Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
Elite flavour and luxurious nature
It all began with one Arabica coffee plant that was given as a gift to the Governor of Jamaica, Sir Nicholas Lawes by the Governor of Martinique in 1728. Nine years later, Jamaica began exporting coffee.
Today, the Jamaican coffee industry is an important sector that involves over 5,000 farmers and provides economic benefits for over 100,000 of the island’s households.
But the unique taste that has made Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee so special does not come from natural sources alone.
Beginning in the 1890’s a great effort was made by the government and those involved in the business to improve and maintain the quality of the coffee. Farmers were instructed on the best ways to cultivate coffee and later in the 1950’s the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board was established to further improve and protect quality. Today, that organization together with other entities have evolved into JACRA (Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority).
The government has moved to get geographical indication (GI) from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the Blue Mountain coffee brand to prevent counterfeiting activities that would try to pass off other coffees as Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. GI would indicate what areas and elevations within the Blue Mountains of Jamaica qualify Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee as genuine.
There are two ways you can discover Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee when you visit Jamaica and that’s to taste it or, better yet, go to the source and learn about it.
There are a number of tours that will take you to coffee plantations in the Blue Mountains where you will learn more about the history, the growing and the processing of coffee. The tours are very scenic in Jamaica’s highest mountain range and you’ll get to do tasting as well.
There’s also the annual Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival which features the coffee and coffee-related products. The event stages tastings, demonstrations, food stalls and workshops.
Our concierge staff will be happy to assist you in selecting a tour or advising you on where you can purchase our very special coffee.
