Who is Blue Mountain coffee actually suitable for?
Blue Mountain coffee suits drinkers who want a clean, balanced cup with low, soft acidity and a full body. Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 comes from Clifton Estate in the Newcastle area at 1,310 meters, with Typica beans washed and graded Blue Mountain No. 1. Expect chocolate, nuts and cream, with acidity, sweetness and bitterness held in balance.
Authentic beans carry CIB-designated export status, barrel packing and Rainforest Alliance certification, which helps separate them from the common "Blue Mountain flavor" blends on the market. Washed and natural lots brew differently, so water temperature, grind and pouring under a KONO dripper need adjusting. Blue Mountain Geisha has also appeared in recent years, adding another option within the same origin.
Blue Mountain coffee has long been famous for its clean, balanced, and full-bodied flavor, but not everyone is clear about what kind of drinker it actually suits, nor do they understand the difference between authentic Blue Mountain and the common "Blue Mountain flavor" on the market. This article starts with Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans, sorts out the Blue Mountain producing region, Clifton Estate, and grade classifications, compares the brewing flavor differences between washed and natural processing methods, and provides a plan for water temperature, grinding, and pouring under the KONO dripper. At the same time, the article will also explain how to identify true Blue Mountain with the help of key points such as CIB-designated exports, barrel-packed green beans, and Rainforest Alliance certification, and further introduce changes in recent years such as Blue Mountain Geisha, helping coffee enthusiasts gain a more complete understanding of the value and ways of drinking Blue Mountain coffee.
Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans Country: Jamaica Region: Newcastle area Estate: Clifton Estate Altitude: 1,310 meters Variety: Typica Processing method: Washed Grade: Blue Mountain No. 1
Front Street authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans Flavor description: chocolate, nuts, cream; acidity, sweetness, and bitterness are relatively balanced, with a rich and mellow mouthfeel.
Introduction to Front Street Blue Mountain coffee producing region
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean, and the Blue Mountains are the highest mountain range in the western Caribbean, with an altitude of up to 2,256 meters. The unique flavor of Front Street Blue Mountain coffee beans is inseparable from the superior geographical location and climatic conditions of the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are located within the coffee belt at 25 degrees north latitude, with fertile new volcanic soil, clean air, little pollution, abundant rainfall throughout the year, relatively high humidity, and obvious temperature differences between day and night. The local soil is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, making it very suitable for coffee tree growth; fertile volcanic soil, regular rainfall, and the island's frequent cloud and mist cover blocking the scorching sun all work together to create today's Blue Mountain coffee.
Front Street Blue Mountain coffee beans have long used washed processing, and their mellow and balanced mouthfeel is impressive. It was not until 2019 that Blue Mountain coffee beans began natural processing trials, and in 2020 the first small batch of natural Blue Mountain coffee beans was exported. Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans come from Jamaica's Clifton Farm in the Blue Mountains. The farm has an average altitude of 1,310 meters and began growing coffee as early as the mid-18th century. It is one of Jamaica's long-standing farms still in normal operation, and Clifton Farm is the only coffee farm in Jamaica with Rainforest Alliance certification.
The planted area in the Blue Mountain region is only about 6,000 hectares, and not all coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" is truly produced there. Today's Clifton Estate is the largest estate in the region, but by international standards it is still small-scale cultivation. Many estate owners are small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries. As early as the mid-18th century (around 1750), Clifton Estate began planting and producing coffee. Its cultivation and processing areas are located at an average height of 4,300 feet (about 1,310.64 meters). Sufficient altitude, gentle afternoon shade from mist-covered mountain forests, ample sunlight, and mineral-rich soil provide good growing conditions for coffee trees and also extend the ripening time of coffee cherries.
Next, let's share a brewing comparison of Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans using natural and washed processing:
Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans Natural/washed brewing flavor comparison
Front Street used the KONO dripper when brewing the two Blue Mountain coffees. KONO's ribs stop at less than half the height of the dripper. The purpose of this design is to let the filter paper cling tightly to the dripper wall after wetting, restricting airflow, thereby increasing the water absorption time of the coffee grounds, making extraction more even, and enhancing the mellow mouthfeel. In addition, the groove framework at the bottom of the KONO dripper is also a key design for producing the siphon effect during subsequent brewing.
