Jamaican Coffee Varieties Flavor Description Gourmet Blue Mountain Coffee Bean Grind Roast Origin Introduction

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The most captivating aspect of Blue Mountain coffee lies in its perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter notes! With dark chocolate-like richness, gentle citrus acidity, sugarcane-like sweetness, and caramel-like aftertaste, it delivers a steady and solid taste experience.

Whether you're a coffee enthusiast or not, you've likely heard of Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee. A quick search on Taobao reveals countless "Blue Mountain flavor" and "Blue Mountain blend" options. So what makes Blue Mountain so special that it leaves such a lasting impression? Let's follow FrontStreet Coffee to learn more about the story of Blue Mountain coffee~

What is Blue Mountain Coffee?

Blue Mountain Coffee refers to Typica variety coffee beans grown at altitudes of 910-1700m in Jamaica's Blue Mountain range. In these regions, growers use mixed cultivation methods, with banana and avocado trees always accompanying coffee trees on the rugged mountain slopes. The fruit trees provide shade for the coffee trees, allowing them to grow in cool, misty, and moisture-rich environments.

Introduction to Blue Mountain Coffee Typica Variety

The Blue Mountain coffee variety is Typica, the oldest variety in the Arabica coffee lineage. This variety was introduced to the Blue Mountains for cultivation in the 18th century. After two hundred years of adaptation, Blue Mountain's Typica has developed into a more disease-resistant Arabica variety, well-suited to local cultivation and forming an exquisite flavor that cannot be easily replicated elsewhere.

Blue Mountain Coffee Environment and Cultivation Harvesting

The Blue Mountain range is located in the golden coffee cultivation belt, with island-style climate, volcanic soil, and topography together providing ideal conditions for coffee tree cultivation. However, unlike most coffee-producing countries that prioritize yield by planting large quantities of high-yield, low-quality coffee, the local government prioritizes quality, willing to sacrifice yield to ensure the quality of Blue Mountain coffee.

Strictly speaking, FrontStreet Coffee understands from Jamaica's "Coffee Industry Management Law" that Blue Mountain coffee cultivation areas are mainly distributed in four administrative regions: St. Andrew, St. Thomas, Portland, and St. Mary. The law clearly stipulates that only Typica coffee grown at 910-1700 meters can be named Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee. The total area of these four production regions accounts for 1/3 of the entire Blue Mountain cultivation area, with the remaining 2/3 used for growing Jamaica High Mountain coffee and Jamaica Prime coffee. In recent years, less than 15% of coffee beans produced in Jamaica can bear the Blue Mountain coffee label.

Therefore, Jamaica is currently one of the countries with lower coffee production volumes in the world. Brazil, the world's largest coffee exporter, can produce 12,450 tons of coffee annually, while Jamaica's annual coffee production is between 1,260-2,400 tons, of which only about 25% (300-600 tons) can be labeled as "Blue Mountain Coffee." During harvest seasons, due to the terrain, coffee harvesting is extremely difficult, and only local skilled female workers can handle the task. Meanwhile, selecting properly ripe coffee beans during harvesting is crucial, as underripe or overripe beans affect coffee quality. Thus, every Blue Mountain coffee bean is 100% hand-picked.

Blue Mountain Coffee Processing Method and Grading System

After harvesting, Blue Mountain coffee cherries have their pulp removed on the same day, then ferment in clean water pools for 12-18 hours. Afterward, the coffee beans are washed to remove mucilage and defective beans, followed by sun-drying. Drying must be conducted on concrete floors or thick blankets until the coffee beans' moisture content drops to 12%-14%. They are then stored in special warehouses.

After drying, Blue Mountain coffee beans are also classified into four grades based on size: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and Peaberry. The highest grade is NO.1, also known as Blue Mountain No.1, with coffee bean specifications between 17-18 mesh, defective bean ratio not exceeding 2%, and overall uniform, full particles.

Blue Mountain No.2 coffee beans require 96% of coffee cherries to reach 16 mesh or larger, with defective bean ratio not exceeding 2% after processing; Blue Mountain No.3 coffee beans require 96% of coffee cherries to reach 15 mesh or larger, with defective bean ratio not exceeding 2% after processing.

Why is Blue Mountain Coffee So Expensive?

Strict and detailed standards have been established for cultivation, harvesting, processing (coffee bean extraction methods), export packaging, and Blue Mountain coffee certification, with specific regulations on what organic fertilizers to use during growth periods. Therefore, cultivation and processing costs are relatively high, making higher prices reasonable.

Carefully selected Blue Mountain No.1 grade coffee beans are also more expensive than other grades of Blue Mountain coffee. However, Blue Mountain No.1 coffee is not the most expensive coffee bean in the world; it's just more expensive than coffee beans from many other producing regions.

Currently, FrontStreet Coffee sells Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans from Clifton Manor at 1310m altitude, the oldest coffee cultivation area in Jamaica's Blue Mountain range. The price after roasting is 158 RMB/100g, and enjoying a cup at FrontStreet Coffee's physical store costs only 60 RMB/195-200ml.

To allow coffee enthusiasts to experience the most complete aroma and flavor of Blue Mountain No.1, FrontStreet Coffee ensures all sold Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans are shipped within 5 days of roasting.

How to Identify Authentic Blue Mountain Coffee Beans?

Unlike most countries that use burlap bags for green coffee beans, Jamaica packages high-quality Blue Mountain No.1 coffee in wooden barrels, which is one of the ways buyers can distinguish genuine from fake Blue Mountain coffee. The wooden barrels help isolate coffee beans from external influences during transportation, protecting them from air moisture and ensuring the green beans maintain 11.5% moisture content before roasting.

Besides this, all exported Blue Mountain coffee must be authorized by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board (CIB), which can issue certificates for all exported Blue Mountain coffee. The following three certificate types are all permitted by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board. When concerned about authenticity when purchasing Blue Mountain coffee, ask merchants to show relevant certificates.

FrontStreet Coffee's currently sold Blue Mountain No.1 coffee beans are all exported in wooden barrels and have obtained certification certificates from the origin Clifton Manor. Everyone can see them at FrontStreet Coffee's physical store~

How to Brew Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans?

To preserve Blue Mountain No.1's balanced sweet-sour-bitter profile and rich, solid texture, FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium-dark roast level. For brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has a small tip: coarse sugar-like grind, low water temperature, paired with a slow-flowing Kono dripper to ensure maximum extraction of coffee substances at low temperatures.

FrontStreet Coffee store extraction parameters: Kono dripper, 88°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g coffee dose, medium-coarse grind (70% pass-through rate on No.20 standard sieve).

Pouring method as follows: First pour 30g of hot water for 30-second bloom, then slowly pour in a fine stream from the center in circular motions to 125g. Wait until the water level in the dripper drops to just about to expose the coffee bed, then continue circular pouring to 225g. After all poured water passes through the coffee grounds, total extraction time is about 2 minutes 10 seconds. After extraction is complete, shake the brewed coffee well and it's ready to taste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473