Top 10 Premium Coffees in the World! Is Your Blue Mountain Coffee Fake? How to Buy Genuine Blue Mountain Coffee?

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee: The Truth Behind the Legend

As is well known, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is often compared to the Rolls-Royce or Rolex of the coffee world. For a long time, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee has been the most outstanding representative of coffee, whether viewed from the perspective of quality or price.

However, in some respects, FrontStreet Coffee would prefer to compare it to the hairy crabs of Yangcheng Lake. After all, even today, we can still hear such statements about Blue Mountain Coffee: "It's difficult to buy genuine Blue Mountain Coffee in the Chinese market," "Even if you can buy it, it's probably not real," "The Japanese have monopolized Blue Mountain Coffee," and so on. Why do such statements exist? Is it really impossible to buy genuine Blue Mountain in China? Hey! To understand the truth, we need to first know how Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee became famous worldwide~

The Rise to Fame of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

In the article "What's So Special About Blue Mountain Coffee?" FrontStreet Coffee introduced that Blue Mountain Coffee is produced in the "Blue Mountain" region, which belongs to the island nation of Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea. In the past, coffee naming was simple—coffee was named after where it was produced~ Since Jamaica is an island nation, the coffee produced from this land differs from coffee in other inland producing regions. It belongs to the same special category as coffee from Hawaii and St. Helena—island coffee.

Starting from the 1950s, Jamaica's Blue Mountain Coffee had already become renowned in overseas coffee markets for its superior quality. This credit mainly goes to the CIB (Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica), established by the Jamaican government at that time to save the Jamaican coffee industry. Their grading method allowed Jamaican coffee to embark on the path of specialization before the concept of specialty coffee emerged (this was discussed in the linked article above, interested friends can review it). Thus, with its outstanding quality, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee began to go international, becoming one of the most popular coffees at that time.

At this point, some friends might ask: "What charm does Blue Mountain Coffee possess?" When FrontStreet Coffee introduces specialty coffee, we often mention that in the past, because most coffee-producing regions focused on quantity rather than quality, the quality of coffee beans was inconsistent, requiring very dark roasting to cover the negative flavors brought by defective beans. Generally, coffee flavors were strong bitterness or sharp stimulation. However, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, due to its superior quality and minimal defects, unlike coffee beans from other regions, does not require very dark roasting to cover flaws. As a result, FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, when roasted, does not have strong bitterness but instead presents very rich chocolate and nutty flavors, with a mellow mouthfeel and low acidity—a very pure coffee taste.

The Japanese Connection

Because such flavor profiles were deeply welcomed by the Japanese market, at that time, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee became the most popular coffee bean in Japan after Mandheling. Why does FrontStreet Coffee mention this point here? Because this affection laid the groundwork for Blue Mountain Coffee's later monopoly by Japan! The good times didn't last long. In the late 1960s, Jamaica's coffee industry almost collapsed due to Hurricane Gilbert that swept across the entire island. In the face of a Category 5 hurricane disaster, the vast majority of local coffee plantations were directly destroyed, instantly reducing Jamaica's coffee productivity significantly. But it happened that this era was when Japan's economy was soaring, with their purchasing and consumption power being very strong. Possibly out of love for Blue Mountain Coffee or perhaps sensing hidden business opportunities, several Japanese trading companies joined forces to provide large loans to some of Jamaica's most famous coffee estates in exchange for shares, enabling these coffee estates to quickly rebuild their coffee industry while allowing themselves to participate in the production and sales of Blue Mountain Coffee.

Then, as everyone knows, to thank Japanese companies for their financial assistance, the Jamaican government signed a 30-year contract with the Japanese government in 1972. The contract stipulated that 90% of the total Blue Mountain Coffee produced over the next 30 years would be preferentially sold to Japan. Then, other markets besides Japan could only share the remaining 10%. As the saying goes, rarity makes things precious. Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, already inherently low in supply (small production area, grading, low yield), coupled with the impact of hurricane disasters and 90% of quotas being monopolized by the Japanese market, its rarity rose to an unprecedented height. As demand increased due to frantic marketing and recommendations, prices naturally rose accordingly, climbing to a position that was unattainable at that time. Despite this, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee remained in short supply. As Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee's fame grew, the "Blue Mountain craze" gradually spread to China, where coffee was not yet popular. So when we mention coffee to our elders, they might not know what Geisha is, but they likely know the great name of Blue Mountain Coffee.

