Three Classifications of Jamaican Coffee Beans: Blue Mountain Coffee, High Mountain Coffee, and Jamaica Coffee

Before Geisha coffee became famous, Blue Mountain coffee was considered one of the world's finest premium coffees. A cup of authentic Blue Mountain coffee at a café would cost several hundred yuan, making it unaffordable for most people. Today, enjoying genuine Blue Mountain coffee has become much more accessible. At FrontStreet Coffee store, you can savor a cup of aromatic and delicious Blue Mountain coffee for just 60 yuan, with coffee beans priced at 158 yuan per 100g package.

The Growing Environment of Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue Mountain coffee originates from Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea. The Blue Mountain range in the eastern part of the island is surrounded by seawater, and under sunlight, the mountains reflect a blue luster, hence the name "Blue Mountain." This remote location, with peaks reaching over 2,000 meters in elevation, is a renowned local tourist destination. The fertile volcanic ash soil, abundant sunshine and rainfall provide rich nutrients for crops grown here. Locals cultivate coffee alongside bananas and avocados. Compared to other crops, coffee is a more demanding and delicate plant that requires not only a warm, humid, frost-free environment with adequate nutrition but also proper shade. The Blue Mountain peaks are perpetually shrouded in clouds and mist, enveloping the coffee plantations and providing ideal natural conditions for coffee growth.

To stabilize the quality of Jamaican coffee, the government established the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) in 1952, granting it official authority to implement strict management systems for Jamaican coffee production. In 1953, the CIB designated approximately 6,000 hectares within the Blue Mountain range, accounting for only 15% of the total Blue Mountain production, and stipulated that only coffee from this region could be called "Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee." Coffee from other regions became "Jamaican High Mountain Coffee" and "Jamaican Premium Coffee." Due to Blue Mountain coffee's renowned reputation, its price is significantly higher than the other two types.

The Blue Mountain coffee growing areas are distributed across four regions at elevations between 910-1,700 meters (above 1,700 meters is protected forest land), including St. Andrew, St. Mary, St. Thomas, and Portland. The CIB conducts cupping tests on coffee produced in the above-designated areas, revealing rich, mellow aromas of chocolate and nuts, with a smooth palate and almost no bitterness, where all flavors blend perfectly in the coffee.

It's worth noting that in the 1960s, Jamaica suffered devastating hurricane disasters that severely impacted multiple industries, including coffee. At that time, Japan's UCC company provided assistance to Jamaica and introduced ecological farming methods to the Blue Mountain region. In 1972, Jamaica and Japan signed a 30-year coordination agreement, promising Japan priority purchasing rights for Blue Mountain coffee in gratitude for Japanese corporate assistance. During this period, 90% of Blue Mountain coffee was supplied to Japan, with the remaining 10% allocated in small quantities to countries in Europe, America, and Asia. This explains why Blue Mountain coffee was so expensive during that era.

How Are Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee Grades Classified?

The CIB was one of the first institutions to use scientific and objective methods to grade coffee quality, combining green bean size, color, uniformity, defect rate, moisture content, and cupping performance for classification.

Before export, Blue Mountain coffee beans are packaged and sent for quality testing, then graded according to size specifications and post-processing defect rates into Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, Blue Mountain No. 3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry. Bean size is determined using various mesh-sized sieves, where coffee beans that don't pass through the openings meet the required specifications. Top-grade Blue Mountain No. 1 green beans must meet specifications of 17 mesh or larger, have a defect rate below 3%, moisture content around 13%, and exhibit rich coffee aroma with smooth, balanced flavor, low acidity, and lasting sweet aftertaste in cupping tests.

