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What Roast Level are Blue Mountain Coffee Beans - Flavor Differences Between Blue Mountain and Paradise Bird Coffee Beans

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Is Blue Mountain coffee better with dark roast or light roast? Very Dark Roast (Italian Roast): Roast level; very dark roast, also known as Italian roast. Also called Italian roast, roasted to the point just before carbonization, with a burnt taste, mainly popular in Latin countries, suitable for quick coffee and cappuccino. More

Hailed as the "King of Coffee," FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee holds a significant position in the entire coffee market. Although its popularity may not match its heyday, it remains a classic in the hearts of many coffee enthusiasts.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Cultivation in Jamaica

The superior quality of FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee largely stems from its growing environment. The Blue Mountains are situated within the coffee belt between 25° north and south latitude. Here, volcanic activity has brought mineral-rich, nutritious soil, abundant year-round rainfall, and frequent cloud cover. The high altitude creates significant temperature variations between day and night. Additionally, the Blue Mountains feature a relatively closed island-type microclimate with minimal air pollution. The Typica variety introduced years ago has gradually adapted to this terroir, not only maintaining its pure lineage but also developing strong disease resistance.

The Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica (CIB) provides detailed classification for coffee produced in the Blue Mountains and implements strict quality control measures. According to CIB's classification, only coffee grown between 910 and 1,700 meters altitude can be called "Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee." Coffee grown between 460 and 910 meters can only be called "Jamaican High Mountain Coffee," while coffee below 460 meters is classified as "Jamaica Prime Coffee." In the entire Blue Mountain region, only one-third of the land—approximately 6,000 hectares—produces what can truly be called FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

In addition to altitude distinctions, the CIB also grades coffee beans based on size and defect rate after processing: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, Blue Mountain No. 3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry. Since we believe in serving only the best, FrontStreet Coffee purchases the highest grade—FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans. The basic standards for FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 include beans sized 17 screen or larger, a defect rate below 3%, and moisture content around 13%. As we can see, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain green beans appear plump, uniform in size, and display a beautiful blue-green color.

What is the Roast Level of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Coffee Beans?

FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned in various articles that the flavor of a cup of coffee is influenced by many factors, including growing terroir, coffee variety, green bean processing method, roast level, and brewing technique. Different roast levels have different effects on coffee flavor. Using FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee as an example, let's discuss FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy.

When choosing roast levels for coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee aims to express the consistent flavor characteristics of the coffee's origin region. This means FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee should have Blue Mountain flavor, and FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee should have Yirgacheffe flavor. To put it more simply, bitter-leaning coffees should use darker roasts to highlight their rich body, while acidic coffees should use light roasts to preserve more floral and fruity acidity.

The so-called Blue Mountain flavor is characterized by rich, solid dark chocolate and caramel aromas, with perfect integration of acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aftertaste—no single flavor stands out or is lacking. The mouthfeel is balanced and rich. To both preserve some of the coffee bean's natural acidity while introducing caramelized sweetness from roasting, creating an overall balanced mouthfeel, FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting. FrontStreet Coffee's menu also features FrontStreet Coffee's Papua Paradise Bird coffee, known as "Little Blue Mountain," which is also medium-dark roasted, offering toasted bread aromas and high sugarcane sweetness, along with soft berry acidity.

How to Brew Medium-Dark Roast Coffee Beans?

Many friends ask FrontStreet Coffee how to brew medium-dark roast coffee beans for the best flavor. Here, FrontStreet Coffee demonstrates using FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee and FrontStreet Coffee's Papua Paradise Bird coffee as examples.

When brewing the delicate flavors of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, FrontStreet Coffee considers freshness extremely important. Since roasted coffee beans have an optimal flavor window, if the aroma peak has passed, it becomes very difficult to extract the flavors properly. All beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are freshly roasted within 5 days, with the goal of ensuring everyone can enjoy the complete flavor period.

FrontStreet Coffee typically uses KONO drippers to extract medium-dark roast coffee beans. The upper part of the KONO dripper features a smooth curved surface that allows better contact with the filter paper. Compared to V60 drippers, the extraction method is primarily immersion-based, increasing the overall concentration of the coffee and enhancing its richness. Besides KONO, common slow-flow devices like Kalita wave drippers and flannel filters are also suitable.

Additionally, considering that medium-dark roast coffee beans have undergone considerable roasting, their internal structure is more porous than light roast beans, resulting in better water absorption. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee chooses a grind size that allows 75% pass-through through a #20 standard sieve, along with 88°C water temperature, paired with FrontStreet Coffee's signature three-pour method.

Pour-over parameters: 88°C water temperature, coarse sugar grind size (75% pass-through through #20 standard sieve), 15g coffee beans, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, three-stage extraction.

For the first pour, gently inject 30g of water to form a burger-like bloom for 30 seconds. For the second pour, inject to about 125g of water, circling evenly and steadily outward. Then wait for the coffee liquid to drop, and when it reaches halfway, inject the final pour to reach 225g. After waiting for all the coffee to finish dripping, the total extraction time is typically around 2 minutes.

FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 flavor: At high temperatures, FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 enters the mouth with dark chocolate aromas, exceptionally rich, with distinct almond aftertaste. As the temperature decreases, roasted hazelnut and creamy sweet smoothness emerge, carrying a hint of soft acidity and caramel sweetness, with aromas lingering persistently in the mouth.

FrontStreet Coffee's Papua Paradise Bird flavor: The entry delivers rich nutty and cocoa flavors, with a subtle berry sweetness. It tastes rich and balanced, carrying the refreshing sweetness of sugarcane and soft acidity.

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