For the past few years, we’ve offered one of the rarest coffees in the world on a limited basis around the holidays. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee from the Clydesdale Estate is known for being exceptionally well-balanced in flavor. It has excellent body and, due to its rareness and expense, there’s a certain well-deserved mystique surrounding this fantastic coffee. Whether you’re enjoying it yourself as a treat, or giving it as a gift, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is a special experience. Make sure you have time to sit down and savor before brewing yourself a cup. We’re always excited when we start roasting this world-famous coffee, here in Maine, because there is something really special about the flavors in this coffee. From start to finish, it’s a delightful cup of coffee.
So why is it so special?
Let’s start with location. Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is grown in (you guessed it) Jamaica’s Blue Mountains. These mountains are some of the highest mountains in the Caribbean. Coffee likes to grow at higher altitudes, and the climate in the Blue Mountains are also ideal to create a coffee that is low in bitterness and high in flavor. Precipitation is heavy in this region, with fertile and well-drained soil. Only coffees grown in certain parishes of Jamaica, and at the highest elevations of the Blue Mountains can be labeled as “Jamaica Blue Mountain.” Combine near-perfect environmental factors with the relatively small acreage available, and you end up with a really tasty, but very rare coffee. Supply is low, but demand is high for what is often called the “world’s best coffee.”
Some history: Coffee was first brought to Jamaica in 1728, where conditions were found to be perfect for growing coffee. Since that time, coffee production has both expanded, and shrank, in the small island mountains. In the past hundred years or so, the coffee industry in Jamaica has been maintained by small holders, rather than the plantations of the late 1700s. The Clydesdale region, where our Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee comes from, is located right in the center of the Blue Mountain coffee area. One of the first companies to plant coffee for commercial use in Jamaica, the Clydesdale Estate grows coffee at an average altitude of 10,000 meters (around 6 miles, or 32,808 feet). While the Clydesdale factories are no longer in operation, the brand is still widely recognized as the premier producer of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.
We roast our Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee from Clydesdale Estate to order on a weekly basis- so what you receive is the absolute freshest coffee you could get. We also promise never to blend the Jamaica Blue with another coffee. It’s pure, Jamaica (and Carrabassett Coffee) goodness.