Introduction to World Specialty Coffee Estates; Detailed Introduction to Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 Clifton Estate

In the hearts of many coffee connoisseurs, Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is considered one of the finest coffees in the world. Its remarkable balance of aroma, body, and acidity, along with its distinctive rounded sweetness, makes Blue Mountain coffee exceptionally special.

Introduction to Blue Mountain Coffee Growing Region

Authentic Blue Mountain coffee beans refer to Arabica coffee beans grown at elevations between 910-1700 meters in the Blue Mountain range on the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Due to the limited area at this elevation suitable for coffee cultivation and the relatively small planting area, the annual production of Blue Mountain coffee is extremely limited.

To ensure the quality of Blue Mountain coffee each year and provide consumers with a way to identify authentic Blue Mountain coffee, the Jamaican government established the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) in 1953 to regulate and guarantee the quality of Jamaican coffee. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is classified into four grades: No.1 to No.3, and finally PB (Peaberry). The highest grade, Blue Mountain No.1, consists of beans larger than 17 screen size, with less than 3% defects and approximately 13% moisture content. In China, when referring to Blue Mountain coffee, it typically means Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans, while other grades are less common.

Additionally, all exported Blue Mountain coffee beans are packed in wooden barrels. The CIB provides quality certification/origin certificates for exported Blue Mountain coffee. Therefore, all coffee exported from Jamaica is handled by the CIB, with strict testing by trained quality control experts ensuring that all exports are 100% authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

The authentic Blue Mountain coffee growing regions certified by the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board include four administrative districts: St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Mary, and Portland.

Within these regions are numerous coffee estates and farms of various sizes. Currently, the finest coffee plantation in the Blue Mountain region is Clifton Hill Estate. This estate is Jamaica's oldest coffee growing area still in normal operation today, and Clifton Farm is the only one in Jamaica with "Rainforest Alliance" certification.

Introduction to Clifton Estate

As early as the mid-18th century (around 1750), Clifton Farm began cultivating and producing coffee. According to a survey by the Jamaican Institute in 1810, Robert Hamilton was the owner of the farm at that time. This map shows that Clifton Hill was divided into two parts: the mountain top had 80 mu of coffee and 427 mu of pasture; the foothills had 111 mu of coffee and 264 mu of pasture.

In 1872, the renowned British painter and author Marianne North visited Jamaica and stayed on Clifton Hill for five months. In her autobiography "Recollections of a Happy Life," she mentioned the Clifton Hotel where she stayed: The Clifton Hotel belonged to a local gentleman who had lost his wife.

He preferred not to live in the hotel himself but rented it weekly to different people, allowing more people to experience the cool air at 1524 meters elevation and have the opportunity to wander through Jamaica's best and oldest coffee plantation.

Basic information about Clifton Farm:

Owner: Sharp Family
Location: Newcastle Region
Total Area: 250 acres
Coffee Cultivation Area: 180 acres
Average Elevation: 1310.64 meters
Variety: Arabica Typica

FrontStreet Coffee currently sells Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans, all sourced from Clifton Estate. The choice to sell Blue Mountain coffee is due to its unique balance that other coffee growing regions cannot offer—it's a fine coffee with rich aroma, full body, and a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

How to Roast Blue Mountain Coffee Beans?

Due to the unique geographical environment and climate of the island, combined with volcanic activity in surrounding countries, the combination of high altitude, mild climate, and volcanic soil creates excellent natural conditions for coffee tree growth. This also endows the coffee beans from this region with their characteristic balanced flavor profile of sweet, sour, and bitter notes.

To highlight the balanced characteristics of Blue Mountain coffee, FrontStreet Coffee roasts the beans to a medium-dark level. This gives Blue Mountain coffee a full body overall, expressing a solid presence like dark chocolate, followed by a slight citrus acidity that adds a touch of liveliness. The sweet aftertaste is truly captivating.

How to Brew Blue Mountain Coffee Beans?

The darker the roast level of coffee beans, the faster the dissolution rate of coffee substances. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee uses a lower water temperature for extraction and also employs the slower-flowing Kono dripper to ensure maximum extraction of coffee substances under low-temperature conditions.

Below are the extraction parameters and brewing (pouring) techniques used at FrontStreet Coffee stores: Kono dripper, 88°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g coffee dose, and grind size (70-75% pass-through rate on No.20 standard sieve).

Three-stage pouring technique steps: Use 30g of water for blooming with a bloom time of 30 seconds. First stage: small circular pour to 125g, then stop. Wait until the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, then continue with the second stage pour. Pour to 225g to finish extraction. Total extraction time (including bloom) is 2'00".

FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over Blue Mountain No.1 coffee flavor profile: Rich notes of dark chocolate and nuts, with a creamy, smooth texture and a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473