Does Blue Mountain Coffee Have Rich, Balanced Flavors? Is Blue Mountain Drip Coffee Bitter or Sweet?

Premium Blue Mountain coffee has become one of the world's most famous coffees for its full-bodied, rich aroma and smooth, balanced flavor profile. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss how to brew high-quality Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and how it tastes when made as drip bag black coffee.

Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee from Jamaica's Blue Mountains

Located in the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica's coffee-growing areas are primarily distributed throughout the Blue Mountain range in the eastern part of the country. Here, surrounded by sea water, the mountains display a brilliant blue appearance under sunlight, hence the name Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains feature beautiful scenery, fresh air, and the Caribbean's highest peak at 2,256 meters altitude, attracting many tourists for vacations.

Situated in the coffee belt, the Blue Mountains have fertile volcanic soil, cool temperatures, abundant sunshine and rainfall. The temperature difference brought by high altitude allows coffee to fully absorb nutrients and form more aromatic compounds. Locals plant coffee trees on rugged mountain slopes, which increases the difficulty of management and harvesting. Only local women workers familiar with the terrain can handle the harvesting work.

Highest Grade Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee

The Jamaican government has designated areas above 1,700 meters in the Blue Mountain range as nature reserves, so crops can only be grown below 1,700 meters. According to standards set by the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board (CIB), only Arabica coffee grown above 910 meters can be called Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans, while coffee from lower altitude areas is classified as Jamaican High Mountain coffee and Jamaican Prime coffee. The higher the altitude, the greater the difficulty of cultivation, management, and harvesting, making the resulting coffee beans rarer and consequently more expensive.

After harvesting, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee cherries are typically processed using traditional washed methods. Machines apply pressure to crush the coffee cherries, removing the skin and pulp, followed by overnight fermentation in pools. The fermented beans are then placed in clean water pools and repeatedly washed, using the friction between beans and flowing water to wash the coffee beans until smooth and clean. Finally, the parchment beans are dried for 2-3 weeks until moisture content reaches 12-14%. Since the coffee pulp and mucilage have been removed before drying, without excessive fermentation acidity affecting the flavor, Blue Mountain beans' natural aroma becomes more balanced and clean.

Processed Jamaican Blue Mountain green coffee beans undergo multiple quality inspections, including defect ratio, size grading, and cupping scores. The highest grade Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans must meet 17-18 mesh size specifications, with defect bean ratios not exceeding 2%, and possess well-balanced acidity, sweetness, bitterness, body, and aroma. As can be imagined, such exquisitely flavored premium coffee beans are extremely rare. To experience Blue Mountain's refined flavors, FrontStreet Coffee believes you should choose the highest quality Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans come from Clifton Mountain Estate.

Pour-Over Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee uses a Kono dripper for brewing, aiming to present the full-bodied, smooth texture of Blue Mountain No. 1. The Kono's ribs extend less than halfway up the dripper's height—this design ensures the filter paper tightly adheres to the dripper walls after wetting, restricting airflow. This increases water absorption time for coffee particles, resulting in more even extraction and enhanced body.

Additionally, considering that Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee is medium-roasted, its internal structure is more porous than light-roast coffee, resulting in better water absorption. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee chooses a grind size with 75% pass-through rate on a No. 20 standard sieve, along with 88°C water temperature, combined with FrontStreet Coffee's customary three-stage pouring method.

Coffee grounds: 15g | Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, the three-stage pouring method: use 30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s. First stage: small circular water flow to 125g, then stop. Wait until the water level drops to just above the coffee bed before continuing the second stage pour to 225g to complete extraction. Total extraction time (including bloom) is 2'00".

Pour-over Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee flavor: Rich dark chocolate, nut, and caramel notes, creamy smooth texture, moderate body, sweet aftertaste, balanced flavor profile.

Brewing Recommendations

To extract the rich aroma of Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes the primary condition is using coffee beans at their optimal flavor period. Once coffee beans pass their optimal flavor period, it's difficult to present their flavors in the cup. FrontStreet Coffee's principle is "freshly roasted good coffee," only shipping coffee beans roasted within 5 days, aiming to ensure each customer receives coffee at its peak flavor stage.

In pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee often receives feedback from friends indicating that their Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee tastes overly bitter. This situation mainly occurs due to excessive extraction rate, releasing too many bitter large molecules from the coffee. To improve this situation, FrontStreet Coffee has summarized the following points for your reference and adjustment based on your brewing conditions.

1. Grind size too fine: higher dissolution efficiency leads to longer extraction time, resulting in bitter and muddled coffee taste. In this case, you need to adjust to a coarser grind. If you can't determine if your grind size is appropriate, FrontStreet Coffee recommends preparing a China No. 20 standard sieve (reasonably priced) to help adjust grind parameters.

2. Water temperature too high: leads to prominent burnt bitterness. FrontStreet Coffee recommends controlling water temperature between 86-93°C. For medium-dark roasted beans like Blue Mountain No. 1, 87-89°C is recommended.

3. Excessive water flow or too vigorous stirring can easily release too many substances from coffee, dissolving more bitter compounds. FrontStreet Coffee believes that using appropriate brewing parameters with steady pouring can also extract the aromatic compounds from coffee.

How to Brew Blue Mountain Drip Bag Black Coffee?

Actually, to experience the refined flavors of Blue Mountain No. 1, besides the pour-over coffee mentioned above by FrontStreet Coffee, Blue Mountain drip bags are also an excellent choice. Not only convenient and quick, but also time-saving—just prepare a kettle of hot water and a clean cup to brew a rich, delicious Blue Mountain black coffee anytime, anywhere. Without further ado, let FrontStreet Coffee demonstrate how to use it.

1. Place your cup, open the drip bag package, take out the drip bag, tear open the seal, and hang it on the cup rim!

2. After the hot water reaches the desired temperature range, pour into the center of the drip bag until the water level reaches halfway, then wait 10-15 seconds for blooming. (The drip bag coffee grounds don't have much gas, so they don't require long blooming time.)

3. Perform the second pour, this time filling the drip bag to nine-tenths full. After the water drips through, perform the third pour, also to nine-tenths full. Wait for dripping to complete, then pour hot water a fourth time, again to nine-tenths full.

4. After dripping is complete, remove the drip bag and enjoy your coffee! The FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain coffee brewed from drip bags has a relatively smooth texture, with nut, cream, walnut, and caramel aromas, accompanied by a light almond aftertaste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473