bloom for 30 seconds.

2. After blooming, pour the second segment of water, 100g in a circular motion from center to outer edge. This pour can be slow - Geisha coffee is very extraction-resistant and needs sufficient pouring time to extract its aromas. Wait for the water level to drop to half.

3. When the coffee bed is about to be exposed, pour the third segment of 95g water, for a total of 225g. Wait for the coffee to finish filtering, then remove the dripper. Total brewing time is 1 minute 50 seconds.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473