Is Green Mountain Coffee a coffee green bean variety?

Green Mountain Coffee and Blue Mountain Coffee share a similar name and little else. Green Mountain Coffee is an American company founded in 1981 in Vermont, known for K-Cup capsules and Keurig machines. Blue Mountain Coffee is not a company at all but a coffee green bean grown in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region and graded by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board.

Blue Mountain is an Arabica Typica coffee, so its identity comes from variety, place, and official grading rather than branding. Green Mountain Coffee built its business on roasting and on pod machines, listing on Nasdaq in 1993 and later being acquired by a German consortium. When buying Blue Mountain, check grading and certification rather than a similar-sounding name.

Many people, upon first hearing about Green Mountain Coffee, assume it is an imitation of Blue Mountain Coffee, and some readers of Front Street have even asked whether Green Mountain is a counterfeit. In reality, apart from the similar names, Green Mountain Coffee and Blue Mountain Coffee have almost no substantive connection. Green Mountain Coffee is not a coffee bean variety, but an American coffee company founded in 1981, known for its K-Cup capsules and Keurig coffee machines; Blue Mountain Coffee, on the other hand, is an Arabica Typica coffee produced in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region, strictly graded by the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board. This article will separately examine Green Mountain Coffee's business model, Blue Mountain Coffee's history and grading system, key points for purchasing and authentication, and include Front Street Coffee's roasting and brewing recommendations.

What exactly is the connection between Blue Mountain Coffee and Green Mountain Coffee? Because Blue Mountain Coffee is so famous, many people think Green Mountain Coffee is riding on Blue Mountain's coattails. Some readers of Front Street have also asked whether Green Mountain Coffee is counterfeit posing as the real thing. In fact, although the two names are highly similar, beyond that they have basically no intersection. Next, Front Street will clarify the ins and outs of this matter.

Green Mountain Coffee is actually a brand, not a coffee bean variety!

Green Mountain Coffee is not a type of coffee bean; it is a coffee company. The company was founded in the United States in 1981, headquartered in Vermont, listed on Nasdaq in 1993, and acquired by a German consortium last December for 13.9 billion USD. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' valuation climbed from 100 million USD to 15 billion USD, relying not on its annual coffee sales of 12,000 tons, but on the 16 million coffee machines accumulated after its transformation.

When Green Mountain Coffee was first established, its core business was roasting coffee beans, and the founder set a three-step development strategy. Step one: enter the low-end consumer market and gradually move toward the high-end market, selling high-quality Arabica coffee beans. Step two: establish an environmental stewardship committee, using environmental concepts and social responsibility practices to enhance the coffee brand's visibility and reputation. Step three: advance production specialization to improve the quality and consistency of coffee roasting.

However, continuously rising raw coffee bean prices put pressure on Green Mountain Coffee's original business model. So Green Mountain Coffee opened up new market space by shifting to producing Keurig coffee machines and accompanying K-Cup coffees. The so-called "K-Cup" is a patented product of Green Mountain, shaped like a paper cup, with a smaller paper-cup-shaped infusion device inside that only allows liquid to pass through, sealed at the top with aluminum foil to ensure the coffee aroma does not escape.

Place the K-Cup into the Keurig coffee machine, press the button, and the pressurized water injection tube pierces the aluminum foil lid into the filter cup, injecting hot water. The coffee machine precisely controls water volume, temperature, and pressure, allowing the coffee's aroma to be released to the greatest extent. No grinding, no weighing, no cleaning, no residue at the bottom of the cup, a cup of coffee is ready in one minute—Keurig is truly the "idiot-proof" product of the coffee world.

Green Mountain Coffee's profitability does not depend on the machines; Keurig coffee machines sell for just over 100 USD, and K-Cups are the real source of profit. A 24-count pack of K-Cups typically sells for 12 USD, equivalent to 0.5 USD per cup. Although the unit price is not high, massive sales volume is the key. Currently, Green Mountain Coffee has an installed base of 16 million machines in American households and businesses. If estimated at 1 cup per day, annual K-Cup consumption would be approximately 6 billion cups.

Green Mountain has applied for multiple patents related to K-Cups, and relying on these patents, Green Mountain's K-Cups are open to all beverage companies. Green Mountain allows other coffee, tea, or hot cocoa producers to use K-Cup packaging on Green Mountain's Keurig coffee machines, and these companies must pay Green Mountain a licensing fee of 6 cents per cup.

So, apart from the very similar names, Green Mountain Coffee and Blue Mountain Coffee have almost no relationship.

The fame of Blue Mountain Coffee beans is likewise well-known far and wide.

The Rise of Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue Mountain is a mountain range located in the eastern part of Jamaica. As early as the British colonial period, then-Governor Nicholas Lawes obtained a coffee tree from the Governor of Martinique, and Jamaica began coffee cultivation from that point on. However, for the following 200-plus years, Jamaicans did not place much importance on coffee cultivation, and Jamaican coffee remained obscure.

It was not until 1932 that the Jamaican government decided to encourage coffee cultivation to reduce dependence on another cash crop, sugarcane. Jamaica's emphasis on coffee was reflected in improving quality rather than expanding production. This is actually quite reasonable, because the Blue Mountain range has limited territory, and even if production doubled, it could not compare with major coffee-producing countries. Taking the high-quality coffee route was Jamaica's only way out.

In 1953, the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board, specifically tasked with coordinating coffee affairs, established the first standards for Blue Mountain Coffee, also laying the foundation for the high quality of Blue Mountain Coffee thereafter.

