Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, Yes
Please!
Jamaica Blue Mountain
coffee is
said to be some of the best coffee in the world. This coffee
gets its name from the area in which it hails from, the
Jamaican Blue Mountains. Jamaica is such a small island, but it
is world famous for producing some of the finest coffee ever
sipped.
Coffee is
grown in all parts of the island and at all elevations, however
it is the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee that comes from an area
on the eastern side of the island, just north of Kingston in
the Blue Mountains known, appropriately as the Blue Mountain
Region.
The
tropical island of Jamaica has ideal conditions for growing
coffee. Much of the island is covered with mountainous regions,
including the Blue Mountains which are the tallest range on the
island. The Blue Mountains provide a perfect blend of rich, hot
climate, plenty of rainfall and high altitude. At nearly 7,500
feet above sea level, this is one of the highest coffee regions
in the world. The range sprawls across the eastern portion of
the island for a length of 28 miles and an average width of 12
miles. The constant covering mist gives the mountains a bluish
appearance, which is where the name comes from. Jamaica is also
known for its nitrogen and phosphoric acid rich soil, which
coffee plants thrive in.
Blue Mountain coffee is
exclusively made from the Arabica bean. This bean is more
fragile to grow than most regular coffee beans, but it is
considered to be more flavorful and has less caffeine than the
Robusta bean that is grown in other parts of the world. True
Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is full bodied, has a very clean
taste with a noticeable sweetness. The flavor is bold, smooth
and rich.
To be
called “Blue Mountain Coffee”, it has to be grown at altitudes
between 2,000 and 7,000 feet in the Parishes of Portland, St.
Andrew and St. Thomas and must grown in the estates of: Mavis
Bank, Silver Hill, Moy Hall or Wallenford. Coffee that is grown
anywhere else in Jamaica can not be called Blue Mountain
Coffee.
Because of
the rather restricted geographical range where it is grown,
Blue Mountain is available in limited quantities and can
sometimes be difficult to find. In order to maintain the high
quality of this coffee, Jamaica established the Jamaica Coffee
Industry Board in 1950 to oversee the production and
processing. It was also established to maintain the quality and
reputation of Jamaican coffee. Most Blue Mountain coffee beans
are grown by small farmers, rather than huge coffee estates
seen in other regions.
Jamaica
produces approximately 2,700,000 pounds of Blue Mountain coffee
beans a year. About 90% of the annual crop is exported to
Japan. The quantity remaining for coffee aficionados in other
parts of the world is very limited which accounts for its high
price. In the U.S., price may range between $35 and $50 per
pound for Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. With such delicious
coffee at considerably high prices, it is very common for false
or fake Blue Mountain Coffee to be sold under the pretenses
that it is the real thing.
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