Blue Mountain CoffeeField Guide
Stylized contour map of a Blue Mountain ridgeStylized contour lines every 500 feet. The 3,000 to 5,500 foot range usually quoted for Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is shaded.3,000 ft5,500 ftBlue Mountain Peak · 7,402 ft
A field guide to

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Where it grows, how it is graded and certified, who grows it, and how to tell the real thing. Plain answers, with sources on every page.

Start with the overview Where it grows

Shaded: 3,000–5,500 ft, the elevation range usually quoted for Blue Mountain coffee. Stylized contours every 500 ft.

In this guide

Read the plates in order, or go straight to the one you need. Each page lists its sources.

  1. Start hereA plain-English reference to Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee: its legal definition, growing area, grades, certification, estates, history, processing, pricing and how to buy authentically.
  2. Origin and terrainA guide to Jamaica's Blue Mountains: the legal coffee boundary, elevation classes, terrain, climate, soils and the national park that protects the upper slopes.
  3. Farm to exportThe washed process behind Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, step by step: picking, pulping, drying, resting, hulling, grading, inspection, barrels and export.
  4. Quality and sortingGrade names, screen sizes and defect limits for Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, how lots are inspected and cupped before export, and what grade details appear on bags.
  5. Marks and labelsHow JACRA protects the Jamaica Blue Mountain name, what the law allows on a label, the rules for blends, and a practical checklist for reading a bag.
  6. Estates directorySourced profiles of Blue Mountain coffee estates and coffee works, how they relate to small farmers, and a summary table of locations and notes.
  7. History and timelineA sourced history of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, from its 1728 introduction through the plantation era, decline, regulation, the Japanese market and JACRA.
  8. Terms definedShort, sourced definitions of the regulatory, grading, processing and tasting terms buyers meet when reading about Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.

Beyond the plates: places in coffee country · estates and coffee works · visiting the Blue Mountains · nature of the mountains

The Mamre Blue range

This guide is published by Mamre Blue, a JACRA-licensed dealer. These are its coffees, each sold at mamrebluecoffee.com.

All 12 coffees and accessories

Field notes

Shorter pieces on taste, caffeine, acidity, value and buying. All field notes