Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue Mountain coffee is one of the most tightly defined origins in the world: only beans grown between roughly nine hundred and seventeen hundred metres in a designated area of four eastern parishes may carry the name, certified by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority. The altitude, the cool mist and the slow ripening produce a cup that is famously mild and low in acid, and the price has been extraordinary for decades. Something in the order of four-fifths of it goes to Japan, where the trade was built, and it ships in wooden barrels rather than jute sacks, a survival of an older packing tradition. Estates around Mavis Bank and Irish Town run tours.

What you actually see

• The certified zone - the defined altitude band and parishes.
• Wooden barrels - the traditional shipping packaging, still used.
• Estate tours - picking, pulping, drying and roasting at Mavis Bank and Irish Town.
• The mountain roads - the drive up through the growing country.

When to go

The harvest runs from around September into February and is the interesting time to visit an estate. December to April is drier for the mountain roads. Tours run year-round but nothing is being processed outside the season.

Honest expectations

Counterfeiting is widespread: a great deal of coffee sold as Blue Mountain, in Jamaica and abroad, is a blend containing very little of it or none at all. Look for the certification mark and buy from estates or established roasters. Genuine beans are extremely expensive. Many drinkers find the cup mild to the point of unremarkable at the price, and blind tastings do not always flatter it.

Nearby

Hollywell and the Blue Mountain Peak trail are in the same hills; Kingston is an hour below.