To ensure Blue Mountain coffee beans maintain optimal quality until roasting and avoid moisture infiltration during transportation, Jamaicans insist on using handcrafted wooden barrels as containers for Blue Mountain green beans. These wooden barrels have also become one of the important symbols of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, these are replicas of Bonifieur wooden barrels produced on Guadeloupe Island in the last century. These barrels were originally used to transport flour from England to Jamaica and typically carry trademarks and manufacturer names. The Coffee Industry Board issues certificates for all authentic Jamaican coffee and stamps approval on exporters.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Philosophy

FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy aims to present the most classic flavor profiles of coffee, such as the bright lemon acidity of Yirgacheffe and the rich, roasted flavor of Indonesian Mandheling coffee. Naturally, Blue Mountain should also highlight its classic Blue Mountain characteristics. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the presentation of coffee's chocolate and nut aromas while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, creating an overall balanced flavor profile.

How to Identify Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee?

Because high-quality Blue Mountain coffee is extremely rare and production cannot meet market demand, some merchants exploit loopholes by adding "Blue Mountain" wording to low-quality blended coffee beans, misleading consumers. To identify authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, FrontStreet Coffee has summarized the following points for your reference.

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, authentic Blue Mountain coffee is grown in specific high-altitude regions with very high labor costs, so the coffee price won't be too low. If the "Blue Mountain beans" we purchase cost only a few dozen yuan, they are very likely fake.

In terms of aroma, Blue Mountain coffee has rich, dense, and lasting chocolate and roasted hazelnut aromas that are difficult for typical dark-roasted blended coffees to match. In flavor, authentic Blue Mountain coffee achieves a perfect balance of sour, sweet, bitter, and aromatic notes, with no single flavor overpowering others, while body and sweetness are perfectly harmonious.

If we cannot distinguish through the above two points, we should ask merchants to present Blue Mountain-related certificates and the wooden barrels containing Blue Mountain green beans. Jamaican Blue Mountain is the only region that uses wooden barrels to package green beans. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee also possesses a quality certificate issued by the Jamaica Coffee Board, an authorized sales certificate issued by the Blue Mountain coffee manufacturer, and a certificate of origin for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. Documentary proof and handcrafted wooden barrels are displayed at FrontStreet Coffee store. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 is produced by Clifton Mountain Estate and uses the traditional washed processing method, which is also the most common processing method for Blue Mountain green beans.

How to Brew Authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee for the Best Taste?

Some friends, after purchasing high-grade Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans, don't know how to extract the classic Blue Mountain flavors. Here, FrontStreet Coffee demonstrates the pour-over steps for Blue Mountain coffee using our store's standards.

For brewing the delicate Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes freshness is crucial. Since roasted coffee beans have an optimal flavor window, if the aroma peak has passed, the flavors will be difficult to extract. FrontStreet Coffee's shipped beans are all freshly roasted within 5 days, aiming to let everyone enjoy the most complete flavor period.

FrontStreet Coffee typically uses KONO drippers for extracting medium-dark roasted coffee beans. The upper part of KONO drippers features smooth curved surfaces that allow better filter paper adhesion. Compared to V60 drippers, KONO drippers primarily use immersion extraction, increasing the overall coffee concentration to enhance body. Besides KONO, common slow-flow tools like Kalita trapezoidal drippers, cake flat-bottom drippers, and flannel filters are also suitable.

Additionally, considering that medium-dark roasted coffee has undergone a certain degree of roasting, the internal structure of the beans is more porous than light-roasted 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, paired with FrontStreet Coffee's customary three-stage pouring.

Pour-over parameters: 88°C water temperature, coarse sugar grind size (75% pass-through rate on No. 20 standard sieve), 15g coffee beans, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, three-stage extraction.

First stage: gently pour 30g of water for blooming, with a blooming time of 30 seconds. Second stage: pour to approximately 125g, circling evenly and steadily outward. Then wait for the coffee liquid to drop, and when it reaches halfway, pour the final stage to 225g. Wait for all coffee to finish dripping. The total extraction time is typically around 2 minutes.

Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Flavor: At high temperatures, Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee enters the mouth with dark chocolate aroma, very rich and mellow, with distinct almond aftertaste. As the temperature decreases, roasted hazelnut and creamy sweetness become silky smooth, carrying a hint of soft acidity and caramel sweetness, with aroma persisting in the mouth.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473