Suggested water temperature: 88°C Grind size: Fuji Royal ghost teeth 4.5 (coarse sugar size) Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Front Street Blue Mountain coffee bean brewing method
First bloom with 30 grams of water for 30 seconds, then pour in a small stream in circles until 125 grams and pause in stages; when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 grams and stop; when the water level drops again and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. Starting timing from the bloom, the total extraction time is 2'00".
Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans Natural flavor description
On the palate there is brown sugar sweetness, accompanied by berry acidity. It is balanced overall, with black cocoa and nut flavors, plus a slight fermented note and smoky note.
Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans Washed flavor description
The taste is very clean, complex, and very mild, with chocolate-like sweetness and strong body. The flavor is rich and mellow, and the coffee's sweetness, acidity, and bitterness are perfectly matched. There is almost no bitterness, only a moderate and beautiful acidity, with a long-lasting fruity finish. Through comparison, it can be found that natural Blue Mountain coffee beans have stronger flavor layering, and the slight berry acidity is reminiscent of smoked plum and mulberry, with a faint tea-like note; washed Blue Mountain coffee beans maintain the classic flavor unique to Blue Mountain coffee beans, that smooth, bright, and mellow quality from the first sip to the last.
Coffee bean grading and classification
Coffee bean grades are usually divided according to defect rate, screen size, altitude, green bean density, processing standards, and so on. Because producing regions in different countries differ in historical reasons, trade interests, climate, and topography, they cannot be evaluated or graded by a unified standard or simply by altitude, nor can a certain grade from one country be directly compared with a certain grade from another country.
FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee bean grades
Coffee beans from Jamaica's Blue Mountain region are divided into three grades: Blue Mountain Coffee, Jamaica High Mountain Supreme Coffee Beans, and Jamaica Prime Coffee Beans.
Among them, Blue Mountain Coffee and Jamaica High Mountain Supreme Coffee Beans are each further divided into two grades. From top to bottom by quality, they are: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, High Mountain No. 1, High Mountain No. 2, and Jamaica Coffee. By quality classification from top to bottom, they are: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB, with PB meaning peaberry. According to CIB standards, the basic standards for NO.1 Blue Mountain green beans are 17 screen or above, a defect rate below 3%, and a moisture content of about 13%. The Blue Mountain coffee beans selected by FrontStreet Coffee are of the highest grade, Blue Mountain No. 1.
How to distinguish authentic Blue Mountain coffee?
The following three key points can be used to identify true "Blue Mountain coffee," including the export company designated by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board, the only producing region that uses barrels to pack green beans, and Clifton's Rainforest certification.
1. Authentic Blue Mountain coffee is exported by export companies designated by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board.
Some authentic Blue Mountain NO.1 in the Chinese market is mainly exported to China by Japan, Australia, and Europe through directly operated branches. In 2013, according to International Coffee Organization (ICO) statistics, Japan accounted for 85% of the allocation, while the United States, Europe, and other countries each accounted for 5%. ICO statistics show that China's Blue Mountain coffee consumption accounted for 15%. It is worth noting that the limited Blue Mountain NO.1 is mostly allocated to Japan, the United States, and Europe. Among them, because Japan invested in Jamaica's coffee industry, most Blue Mountain coffee was bought out by Japan. In 1992, Jamaica sold 688 tons of Blue Mountain coffee to Japan, 75 tons to the United States, and only 59 tons to the United Kingdom.
In 2005, Jamaica's Minister of Agriculture announced that Blue Mountain coffee should remain roasted in Jamaica, so it was directly allocated through quotas, tending to circulate directly from Jamaica to consuming countries. This allocation system was recognized by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board (CIB). (Note: CIB board members are composed of estate owners in Jamaica with estates above a certain scale.)
In addition, the officially registered logo of the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board is used for certification and inspection of exported Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The BLUE MOUNTAIN COFFEE trademark is the symbol on the outer packaging of authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.