First, the board clarified what truly qualifies as Blue Mountain Coffee—not all coffee beans grown in the Blue Mountain range can be called Blue Mountain Coffee. Only Arabica Typica coffee from four production areas at elevations of 910-1,700 meters—St. Andrew, St. Mary, St. Thomas, and Portland—can be called Jamaica Blue Mountain. The total area of these four production areas is only 6,000 hectares. Coffee grown at elevations of 460-910 meters is called "Jamaica High Mountain," and below 460 meters is "Jamaica Supreme." Compared with Blue Mountain Coffee, quality and price decrease in order.

Blue Mountain Coffee also has internal grading, from highest to lowest, divided into:

Blue Mountain No.1, the top-grade Blue Mountain Coffee, screened with S-17/18 screens, with less than 2% defective beans

Blue Mountain No.2, screened with S-16/17 screens, beans slightly smaller than Blue Mountain No.1, with less than 2% defective beans

Blue Mountain No.3, screened with S-15/16 screens, beans smaller than No.2, with less than 2% defective beans

Blue Mountain Peaberry (or Blue Mountain P.B), over 96% round peaberry beans, with less than 2% defective beans. This is actually a specially selected bean, and many people believe this grade is above No.1, while others place it between No.1 and No.2.

Blue Mountain Triage (also translated as Blue Mountain Blend), a mix of the above four, with less than 4% defective beans—essentially unscreened beans.

Purchasing and Authenticating Blue Mountain Coffee

Front Street has seen many claims online like "all Blue Mountain has been bought up by the Japanese" or "there is no real Blue Mountain in China." Front Street would just like to say, "My lord, the times have changed." If this statement were made 10 years ago, it would be correct, but in 2022 today, earth-shaking changes have already taken place.

Let's first explain why Blue Mountain Coffee was all bought up by the Japanese. In 1969, Jamaica suffered severe hurricane damage, and plantations suffered heavy losses. The Japanese company UCC provided substantial aid that revived Jamaica's coffee industry. In return, Jamaica signed an agreement with Japan in 1972, allocating 90% of the Blue Mountain Coffee quota to Japan, with Europe and the United States each receiving 5%. Thus the saying that the Japanese bought up most of the Blue Mountain Coffee has persisted to this day. However, Japan's monopoly on the Blue Mountain Coffee market did not mean it was all sold in Japan's domestic market; some was sold at a premium to other places, such as South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. At that time, mainland China also had some private channels bringing genuine Blue Mountain Coffee in through Hong Kong and Taiwan, but such Blue Mountain was astronomically priced, basically unaffordable for ordinary people.

Until 2010, mainland China did not directly purchase any Blue Mountain Coffee quota from Jamaica. After the 2008 financial crisis, Jamaica tried to break away from dependence on a single coffee buyer, and coinciding with the expiration of the agreement with Japan, Blue Mountain Coffee bean quotas gradually opened to more countries. According to media reports, in July 2010, the Hangzhou Coffee and Western Food Industry Association was invited to visit Jamaica and signed a letter of intent for cooperation as the sole general agent for Blue Mountain Coffee green beans in China. In May 2011, the first container of Blue Mountain Coffee green beans arrived at Ningbo Port, which should be the first time Blue Mountain Coffee beans officially entered the mainland Chinese market. Since then, mainland China has received Blue Mountain Coffee arriving by direct flight from Jamaica every year, so claims that there is no real Blue Mountain in China have long been outdated.

Blue Mountain Coffee is exported in wooden barrels, which is also the most distinctive packaging method in the world. Currently there are two specifications: 70kg large barrels and 15kg small barrels. Front Street purchases Blue Mountain Coffee beans in original barrels from Clifton Farm every year.

Clifton Farm is one of the older farms cultivating Blue Mountain Coffee in Jamaica, and it is also the only farm in the Blue Mountain region certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Original-barrel Blue Mountain Coffee beans imported through official channels come with a Clifton Farm certification certificate, used to prove that these are Blue Mountain Coffee beans from Clifton Farm. When purchasing Blue Mountain Coffee beans, everyone can check whether they are in original wooden barrel packaging and whether there is certificate authentication.

Blue Mountain Coffee beans are of the Typica variety, an excellent Arabica variety. Thanks to Jamaica being an isolated small island, the Typica coffee variety's genetics remain pure. Traditional Blue Mountain Coffee beans are wet-processed. Wet processing was the newest processing technology 200 years ago. Compared with sun-dried processing, wet processing yields higher quality, better bean appearance, and a cleaner taste.

When roasting Blue Mountain Coffee beans, Front Street uses a medium-dark roast to highlight Blue Mountain's balanced acidity, sweetness, and bitterness, as well as its mellow characteristics.

Specific roasting record: 500g green beans, roaster is Yangjia 600n semi-direct fire.

Charged at 165°C drum temperature, heat setting 130, airflow opened at 3; turning point at 1'32", at 95.8°C drum temperature, heat unchanged; at 3 minutes airflow adjusted to 4, at 4 minutes heat increased to 140. At 153.3°C drum temperature, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration phase. At 8'36", ugly wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 10'06", develops for 3 minutes after first crack, and beans are dropped at 198.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations for Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 Coffee Beans

Front Street recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing, so you can experience the coffee's rich flavors to the greatest extent. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all within 5 days of roasting, because Front Street deeply understands the great impact of coffee bean freshness on flavor. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," so that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. Coffee beans need about 4-7 days of resting, so when customers receive them, they are at their optimal flavor.

Dose 15g, water temperature 87°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, grind size medium (75% passing rate on China standard No. 20 sieve)

Use a KONO dripper.

First pour 30ml of water for a 30-second bloom, then in the second stage pour in a small stream in circles until 125ml and stop, wait until the water level drops to just about to expose the coffee bed, then continue with the third stage pouring until 225ml to end extraction. Total extraction time (including bloom) is 2'00.

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