The Development History of Blue Mountain Coffee, Growing Geography, and Premium Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee originates from Jamaica, named after the Blue Mountains surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. With perfectly balanced acidity, sweetness, and bitterness, plus excellent flavor and aroma, it is ideal as single-origin coffee and suitable for medium roasting. Only coffee grown on the 6,000 hectares of land above 1,600 meters altitude can be called Blue Mountain.

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee

Introduction

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee originates from Jamaica, named after the Blue Mountains surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. With perfectly balanced acidity, sweetness, and bitterness, plus excellent flavor and aroma, it is ideal as single-origin coffee and suitable for medium roasting.

The Blue Mountain range is located in eastern Jamaica. When the weather is clear, the mountains reflect the brilliant blue light of the sea, giving them their name. The highest peak of Blue Mountain reaches 2,256 meters, making it the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination. This area is situated in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air free from pollution, and a humid climate with year-round fog and rain (average precipitation of 1,980 mm and temperature around 27°C). Such climate conditions have created the world-renowned Jamaican FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee, as well as the world's highest-priced coffee. This coffee possesses all the characteristics of fine coffee—not only is it rich and mellow in flavor, but due to the perfect combination of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness, it has no bitterness at all, only moderate and perfect acidity. It is generally consumed as single-origin coffee, but due to its extremely limited production and incredibly high price, it is often blended with similar-tasting coffees in the market.

The "secret" to why FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee tastes so pure: their coffee trees all grow on rugged mountain slopes, making harvesting extremely difficult—only skilled local female workers can handle the job. Selecting properly ripe coffee beans during harvest is crucial, as under-ripe or overripe beans will affect the coffee quality. After harvesting, the coffee beans must be hulled the same day, then fermented for 12-18 hours. Following this, the coffee beans are washed and sorted. The next step is drying, which must be done on concrete floors or thick blankets until the moisture content of the beans drops to 12%-14%. They are then stored in special warehouses. When needed, they are taken out for roasting and then ground into powder. These procedures must be strictly controlled, otherwise the coffee quality will be affected.

History

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee Beans

In 1717, King Louis XV of France ordered coffee cultivation in Jamaica. In the mid-1720s, Jamaican Governor Sir Nicholas Lawes imported Arabica seeds from Martinique and began promoting cultivation in the St. Andrew area. To this day, St. Andrew remains one of Jamaica's three major Blue Mountain coffee producing regions, with the other two being Portland and St. Thomas. Within 8 years, Jamaica exported over 375 tons of pure coffee. In 1932, coffee production reached its peak, with more than 15,000 tons harvested.

In 1950, the Jamaican government established the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board, which sets quality standards for Jamaican coffee and monitors their implementation to ensure coffee quality. The board grants special official seals to both raw and roasted coffee exported from Jamaica, making it the world's highest-level national coffee institution. Currently, there are 6 certification marks that can represent Blue Mountain coffee origin: M.B.C.E (Mavis Bank Central Factory), M.H.C.C.T. (Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative), P.X.X.S.H. (Portland Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative), Coffee Industry Association (Wallenford), Coffee Industry Association (St. John's Peak), and J.A.S. (Blue Mountain).

By 1969, the situation had improved because Japanese loans were used to enhance production quality, thus guaranteeing market access. Today, this coffee has reached a status of fanatic appreciation.

By 1981, Jamaica had an additional 1,500 hectares of land cleared for coffee cultivation, followed by investment in another 6,000 hectares of coffee land. In fact, today's Blue Mountain region is a small area with only 6,000 hectares of cultivation, making it impossible for all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. Another 12,000 hectares are used to grow two other types of coffee: High Mountain Supreme Coffee and Jamaica Prime Washed Coffee.

Geography

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue Mountain Premium Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee is the world's most superior coffee; Jamaica's weather, geological structure, and topography together provide an ideal setting. The mountain range running through Jamaica extends to the eastern part of the island, with the Blue Mountains reaching over 2,100 meters. The weather is cool, foggy, with frequent precipitation, nurturing this fertile land with rain. Coffee trees are grown here using mixed cultivation methods, planted on terraces alongside banana and avocado trees. Some small plantations also grow coffee. But even the largest plantation owners in this region are considered small-scale by international standards, many of whom are small landowners whose families have been working the land for two centuries. Jamaica's coffee industry faces a series of challenges, such as hurricane impacts, increasing labor costs, and difficulty in mechanizing terrace operations. Many small plantations and farms find it difficult to rationalize their cultivation.

Due to Japan's continuous investment in Jamaica's coffee industry, most Blue Mountain coffee is now controlled by the Japanese, who also have priority purchasing rights. In 1992, Jamaica sold 688 tons of Blue Mountain coffee to Japan, 75 tons to the United States, and 59 tons to the United Kingdom. Now, 90% of Blue Mountain coffee is purchased by the Japanese. Since the rest of the world can only obtain 10% of Blue Mountain coffee, it is always in short supply regardless of price.

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