How Should Blue Mountain Coffee Be Brewed in a French Press?

A French press suits Blue Mountain coffee because it holds flavor compounds in the cup, and Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 shows dark chocolate, nut and caramel notes with low acidity and a smooth body. The method also exposes stale or poorly stored beans, so freshness and bean quality matter more here than with most brewers.

Authentic Blue Mountain must be grown in St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Mary or Portland at 1,000 to 1,700 meters, an area of roughly 6,100 hectares. Coffee from the same parishes at 500 to 1,000 meters is downgraded to Jamaica High Mountain, and below 500 meters to Jamaica Prime. Front Street roasts its No. 1 medium-dark for this coffee brewing style.

The French press is one of the most convenient home coffee brewing devices, and it can retain coffee flavors relatively completely, so it has high requirements for bean quality and freshness. This article takes Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans as an example to introduce in detail how to use a French press, and explains the Blue Mountain coffee production region standards, grade classification, the background of Clifton Farm, and Front Street roasters' medium-dark roasting approach. You will learn why Blue Mountain No. 1 is called the "Emperor of Coffee," how its dark chocolate, nut, and caramel flavors are steadily presented in a French press, and the complete operating steps from weighing beans, controlling water temperature, to pressing and pouring.

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The French press is indeed one of the most convenient household coffee makers, and it is also a brewing method that best preserves coffee flavors completely (it easily brings out the good flavors of coffee and can also expose its shortcomings), so it has high requirements for coffee quality and freshness. The flavor characteristics of Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee are: nutty flavors with dark chocolate notes, low acidity, mellow aroma, softness, and a smooth mouthfeel.

Today, using Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans, we will demonstrate how to brew a cup of full-bodied black coffee.

What grade does Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee belong to?

The Jamaican-certified authentic Blue Mountain coffee production area refers to four eastern administrative regions: St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Mary, and Portland, which are exactly the foothill areas spanned by the Blue Mountains. At an elevation of 1000-1700 meters, with an area of only about 6100 hectares, only coffee planted in this area and meeting the elevation requirement of 1000-1700 meters is authentic Blue Mountain. Even if planted within these four administrative regions but at an elevation of only 500-1000 meters, it must be downgraded to Jamaica High Mountain Coffee; below 500 meters, it is the even lower grade Jamaica Prime Coffee. The other 1.21 hectares outside this area cannot be called Blue Mountain coffee at all. The Jamaican government has strict regulations for Blue Mountain coffee, and at most only 25% of Jamaican coffee qualifies as Blue Mountain coffee.

Coffee classification

Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee has three grades: Blue Mountain Coffee, Jamaica High Mountain Supreme Coffee Beans, and Jamaica Prime Coffee Beans.

Among them, Blue Mountain Coffee and High Mountain Coffee are each further divided into two grades. In terms of quality from high to low, they are: Blue Mountain No. 1, Blue Mountain No. 2, High Mountain No. 1, High Mountain No. 2, and Jamaica Coffee. In terms of quality from high to low, they are: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB; PB means peaberry. According to CIB standards, the basic standard for NO.1 Blue Mountain green beans is beans of 17 screen size or above, a defect rate below 3%, and a moisture content of about 13%.

Blue Mountain No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and Blue Mountain Peaberry are the only coffees in the world exported in wooden barrels, with three specifications: 70 kg, 30 kg, and 15 kg. Other grades of Jamaican coffee are exported in 60 kg burlap sacks. Front Street Coffee's Blue Mountain coffee is all NO.1 grade, commonly known as Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee.

Clifton Farm

Jamaica Clifton Mount Estate

Owner: The Sharp family

Certification: Rainforest Alliance Certified

Location: Newcastle area

Total area: 250 acres

Coffee planting area: 180 acres

Average elevation: 4300 feet (1310.64 meters)

Processing method: washed

Variety: 100% Arabica Typica

Flavor: a perfect and balanced combination of acidity, body, and aroma

Clifton Farm is the largest estate in this region, and by international standards it is still considered small-scale cultivation. Many estate owners are small landholders whose families have worked this land for two centuries. Through comparison, Front Street Coffee believes that Clifton Farm's Blue Mountain No. 1 performs exceptionally well and can serve as one of the outstanding representatives of Blue Mountain coffee.

In order to make Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 highlight its classic flavor, Front Street roasters, combining experience, use medium-dark roasting to present the tone of this "Emperor of Coffee." When grinding, you can smell dense roasting aromas, first reminding people of roasted nuts and cream. When brewed as black coffee by pour-over, it shows more flavors of dark chocolate, caramel, and slight citrus acidity, with a soft mouthfeel and very rich layers.

Suggestions for brewing Front Street Blue Mountain coffee with a French press?

The French press is also the easiest method among those we have mastered for reproducing the same coffee. With the same French press, the same coffee beans, the same water temperature, the same amount of water, and the same brewing time, different people can almost reproduce the same cup of coffee. This is something pour-over and siphon brewing methods cannot achieve, so it is also the most recommended method for beginners to learn.

French Press: also known as a French filter press, French press pot, tea maker, or lazy person's pot. It is a simple brewing device originating in France around 1850, consisting of a heat-resistant glass body (or transparent plastic) and a metal filter mesh with a plunger rod. At first it was mostly used for brewing black tea, so some people also call it a tea maker.

Next, let us learn about this simplest French press coffee-making method:

We use a two-person French press to make two servings of coffee. The usual ratio of grounds to added water is 1:14-18. Some French presses have water level markings, and some do not. We can just use a gram scale to measure. If the French press has markings, you need to pour in the water first and then add the coffee grounds, so that the grounds-to-water ratio is accurate.

☆The coarseness of French press coffee grounds is about the size of brown sugar (coarse grind), and relatively uniform. This is related to the extraction and filtration method of the French press. The metal filter mesh has low density and fine particles pass through easily. Hot water comes into direct contact with the coffee grounds, and grinding too fine easily causes over-extraction.

Equipment needed: French press, pouring kettle, grinder, thermometer, gram scale, timer, fresh coffee beans, coffee cup.

Front Street French press coffee operating steps:

1. Weigh 20g of fresh coffee beans.

2. Generally, the water temperature for a French press can be controlled at 85-95°C, adjusted according to the roast level of the beans. For light-roasted beans, a slightly higher water temperature can highlight the aroma; for dark-roasted beans, a lower water temperature can suppress bitterness. Everyone needs to control this based on experience and personal preference.

3. Pour the ground coffee into the French press.

4. Add water, pouring in even circles similar to pour-over.

5. Pour in about 300g of hot water, for a grounds-to-water ratio of about 1:15. As mentioned earlier, the French press grounds-to-water ratio is roughly 1:14-18 and can be adjusted according to personal taste. This French press has no scale display, so we use a gram scale to measure the water amount. After pouring in the coffee grounds, tare the scale to zero, then weigh the hot water. Although the weight and volume of hot water differ somewhat from cold water, under home conditions this error can be ignored.

6. Stir.

7. Put on the lid, but do not press the filter down. Let it sit for 4 minutes. A shorter time will make the flavor lighter, and a longer time will make it stronger, so the time is also set according to personal taste.

8. Filter: press down on the plunger and slowly press to the bottom of the pot (this action should be slow to prevent fine particles from passing through the metal filter mesh; stop when nearing the bottom, do not wait until it can no longer be pressed).

9. Pour out the coffee, slowly tilting the French press to prevent the coffee grounds at the bottom from floating up due to vigorous shaking and affecting the taste.

10. Enjoy the French press coffee. Flavor: creamy chocolate, toffee, nuts, caramel, with a long-lasting sweet aftertaste.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.