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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