Coffee from Jamaica |
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Coffee from Jamaica |
| Jamaica |
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Sir Nicholas Lawes is credited with
bringing coffee plants from Martinique to the British colony of
Jamaica in 1728. He certainly had the right idea, but would never
have dreamed that nearly three centuries latter, people would be
requesting loans from their bank managers in order to savor a few
cups of Jamaica Blue Mountain, the most famous coffee nectar on
earth. However, many people do not realize that Jamaica grows other
coffee as well, mostly on its western lowland slope. The
coffee-growing altitude range for the entire island is between 600
and 2,000 meters. In fact, out of the tens of thousands of small farms on Jamaica, only 25% produce coffee in the Blue Mountain region. Compare this figure with that of Jamaica's total share of world production, which is 0.05 of 1%, or approximately 54,000 bags, and a quick calculation could put the number of bags of Jamaica Blue Mountain available for one year at about 13,500. Now, given that Japan buys most of the Blue Mountain crop, it's not difficult to understand why Jamaica Blue Mountain is the world's most expensive coffee, nor should anyone be surprised to learn that each year more JBM is traded than is grown. In short, beware of imitations. It is also worth bearing in mind that coffee from other countries can be marketed as "Blue Mountain" without saying "from Jamaica". Always read the fine print. The question is whether Jamaica Blue Mountain is the world's best coffee. Many experts love the fact that from a good crop year, a cup of JBM is a perfect balance of exquisite fragrance (which acidic coffees tend to produce); a slightly nutty, mellow and deliciously clean flavor with just the right amount of acidity and sweetness; and a medium body with a winey-sort of rounding off. However, it must be remembered that JBM is only a coffee, albeit an extremely well-graded coffee; it still depends on Mother Nature, Coffees from Cuba and Hawaii, which have similar climate and soil conditions, and of course the other Jamaican coffees, such as High Mountain Supreme and Prime Jamaica Washed, which are almost as defect-free as Blue Mountain, can be more affordable substitutes. A certain amount of Jamaican coffee goes into the production of coffee-based liqueurs, some of which, perhaps the lesser known, are simply fabulous. |
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