There are two types of Blue Mountain coffee on the market, and you may buy it by mistake if you are not careful. One is Blue Mountain flavor, which refers to beans roasted using coffee beans from other production areas. They will label them as Blue Mountain flavor coffee. The other kind of Blue Mountain coffee refers to the Blue Mountain coffee produced in the Blue Mountain region of Jamaica. The Blue Mountain coffee we refer to refers to this kind of coffee.
Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee sold by FrontStreet Coffee has a certificate issued by the Jamaica Coffee Board. In addition, the packagingFront Street Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee BeansThe wooden barrel will have a green frog logo (see the picture below of FrontStreet Coffee picking raw beans from Jamaica). FrontStreet Coffee has specifically chosen the Rainforest Certified No. 1 coffee estate in the Jamaican Blue Mountains, which is Clifton Farm, and Jamaica is the only production area that uses wooden barrels to pack raw beans. There is also the most iconic Blue Mountain flavor. The real Front Street Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is very rich in aroma and balanced in taste. There will be no feeling that any flavor is outstanding or lacking. The price of authentic Front Street Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee is higher than other coffees. Front Street Coffee believes that the most important reasons are three points, namely small quantity, good flavor and strict quality control.
When it comes to drinking coffee, many friends will immediately say, give me a cup of Blue Mountain.front street jamaica blue mountain coffeeIt has a high reputation, low output, and a long history. It can be said that even if you have never tasted specialty coffee, you have heard of Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee. We often see Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, Blue Mountain flavored coffee, and Blue Mountain blends on the market. It’s dizzying, but not all with the words Blue Mountain are authentic.Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee, I accidentally drank fake Blue Mountain, so how to tell which Blue Mountains are real? First of all, FrontStreet Coffee takes everyone to understand how Blue Mountain Coffee comes from.
Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee Story
The history of coffee in Jamaica can be traced back to the 18th century. In 1717, King Louis XV of France ordered coffee to be planted in Jamaica. In the mid-1920s, Nicholas, the governor of Jamaica, ordered the cultivation of coffee in Jamaica. Sir Nicholas Lawes imported Arabica seeds from Martinique and began to promote their cultivation in St. Andrew. Coffee tree species were introduced to Jamaica and coffee was grown on the Blue Mountains. It is divided into high-altitude Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, alpine coffee, and Jamaican coffee. Different grades also determine different prices.
Planting altitude
The Blue Mountains are located in the eastern part of the island of Jamaica. They are named because the mountains are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. Whenever the weather is clear, the sun shines directly on the blue sea, and the peaks reflect the bright blue light of the sea. The highest peak of the Blue Mountains is 2,256 meters above sea level. It is the highest peak in the Caribbean and a famous tourist attraction. It is located in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air, no pollution, and a humid climate that is foggy and rainy all year round. (The average precipitation is 1,980 mm, and the temperature is around 27 degrees.) This climate has created the world-renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, and it has also created the highest-priced coffee in the world.
True Blue Mountain coffee is one of the best-grown coffees in the world, and Jamaica's weather, geology and topography combine to provide an ideal location. Designated Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee can only be grown in the Blue Mountains region, in Kingston, Jamaica, in the east north of the island. The ridge across Yatouga extends to the east of the island, and the Blue Mountains are more than 2,100 meters high. The weather is cool, foggy, and rains frequently, making this fertile land moderately rainy. Coffee trees are grown here using mixed planting methods, alongside banana and avocado trees in terraced fields.
Moreover, the mountains are very uneven and the harvesting process is very difficult (coffee harvesters are almost exclusively women). Their coffee trees all grow on rugged hillsides, and the picking process is very difficult. Non-skilled local female workers are simply unable to do it. It is very important to select just the right amount of mature coffee beans when picking. Immature or overripe coffee beans will affect the quality of the coffee.
FrontStreet Coffee·Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans
Production area: Blue Mountain production area
Farm: Clifton
Altitude: 1310 meters
Variety: Typica
Treatment method: washing or sun drying
Grade: NO.1
FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee variety
FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans are of the Typica variety. The top leaves of Typica are bronze, and the bean body is oval or thin pointed. The tree body is tall, and the branches are slightly inclined at an angle of 50-70 degrees. It has an elegant flavor, but has a weak constitution and poor disease resistance. The coffee yield of each tree is very low and the fruit yield is very low.
The tip of the leaves of the Typica tree species has a characteristic, which is red copper color, and is called red-top coffee. The opposite leaves of the coffee tree are oblong with smooth leaf surfaces. The branches at the ends are very long and have few branches. The flowers are white and bloom at the base of the petiole connecting the branches. Ripe coffee berries look like cherries and are bright red.