The Truth About Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee

Before 2008, the statement "genuine Blue Mountain Coffee is rare in the domestic market" was valid, because at that time, Blue Mountain indeed belonged to the category of being unavailable even with money. It was precisely because Blue Mountain was hard to obtain that it led to the birth of "edge products." Many merchants, based on the flavor profile of Blue Mountain Coffee, used coffee beans from different regions to blend and create similar tastes and textures for sale. Then the market saw some "edge" dark roast blends like "Blue Mountain Flavor" and "Blue Mountain Blend." Although named after Blue Mountain, they were far from authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain. This is also why statements like "fake Blue Mountain" appeared.

But this was only before 2008! As Jamaica's exclusive sales agreement with Japan expired, coupled with the global economic crisis in 2008, Jamaica liberalized the sale of Blue Mountain Coffee, and the predicament of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee being monopolized by Japan was broken.

Thus, more and more green bean merchants began purchasing Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee green beans to sell back to their countries. From then on, purchasing Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee was no longer difficult. Additionally, as the concept of specialty coffee gradually became popular, beans from other regions began to catch up with the quality of Blue Mountain Coffee, and the price of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee was no longer as unattainable as before, naturally reducing the number of merchants who faked Blue Mountain. Today, when coffee culture has become popular in China, drinking a cup of authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is no longer difficult~ This can be done at FrontStreet Coffee's physical store. A cup of hand-poured FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee sells for 60 yuan, suitable for coffee lovers who want to taste genuine Blue Mountain flavors.

Identifying Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee

Interestingly, some meticulous friends always observe whether merchants have Blue Mountain-related items to determine if the Blue Mountain Coffee they sell is authentic, such as Blue Mountain oak barrels.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee's Oak Barrels
Friends who have visited FrontStreet Coffee's store may have noticed several oak barrels placed in the lobby. This is another characteristic that distinguishes Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee from conventional coffee-producing regions—the transport packaging for coffee green beans uses homemade oak barrels rather than burlap bags!

Jamaica is the only coffee-producing region in the world that uses oak barrels as transport packaging for coffee beans. Moreover, these oak barrels are not used for all Jamaican coffee but are limited to Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee and Jamaican High Mountain Coffee, which is second only to it. All other Jamaican coffees are packaged and transported in burlap bags. The barrels come in three specifications: 70kg, 30kg, and 15kg, all of which record detailed information about Blue Mountain Coffee. It's worth mentioning that in addition to bean-related information, oak barrels for Blue Mountain Coffee sold by Clifton Estate will have some special marks. For example, the Blue Mountain oak barrel displayed at FrontStreet Coffee's store has marks like "The Lion King" (an exclusive logo only for Clifton Blue Mountains entering China) and "Rainforest Alliance" (organic coffee certification) that other estates selling Blue Mountain do not have.

Due to the high uniqueness of oak barrels, many friends use them as a standard for whether merchants have purchased authentic Blue Mountain Coffee, but this is obviously unrealistic~ After all, obtaining a wooden barrel is not difficult, and merchants without oak barrels are not necessarily untrustworthy. Then some friends might say: "Then are merchants who have Blue Mountain Coffee certificates trustworthy?"

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Certificate
Below is the Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee certificate held by FrontStreet Coffee. When coffee merchants purchase a certain amount of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, they can apply to the estate for the relevant certificate.

The important information noted from top to bottom includes: the seller's name (FrontStreet Coffee), the estate's name (Clifton Estate), and the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board. Although using whether merchants hold this certificate as a measure of whether Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is authentic greatly enhances reliability, it's similarly unrealistic. Because this certificate only serves as a statement from the estate owner to outsiders that this is the manual for the coffee beans I sold to him. And obtaining this certificate requires reaching a specified purchase quantity, which is not an easy task for some small roasters. So whether it's wooden barrels or certificates, they can only serve as a reference~

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