Time For A Delightful and Well-Deserved Change
I usually switch coffees every few weeks or so. After three weeks of drinking
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, I decided to give myself a real taste treat. Surfing
again through the Coffee Wholesale USA
web site I splurged for the finest coffee grown on the island of Jamaica – the
renowned Jamaica Blue Mountain.
The Blue Mountain Range is a majestic group of mountains located at the eastern
end of the island, north of Kingston. They reach their highest point at the Blue
Mountain Peak, towering 7,402 feet above sea level. The high altitudes along
with cool, misty weather cause the coffee beans to take longer to mature – up to
10 months from bloom to harvest (twice as long as most growing regions). This
gives the rich soil time to yield a better, smoother coffee with enhanced flavor
and aroma.
Coffee was first introduced to Jamaica in 1728 by Governor Sir Nicholas Lawes,
when he brought seedlings from Martinique. Within nine years 83,000 pounds of
coffee was exported. Today, several fine coffees are grown throughout the
mountainous regions of Jamaica, but only one special area of these mountains
yield the outstanding, flavorful Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.
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Limited Supplies + Quality Control = Distinctly Jamaica Blue
The Jamaican Coffee Industry Board is the sole exporter of Blue Mountain coffee.
Despite its proximity to Jamaica, the United States only gets approximately 10%
of the annual Blue Mountain coffee crop – 85% of all Blue Mountain coffee is
exported to Japan and most of the remaining 5% goes to Europe. Jamaican Blue
Mountain coffee is exported in registered, marked barrels to ensure the
authenticity of the coffee.
On my numerous trips to Jamaica I have very seldom obtained Jamaican Blue
Mountain coffee in restaurants or hotels. A few times I had the delight of
drinking some roasted fresh Blue Mountain coffee at a very expensive restaurant
owned by a friend of a friend.
On a trip to Kingston many years ago I ventured to the Blue Mountains. At a
plantation, I purchased two pounds of Blue Mountain coffee – the memory of the
aroma still tickles my taste buds today. When I returned home I was in heaven as
I enjoyed a pound of the coffee. I divided the other pound into air-tight glass
jars and stored the jars in my refrigerator.
After a couple weeks I opened my second jar, but to my dismay I noticed a
completely different taste. During one of my father’s visits, he asked me to
taste his homemade rum-based coffee liqueur. As I sipped the liqueur he grinned
and reported, "It had been years since had tasted Jamaican Blue Mountain." Yes,
he had swiped my Blue Mountain coffee and replaced it with a store brand to make
his concoction!
Who could blame him, though? Coffee as good as Jamaican Blue Mountain is a real
emotion-stirrer. Ever since, I order a pound of Jamaica Blue for him from
Coffee Wholesale USA for Father’s Day.
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