How to process Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans
Before this year, Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee on Front Street was only washed. Use water washing and fermentation methods to remove the peel, pulp and mucous membrane. Farms that use the water washing method must build water washing tanks and be able to introduce an endless supply of running water. During processing, first remove the peel and pulp and let it ferment for 12-18 hours. Then put the fermented beans into the pool and push them back and forth. Use the friction of the beans and the power of running water to wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still wrapped in the endocarp, with a moisture content of 50%. They must be dried in the sun to reduce the moisture content to 12-14%, otherwise they will continue to ferment and become moldy and rotten. After that, the coffee beans are screened and then placed in special warehouses for storage. These procedures must be strictly controlled, otherwise, the quality of the coffee will be affected.
In 2020, the Blue Mountain production area also exported a batch of sun-dried Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee. Qian Street also introduced and baked it as soon as possible.
In fact, the production of Front Street sun-dried Blue Mountain coffee is also very difficult. Why was there only water washing method before? That is because washing is the most essential expression of ensuring the Blue Mountain flavor, and changing the processing method will definitely change its flavor structure. This is why FrontStreet Coffee first recommends washed coffee beans when introducing coffee beans from a certain production area to customers, because washing can best represent the flavor of the production area. Of course, Blue Mountain Coffee uses the sun-dried processing method, and more of it follows the development of the market. For example, FrontStreet Coffee recently added a new type of Front Street Indonesian sun-dried Mandheling coffee beans, which is also different from the traditional wet planing method.
The three major producing areas of Blue Mountain coffee
The Blue Mountains region is a small place with only 6,000 hectares of planting area. It is impossible for all coffee labeled with the word "Blue Mountains" to be grown there. An additional 12,000 hectares are used to grow two other types of coffee (non-Blue Mountain coffee): Alpine Premium and Jamaican Coffee.
Today's St. Andrew's production area is still one of the three major production areas of Blue Mountain coffee, the other two major production areas are Portland (Portland) production area and St. Thomas (St. Thomas) production area. Some small estates also grow Blue Mountain coffee, such as Wallenford Estate, Silver Hill Estate and J.Martinez's Atlanta Estate. Even the largest estate owners in the region are small-scale farmers by international standards, and many of them are small landowners whose families have worked the land for two centuries.
There are currently 6 logos that can represent the origin of Blue Mountain coffee, such as Mafis Embankment Central Factory (M.B.C.E), Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative Factory (M.H.C.C.T.), Portland Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative Factory (P.X.
Why did Japan have priority in purchasing?
The Jamaican government established the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board in 1950, which sets quality standards for Jamaican coffee and supervises the implementation of quality standards to ensure the quality of Jamaican coffee. The committee awarded a special official seal to the green and roasted coffee exported from Jamaica because the use of Japanese loans improved the quality of production and thus guaranteed the market.
By 1981, about 1,500 hectares of land in Jamaica had been reclaimed for coffee cultivation, and another 6,000 hectares of planting land were subsequently invested. In fact, today's Blue Mountain area is a small place with only 6,000 hectares of planting area. It is impossible for all the coffee labeled "Blue Mountain" to be grown there. An additional 12,000 hectares are used to grow two other types of coffee: mountain top coffee and Jamaican coffee.
As of 2013, the Jamaica Coffee Board export statistics show that of the limited Blue Mountain coffee bean quota, 85% is exported to Japan, 5% to the United States, 5% to Europe, and 5% to other countries. However, according to statistics from the International Coffee Association, China accounts for 15% of the global consumption of authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. This is because part of the share of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee from Japan, Australia, and Europe is exported to Taiwan through direct-operated branches.
Jamaica is the only country in the world with a government coffee management agency - the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica (CIB), which is affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Jamaica. The functions of CIB are planting technology guidance, processing training, fair trade, quality supervision and a series of things related to the quality and brand of Jamaica Blue Mountain. The board members of CIB are all estate owners who own a certain amount of plantation estates in Jamaica (due to the transfer of industry, the newly certified Jamaica Blue Mountain estate now requires an area of more than 50 hectares). CIB stipulates that only Blue Mountain coffee beans produced in production areas above 2,200 feet in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica can be called Jamaican Blue Mountains. The grades are divided into NO.1, NO.2, NO.3 and hand-selected PB according to bean size. Among them, the basic standards of NO.1 Blue Mountain coffee beans are beans with more than 17 mesh, a defect rate of less than 3%, and a moisture content of about 13%. In addition, so far, the only processing method for Blue Mountain coffee green beans is washing, and there is no sun drying or other processing methods.