Coffee Industry Board (CIB)
2. Authentic Blue Mountain coffee is the only producing region that uses barrels to pack green beans.
Blue Mountain coffee is the only coffee-producing region to date that uses barrels to pack green beans; other coffee exports use burlap sacks.
During the British colonial period in the mid-18th century, empty flour barrels shipped from Britain to Jamaica were recycled and used to transport coffee and rum, in order to isolate the coffee aroma and ensure coffee quality. The barrels used today are all made from timber from temperate forests in the United States.
3. The frog on the Clifton barrel lid is the Rainforest certification.
Clifton Estate is the oldest coffee estate in Jamaica, and in Jamaica only Clifton Farm has the (RFA) Rainforest water frog logo.
Only those that meet the "sustainable agricultural system standards" can obtain certification, and their barrels bear the Rainforest certification logo.
Front Street Blue Mountain is Blue Mountain coffee beans that have passed through an export company designated by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board, are packed in barrels as green beans, and have Rainforest certification.
Further reading: Changes in Blue Mountain
2020 was an important year of change for Blue Mountain. As is well known, as of 2019, the Blue Mountain coffee circulating in overseas markets was all washed Typica. It is precisely because the processing method and coffee variety were so singular that Blue Mountain coffee achieved consistently high quality for ten years, and its balanced, mellow taste was loved by many enthusiasts. Then in 2020 (news from 2019), Blue Mountain first launched natural-processed Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, changing the situation of having only washed processing; afterward it launched Blue Mountain Geisha, breaking Blue Mountain's monopoly of only the Typica variety. Although there have also been reports that Jamaica is trial-planting Bourbon varieties.
While admiring Blue Mountain's courage to make changes, FrontStreet Coffee also pondered why Blue Mountain, after ten years of unwavering focus, began to diverge its thinking and innovate in recent years. Before light-roasted acidic coffee became popular, the public impression of coffee was a mellow, rich flavor, like traditional Mandheling coffee and Colombian coffee. In that era, traditional Blue Mountain coffee existed like the king of birds, and its clean, mellow, and balanced flavor became something people later imitated one after another. Together with Hawaiian Kona, it was known as the "king and queen" of the coffee world.
However, times have changed. First came Yirgacheffe coffee beans with an explosion of fruity aroma, and then the world-famous Panama Geisha coffee beans, setting off a worldwide wave of appreciation for coffee's pleasant acidity. Faced with this situation, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee farmers who insisted on tradition believed that Blue Mountain's status had been shaken and began to innovate gradually. This year's newly added natural-processed Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain Geisha are good proof. When news of Blue Mountain Geisha was released, FrontStreet Coffee also obtained a barrel of Blue Mountain Geisha green beans (Geisha variety yields are scarce) at the first opportunity, to experience it firsthand.
It should be understood that coffee is a plant, and it is not as simple as "transplanting coffee from one place to another region to grow." This involves "the adaptability and stability of a new species to a new environment." To grow good flavors, one needs excellent agronomic experience, time for adaptation, a growing environment, and ample coffee processing experience.
It can be seen that Blue Mountain started planting plans for other varieties very early, after years of breeding and flavor adjustment. The Geisha variety was discovered by Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda in 2004 because of its high-quality floral and fruity flavors. After more than 10 years of spread, it has basically spread throughout the coffee belt, and even Yunnan grows Geisha. This year Jamaica launched a micro-batch Blue Mountain Geisha, showing that Blue Mountain is full of confidence in this Geisha coffee.
When FrontStreet Coffee received the green beans, it found that Blue Mountain Geisha, like traditional Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, uses barrels for export packaging, with the Rainforest Alliance logo affixed to the barrel (currently, among coffee farms in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region, only Clifton has passed this certification).
After multiple adjustments to the roasting curve to determine the best roasting style and degree, during cupping, the FrontStreet Coffee team could all feel an obvious difference: the micro-batch Blue Mountain Geisha, processed by washed processing, showed citrus acidity during cupping, reminiscent of the sweet-and-sour taste of honey pomelo, with a stronger jasmine floral aroma when cooled, a honey-like sweet finish, and accompanying caramel.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
