How Does the Jamaican Coffee Grading System Work?

Jamaica's coffee is classified into three grades by growing altitude under the Jamaica Industry Board. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee must be grown above 1,000 meters, Jamaica Mountain between 500 and 1,000 meters, and Jamaica Prime usually below 500 meters. The Blue Mountain grade is then split into No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and peaberry.

Export standards are strict. Authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 requires green bean screen size of 17/18 and a defect rate below 2 percent, which keeps supply limited and prices high. Grades fall roughly to No. 2 at 16 screen and No. 3 at 15 screen, and Jamaican law reserves the Blue Mountain name for beans from that region.

Blue Mountain coffee enjoys a stellar reputation in the global coffee world, but many people are unaware that it is merely one category within Jamaica's coffee system. The Jamaica Industry Board classifies coffee into three grades based on growing altitude, and within the Blue Mountain grade there are further subdivisions into No. 1 through No. 3 and peaberry. Authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 has limited production and commands a high price, with green beans required to reach 17/18 screen size and a defect rate below 2%. Front Street Coffee will walk you through Blue Mountain coffee's grade classifications, export barrel specifications, certificates of origin, and the quality differences behind various roasting methods, helping you gain a clearer understanding of this legendary coffee.

Front Street Coffee believes everyone has surely heard of Blue Mountain coffee. Without a doubt, Blue Mountain coffee beans are renowned worldwide and command high prices, which makes many coffee enthusiasts eager to taste its unique flavor for themselves.

In reality, Blue Mountain coffee is just one branch of Jamaica's coffee system, and what we commonly refer to as Blue Mountain coffee usually means Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans specifically.

Jamaica's coffee industry is uniformly managed by the Jamaica Industry Board (CIB), which classifies coffee into three grades based on growing altitude. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee must be grown above 1,000 meters; Jamaica Mountain coffee must be grown between 500 and 1,000 meters; and Jamaica Prime coffee is typically grown below 500 meters.

Within the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee grade, there are further subdivisions into four levels: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and peaberry. In other words, Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans are the highest grade in Jamaican coffee, with green bean screen sizes of 17/18 and a defect rate controlled within 2%. Because of this, authentic Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans have limited production and relatively high market prices.

Jamaican law stipulates that only coffee beans originating from the Blue Mountain region are eligible to be called Blue Mountain coffee;

High-specification Blue Mountain coffee is divided into three grades: No. 1 (17–18 screen or above), No. 2 (16 screen), and No. 3 (15 screen), with 17 screen roughly equal to 17/64 inch;

The taste of these three grades (all of which must be confirmed through cupping by dedicated personnel accredited by the Jamaican government) remains consistent—the only difference is bean size;

The green beans of all three grades must be packed in wooden barrels for export, available in three specifications: 70 kg/barrel, 30 kg/barrel, and 15 kg/barrel;

The barrel is marked with the name of the producing estate, the English abbreviation of the importer's name, the batch number for each shipment, and the name of the destination port;

For example, Blue Mountain coffee imported by Japan's ATAKA Trading Co., Ltd. has the abbreviation ATC inside the diamond mark on the barrel;

While Blue Mountain coffee imported by Japan's Ueshima Coffee Company has the abbreviation UCC printed inside the diamond mark on the barrel;

Therefore, when you see a Blue Mountain coffee barrel, you can tell which estate in Jamaica's Blue Mountains the coffee came from, who the importer is, and which port it was shipped to;

At the same time, Jamaican exporters also provide importers with a green certificate of origin;

This certificate of origin, recognized by the Jamaican government, is issued only to importers purchasing in whole barrel units (70 kg/barrel, 30 kg/barrel, 15 kg/barrel);

It records information such as the name of the exporting estate, the importer's name, the year's goods, quantity, grade number, batch number, and the name of the destination port;

(Among green coffee beans produced outside Jamaica's Blue Mountain region, only High Mountain coffee beans are packaged in wooden barrels)

Next, those green beans that are damaged, uneven in size, and poor in appearance but not bad in taste,

The Jamaican government requires that such green beans can only be exported in burlap sacks;

And the even lower quality ones are those coffees with defective flavors,

The Jamaican government has strict regulations that such coffee cannot be exported in green bean form;

They can only be roasted locally in Jamaica and must be dark-roasted for export,

Because only dark roasting can mask or eliminate defective flavors,

Whereas the virtues of Blue Mountain coffee can only be perfectly showcased when it is light-roasted,

So if you buy dark-roasted small-package Blue Mountain coffee directly imported from Jamaica in a domestic store,

That would be the lowest grade of Blue Mountain coffee—but at least it is still genuine Blue Mountain coffee.

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