Another company worth mentioning should be Coffee Trades. The manor is called CLYDESDALE. The company's coffee factory is in the backyard of the CIB office building. The manor is halfway up the Blue Mountain at about 1,200 meters. The other two largest Blue Mountain coffee companies in Jamaica are Wallenford and Mavis Bank. These two companies were originally state-owned holding companies. Wallenford's output exceeds 60% of the entire Jamaican Blue Mountain output. Mavis Bank's production exceeds 20%, and it is one of the few Jamaican Blue Mountain companies to have three grades of coffee: Jamaica Blue Mountain, Jamaica High Mountain, and Jamaica Special Coffee.
Classification and grading of Jamaica Blue Mountains
The history of Jamaican coffee can be traced back to the 18th century. The British introduced coffee tree species to Jamaica and planted coffee on the Blue Mountains. It is divided into high-altitude Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, Jamaican high mountain coffee, and Jamaican coffee. Different grades also determine different prices.
(1)Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
Among them, there are four levels each under Blue Mountain Coffee and Alpine Coffee. In terms of quality, from top to bottom they are: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3 and PB. PB is round beans. According to CIB standards, only coffee grown above an altitude of 666 meters is called Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. The best of the best coffees, the coffee produced in the Blue Mountains in Jamaica at an altitude of about 910-1700 meters. Because it is located on a dangerous mountainside, the yield is small, the grains are large, the quality is good, the taste is harmonious, and it has appropriate sourness, bitterness, aroma, mellowness and sweetness. It is recognized as the best in the world, so the price of the national treasure Blue Mountain No. 1 is the highest among all Blue Mountain coffees.
(2)Jamaican Alpine Coffee
The coffee produced in the part below 910 meters in the Blue Mountain area of Jamaica is called alpine coffee. It is also the highest quality coffee after Blue Mountain coffee. It is called the brother variety of Blue Mountain coffee by industry insiders. The caffeine output of Jamaica Blue Mountain is very small. Therefore, if you want to taste Jamaican taste coffee, then Jamaican Alpine coffee is your best choice.
(3)Jamaican Premium Coffee
Jamaican Premium coffee is grown in areas below 460 meters above sea level and is generally consumed on the island of Jamaica.
(The altitude in the figure is translated from feet to meters, 910 meters is approximately equal to 3000 feet, and 460 meters is approximately equal to 1500 feet)
Real Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee certified with certificate
The Jamaican government has always insisted that all Blue Mountain coffee is roasted in Jamaica to ensure the same quality. The truth is, baking is a fine art, and doing it well requires experience, training, and expensive equipment. From a consumer perspective, coffee beans should be obtained and consumed immediately after roasting. Coffee roasted in Jamaica is unlikely to meet this requirement. Now, Jamaica’s green coffee beans are ready for export.
FrontStreet Coffee purchases Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee from the country of origin. Currently, the Jamaica Coffee Board can issue certificates to all exported Blue Mountain coffee on the market.
There are three types of certificates:
(1) Quality certificate issued by the Jamaica Coffee Board
(2) Authorized sales certificate issued by the Blue Mountain Coffee manufacturer. (Blue Mountain coffee is distributed by 4 processing producers licensed by the Jamaican government and exported by 16 licensed exporters)
(3) Certificate of Origin of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
The quality certificate indicates the time and quantity. The Jamaica Coffee Board randomly selects a package from the Blue Mountain coffee submitted for inspection and conducts inspection. If it meets the conditions of Blue Mountain coffee, a certificate will be issued.
FrontStreet Coffee roasting analysis
Front Street roasters use a medium roast for Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee to highlight the balanced and rich flavor of Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain. Take the Yangjia 600N semi-direct fire roasting machine and 500g green beans as an example.
Put the furnace temperature into the pot at 165°C, the firepower 130, and the damper is set to 3; the temperature recovery point is 1'32", and the oven temperature is 95.8°C, the firepower remains unchanged; adjust the drying door to 4 for 3 minutes, and increase the firepower to 140 for 4 minutes. When the furnace temperature is 153.3°C, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell disappears completely, and the bean enters the dehydration stage. At 8°36°, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the smell of toast obviously changes to the aroma of coffee. It can be defined as the prelude to the first crack. At this time, you should listen clearly to the sound of the first crack. The first crack begins at 10°06° and develops for 3 minutes after the first crack. The beans are fired at 198.5°C.
