Grades of Blue Mountain Coffee How Are Blue Mountain Coffee Grades Classified? Introduction to Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is already renowned for its fame, coupled with high prices and scarcity. The market is filled with mixed authentic and fake products, and various inferior coffees with "Blue Mountain" in their names always make it difficult for us to identify genuine ones. For coffee connoisseurs, the biggest fear is spending a lot of money on fake Blue Mountain coffee. So, how can one distinguish between genuine and fake Blue Mountain coffee?

Japan's "Monopoly" in the Market

Before the 1960s, Jamaican coffee beans had already gained significant popularity in the entire specialty coffee market. In 1969, Jamaica was severely affected by hurricane disasters, and multiple industries fell into difficulties, including the coffee industry. At this time, Japan's UCC company provided financial assistance to the Jamaican coffee industry and introduced scientific ecological cultivation methods. In gratitude, the Jamaican government signed a 30-year contract with Japan, agreeing to allocate 90% of the high-quality Blue Mountain coffee quota to Japan, with the remaining 10% distributed to European and American countries.

During this period, Blue Mountain coffee was not completely consumed within the Japanese domestic market. They would sell some of the Blue Mountain coffee at high prices to other Asian countries and regions. Coupled with increased promotional efforts by the Japanese, coffee enthusiasts from many neighboring countries began to pursue Blue Mountain coffee, such as Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Since 2000, the "Blue Mountain craze" has gradually spread to mainland China, which has also led to the phenomenon of high prices and scarcity for Blue Mountain coffee.

In 2008, during the global economic crisis, Jamaica attempted to sell Blue Mountain coffee to more countries, and coincidentally, the agreement with Japan had expired. They distributed more of the Blue Mountain coffee quota to other countries. With the expansion of China's coffee market demand, many businesses in our country can now directly import Blue Mountain coffee beans from Jamaica. This is why Blue Mountain coffee is now cheaper than before.

How to Buy FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee?

We generally see products on shopping platforms such as: Blue Mountain flavored coffee, Blue Mountain blended coffee, Blue Mountain roasted coffee... These with "Blue Mountain" in their names are either dark roasted blended beans with only a portion of Blue Mountain coffee mixed in, or have nothing to do with Blue Mountain at all. In terms of pricing, high-quality Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee will definitely not be too cheap. If the price is only a few dozen yuan, FrontStreet Coffee can definitely tell you that it must be fake. For reference, FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans at FrontStreet Coffee's store are priced at 158 yuan/100 grams per package.

As consumers, we can identify genuine Blue Mountain coffee through the handmade oak barrels used by merchants for transporting Blue Mountain green beans. Jamaica is the only coffee-producing region in the world that uses oak barrels as carriers for coffee transportation. The barrels come in three specifications: 70kg, 30kg, and 15kg. Compared to coarse burlap bags, the advantages of oak barrels are that they absorb and release internal and external humidity, prevent coffee aroma from escaping, maintain more stable moisture content in coffee beans, and ensure more stable roasting. Later, the barrels also became one of the identifiers for authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

Additionally, the producers and distributors of Blue Mountain coffee must be licensed by the Jamaican government and authorized by the Jamaica Coffee Board. All Blue Mountain batches exported from the local area must undergo quality testing and certification by the Coffee Board and carry its label. Therefore, we can ask merchants to present relevant Blue Mountain certification to identify whether it is genuine Blue Mountain coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee on FrontStreet Coffee's store shelves is produced by Clifton Mountain Estate in Jamaica and has quality certification certificates issued by the Jamaica Coffee Board, authorized sales certificates issued by Blue Mountain coffee manufacturers, and certificates of origin for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The FrontStreet Coffee's Dongshankou store also displays the oak barrels containing Blue Mountain green beans.

What Grade is Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1?

CIB was the first institution to use scientific and objective methods to evaluate and grade coffee quality, combining bean size, color, uniformity, defect rate, moisture content, and cupping performance for grading.

Jamaican Blue Mountain green beans are packaged and sent for quality testing before export. They are graded according to size specifications and defect rate after processing: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, Blue Mountain No. 3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry. Bean size is determined using sieves of various apertures, with coffee beans that do not pass through the sieve holes meeting the specification standards. Top-grade FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 green beans must meet specifications of above 17 mesh, have a defect rate below 3%, have a moisture content of about 13%, and present rich coffee aroma, smooth and balanced taste, low acidity, and persistent aftertaste in cupping.

To ensure that Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans maintain better quality until roasting and avoid moisture infiltration during transportation, Jamaicans insist on using handmade wooden barrels as carriers for Blue Mountain green beans. The barrels have also become one of the important symbols of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy aims to present the most classic flavor profile of coffee. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe's bright lemon acidity, FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling coffee's rich caramel flavor, and FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee naturally aims to highlight the classic Blue Mountain flavors. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the presentation of Blue Mountain coffee's chocolate and nutty aromas while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, making the overall taste of FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee tend towards balance.

How to Brew High-Grade FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Without Wasting It?

With the continuous popularity of coffee culture in China, now even without going to a coffee shop, you can brew a cup of fragrant and delicious Blue Mountain coffee at home. Many friends consult FrontStreet Coffee on how to brew better after purchasing FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will explain FrontStreet Coffee's extraction approach based on how it's served at FrontStreet Coffee's store~

First, FrontStreet Coffee will confirm the freshness of the coffee beans before brewing. If the roasting date has exceeded more than a month, FrontStreet Coffee will choose fresher coffee beans. Since coffee beans have an optimal tasting period after roasting, and the coffee aroma accelerates loss with storage time, it's difficult to present the original flavors during brewing. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee insists on only shipping coffee roasted within 5 days, as FrontStreet Coffee hopes every customer can enjoy the most complete tasting period of coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee usually prioritizes using KONO drippers when brewing coffee beans with mainly bitter flavors, aiming to highlight the rich taste of the coffee. The upper part of the KONO dripper makes the filter paper fit better. Compared to the V60 dripper, the coffee extraction method is mainly immersion-based, increasing the overall concentration of the coffee to enhance its richness. Similarly, the KONO dripper is also suitable for brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans such as FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate coffee beans and FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's store parameters for brewing FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 are:

Filter cup: KONO filter cup
Water temperature: 88 degrees Celsius
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Coffee grounds: 15g
Grind size: EK43s - setting 10.5 (75% pass rate through 20 standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee first wets the KONO filter cup here, then places the filter paper aligned with it to fit better. After pouring out the water from the sharing pot, FrontStreet Coffee adds 15g of coffee grounds, uses 30g of water to bloom for 30s, then starts pouring small streams of water in circular motions from the center until reaching 125g, where FrontStreet Coffee begins segmenting. Wait until the coffee grounds layer drops to half the filter cup's position, then start injecting the second segment with the same technique until reaching 225g. Once all the drip extraction is complete, FrontStreet Coffee can remove the filter cup.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee has the sweet aroma of dark chocolate, the sweetness of caramel, and soft, elegant acidity. Each flavor is balanced in combination, with a smooth and rich taste, presenting a very typical Blue Mountain flavor.

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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