High in the mist-shrouded slopes and cool air of the Blue Mountains, cherry-red berries ripen amongst the greenery. These berries go on to become one of Jamaica’s best known and highest quality products: Blue Mountain coffee. 

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, with Americans drinking roughly 146 billion cups of coffee each year. Overall coffee consumption hovers around half a trillion cups per year. That’s a lot of coffee. In this very competitive market, Jamaica’s Blue Mountain coffee makes up just a small percentage but is considered some of the best, and most expensive, in the world. 

How has our coffee come to enjoy this kind of status? We’re taking a brief look at the history of coffee in Jamaica. 

Arabica typica, the type of coffee grown on the island, is thought to have originated in southwestern Ethiopia. Seeds from this plant made it to Yemen in the 15^th century, then to India, Indonesia, the Netherlands and France in the 1700s. From France, arabica typica reached the New World. 

In 1730, Sir Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica from 1717 to 1722, brought coffee to the island from the French colony of Martinique. 

Lawes cultivated coffee in lands he owned in St Andrew. Thanks to favourable natural conditions, the coffee produced was of very high quality, and production expanded. By 1800, there were as many as 686 coffee plantations in operation in Jamaica with 15,199 tonnes exported in 1814.

Coffee cultivation declined after the abolition of slavery, and over the years, coffee has moved from plantation-scale growing to mainly small farmers. 

In the 1940s, Jamaican coffee was a far cry from the premium product it is today. In 1943, Canadian importers wouldn’t buy the island’s coffee because of its low quality. 

This led to the formation of the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica to regulate the growing, processing, and sale of local coffee. The Coffee Industry Regulation Act put in place regulations which helped to make Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee the exception product it is today. 

Part of these regulations included strict stipulations on what could carry the name ‘Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee’. 

Only coffee grown in the Blue Mountains in a specified area within Portland, St Mary, St Thomas and St Andrew, between 3,000 and 5,500 feet, can be classified as Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee. 

The Blue Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has its own micro-climate with much cooler temperatures than the rest of the island and regular afternoon rainfall. These conditions are ideal for coffee production.  

What is grown below 3,000 feet is called Jamaica High Mountain Coffee.

These days, the duties of the Coffee Industry Board have been assumed by the Jamaica Agricultural Regulatory Authority (JACRA). To use the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee label, brands must receive a globally protected certification mark, awarded by the coffee division of JACRA.  

Brazil and Colombia may be the two biggest exporters of coffee in the world, but Jamaica is known for producing some of the finest. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is revered for its quality around the world and fetches high prices to match.  

In March 2018, the inaugural Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival was held on the grounds of the Jamaica Defence Force base in Newcastle to celebrate our exceptional coffee. 

Sources: Jamaica Agricultural Regulatory Authority, World Coffee Research, Visit Jamaica, Jamaica Gleaner, Home Grounds, Observatory of Economic Complexity, and Ministry of Justice.

jacra.org jamaica-gleaner.com visitjamaica.com homegrounds.co moj.gov.jm varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org oec.world