The flavor and taste of Jamaican Blue Mountain No. 1 Coffee on Front Street
The Front Street Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee sold at FrontStreet Coffee tastes very clean, and it's one of the sweetest coffees in the world. This flavor has been described by Jim Reynolds in Peet's Coffee and Tea: The best example of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is that it is aromatic, smooth and rich, and it feels like a jewel-like quality to me. It is as precious as a gem. It's complex, but very mild, it's sweet, it has a very strong body. You have to taste it in order to know what I'm talking about.
The unique growing conditions and the utmost care in all production processes make Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee very famous. The taste is rich and mellow, and the sweet, sour and bitter flavors of coffee are perfectly matched. It has no bitter taste at all, only a moderate and perfect sourness, and a long-lasting fruity taste.
FrontStreet Coffee teaches you how to identify real and fake Blue Mountain
1. Appearance: The green beans of Front Street Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee are green in color and have a very neat appearance. They are medium to small in size, with some curling at both ends. After roasting, the volume increases a lot and is very full.
2. Grind the beans: The real Front Street Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans are grown at high altitudes. Its cytoplasmic structure is relatively loose. When ground by hand, it feels crisp, refreshing and continuous without any resistance.
3. Aroma: The aroma of Front Street Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is very rich and dense; the so-called blended Blue Mountain coffee does not have this aroma.
4. Taste: The real Front Street Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee has a balanced and rich taste, without any outstanding or lacking taste. This is also the most critical identification point that cannot be matched by any other coffee beans. The aroma of Blue Mountain garden beans is more subtle, and the taste is relatively stronger.
FrontStreet Coffee Barista’s Brewing Tips for Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain One
Front Street recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing, so that you can maximize the rich flavor of the coffee. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days, because FrontStreet knows that the freshness of coffee beans has a great impact on the flavor. The purpose of Front Street Roasting is "freshly roasted and good coffee", so that every customer who orders receives the freshest coffee. The bean-growing period of coffee is about 4-7 days, so the flavor is at its best when customers get it.
The amount of powder is 15g, the water temperature is 86°C, the water-to-powder ratio is 1:15, the grinding degree is medium grinding (Chinese standard No. 20 sieve pass rate is 75%)
Generally, there are several types of filter cups to choose from, including V60 filter cup, kalita fan-shaped and Kono. FrontStreet Coffee mainly uses the Kono filter cup for brewing demonstrations. FrontStreet Coffee chose the Kono filter cup mainly because FrontStreet Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee uses a deep roasting degree, and high temperatures can easily lead to over-extraction, so FrontStreet Coffee chose 86°C for the water temperature. If you use a V60 filter cup or other fast-flowing filter cup at this temperature, it will easily lead to insufficient extraction. Kono has few and short ribs, which can isolate the gap between the filter paper and the filter cup, increase the residence time of the water flow, and have a soaking function. Therefore, based on the test results of all brewing parameters, FrontStreet Coffee finally chose the Kono filter cup.
By the way, the Kono filter cup is not only suitable for Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1, but also suitable for brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans such as Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor and Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling.
In terms of brewing technique, FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, that is, a three-stage water injection method. Use 30g of water to steam, and the steaming time is 30 seconds. In the first section, small water flow is injected in a circle until the water is cut off at 125g. When the liquid level drops to about to expose the powder layer, continue to inject water in the second section. The water is injected to 225g to end the extraction. The total extraction time (including steaming) is 2'00.
Having said so much, FrontStreet Coffee has one final point to make. There is often a Blue Mountain-flavored coffee blend on the market. The so-called "Blue Mountain Blend" actually has nothing to do with the Blue Mountains. The reason why this happened is that early Blue Mountain coffee was rare and expensive. Operators used mixed beans and dark roasting to create a coffee with a taste close to Blue Mountain based on the flavor of Blue Mountain. Therefore, conscientious merchants in the domestic and foreign markets will tell customers that this is a comprehensive Blue Mountain, blended Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain flavor, and Blue Mountain-style coffee beans. It is not the real Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.
The real Blue Mountain and Blue Mountain flavor are two different concepts. Generally, other beans are used to roast coffee with a similar taste to imitate Blue Mountain coffee. The beans of "Blue Mountain Blend" are mixed, and their shapes are quite different, making them easier to identify. Don’t believe in “Super Blue Mountain” that costs tens of dollars per pound or “Blue Mountain Coffee” that costs more than ten dollars per cup. Not everything labeled "Blue Mountain" is truly a Blue Mountain!
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
