January 24, 2025
Although coffee is grown in several regions of Jamaica, it is the coffee from the Blue Mountain region of the country that has given Jamaica notoriety in the coffee industry far beyond what their small-scale production would normally dictate. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is grown in a 6,000-hectare area in the east of the country on the slopes of the Blue Mountains at an elevation of over 3,000 feet. The Blue Mountains are the highest mountains in the Caribbean and reach up to 7,402 feet, however, coffee cultivation typically maxes out at around 5,000 feet. Cultivation in the Blue Mountains dictates many aspects of the coffee produced there with the cool, misty climate and rich volcanic soil providing ideal conditions for coffee production. The steep slope of the mountains also restricts mechanization which means that all coffee production and harvesting in the Blue Mountains must be done by hand. All these factors lend themselves to the world-renowned name of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.
Coffee has a long history in Jamaica that began in 1728 when the Governor of Martinique gifted one coffee plant to the Governor of Jamaica. From that single plant, a new industry was born. It may seem unthinkable now, with origins like Brazil producing more than 3.5 million tons of coffee per year, but from 1800 to 1840, Jamaica was the largest coffee producing country in the world at around 70,000 tons produced per year. This prominence was short lived when many coffee plantations closed once slavery was abolished in 1838 and land was instead used by freed slaves to produce food for themselves.
For many years after, the government of Jamaica struggled to restore order to the coffee industry. It wasn’t until the 1940’s when the Coffee Industry Regulatory Act was passed and the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica (CIBOJ) was formed to provide guidelines and regulations around coffee production in the country. The structure provided by the CIBOJ led to a revitalization of the coffee industry in Jamaica.
Today, buyers of coffee from Jamaica can be confident that all coffee from the country is carefully inspected to ensure that is it up to the quality standards set by the CIBOJ. The Jamaica Blue Mountain designation in particular is strictly enforced to ensure that the trademark is used only by coffee that fulfills all of the requirements necessary to maintain the premium status of the coffee from this region. Adhering to these strict standards is important as Jamaica Blue Mountain is one of the most expensive coffees in the world.
At Westrock Coffee, our in-house coffee experts find that coffee from Jamaica often has nutty, chocolatey notes, and is very low in bitterness. Paired with a slice of rum cake, a cup of Jamaican coffee is a great way to experience the flavors imbued on the slopes of Jamaica’s Blue Mountains.
