Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Beans

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee beans, considered among connoisseurs to be the finest in the world, are sold in coffeehouses and roasting shops across the globe.

With a going price of around $40.00 US per pound, and up, the beans are some of the most expensive on the market and 70% of them are exported from Jamaica.

Arabica beans were brought to Jamaica in 1720 from nearby Hispaniola, by the then British governor of the island. Coffee beans made their way to the West Indies during the early days of international trade and a long voyage, after being discovered by goat herders in Kaffa, Ethiopia.

These goats displayed excited and playful behavior after gorging on the red fruits of the shrubs. Eventually the tribes boiled the beans and created a drink called qahwa, which means, "cannot sleep". The drink and the storied shrub was coveted, stolen, gifted and traded from the Arab world through the Ottoman Empire, into India and Java, (thus the nickname).

Across oceans the beans were carried to the Caribbean islands where the conditions in Jamaica proved perfect for its growth. The combination of adequate sunlight, heavy cloud moisture and very fertile soil served to produce a unique coffee bean that is today sold by classification based on bean size and percentage of defects.

In 1923 British planter Victor Munn began cultivation and the Munn family is currently the largest producer of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.

The job of five official tasters, or "certified cuppers", on the island is to secure the superior flavor of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans, and to use the name, the beans must be grown in a registered region on the slopes of Surrey in the east.

After being picked, cleaned and dried, mostly by women, the beans are allowed to age for 2-3 months, then roasted for fifteen minutes, before being vacuum packed for sale.

Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans make a mellow and sweet drink that is famed for its haunting aftertaste. Fans consider it a near mystical experience to savor real Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.

Visitors to the island can journey up into the hills above Kingston and take a walking, driving or bicycling tour of both the cloud forest itself and coffee farms for the freshest cup of Blue Mountain coffee to be found anywhere.

Meeting and buying directly from the small farmers who tend the beans not only ensures the best price, but also help hard working families who only get a small share of the retail price Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans fetch on the international market. Growers sell by the pound and sometimes less, on the farms and at markets in the towns around Kingston.

Supply has been limited after the damage to nearly half of the crop by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, but buyers from abroad can still purchase the real thing online from some of the larger processing farms.

The Government of Jamaica, in an effort to curb encroachment of commercial development up the slope of the Blue Mountains has set aside as preserve a significant swath of forested land between the sprawl of Kingston and the lush peaks where Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee beans are grown.

As demand for the flavorful beans grows around the world, especially in Japan, farmers in Jamaica are supported in a venture of sustainable agriculture. The export of coffee is an important contributing factor in the nation’s economy, and the region is being carefully developed as a tourism draw.

The beauty and cool climate of the mountains of Jamaica provides a stunning backdrop for the exploration of the region’s hidden secrets. From the fern and moss-covered slopes of Portland parish to the tablecloths of the finest restaurants of Europe, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee beans bring the taste of the island of Jamaica to the world.

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