Blue Mountain Coffee a J’can brand
Staying the course of quality over quantity
JAMAICA’S COFFEE industry began in 1728 when then Governor Sir Nicolas Lawes and an unnamed gentleman simultaneously, but unknown to each other, brought coffee plants from Martinique into the island. While Governor Lawes planted his plants at Temple Hall in St Andrew, his unknown partner planted his at Vere in Clarendon. This is proof that coffee cultivation in both the Jamaica Blue Mountain Zone and the Jamaica High Mountain Zone had their beginnings at the same time.
The nation’s coffee industry prospered substantially over the next century, with coffee exports peaking at 15.5 million kilograms of green coffee beans. The following century, however, witnessed a steady decline in production and exports, starting Jamaica down a pathway towards the collapse of the coffee industry.
Some of the factors that contributed to the industry’s decline are still evident today. These include the effects of hurricanes, poor land husbandry, poor processing, and inadequate internal transportation. This period of decline also saw the rise in coffee cultivation in Latin America.
The Jamaican coffee industry came to a turning point when Canada rejected the country’s coffee in 1943. This resulted in the Government intervening through the request for a study of the coffee industry. This study was carried out by the then inspector-general for agriculture in the West Indies, A.J. Wakefield. His recommendations led to the establishment of a regulatory framework that was aimed at putting some structure to the industry.
That regulatory framework saw the formation of the Coffee Industry Board by law in 1943. The law provided the board with wide powers for the promotion, regulation and development of the industry. This approach has led to the implementation of quality strategies that have seen the development and recognition of the Jamaica Blue Mountain brand.
The Jamaica Blue Mountain brand has been carefully developed around the formula of the natural conditions of that geographic area. This area, which is properly demarked, is a very small producing area comparatively as opposed to other countries’. The high altitudes, along with the low temperatures, cause the crop to take a longer time to come to maturity, thereby enhancing the flavour and aroma. This unique climate and the strong volcanic soil have influenced this special taste. This small producing area means that genuine Blue Mountain Coffee is scarce.
PROCESSING
When the coffee fruits are ready for harvesting, they are carefully hand-selected to ensure that only the ripe coffee fruits are removed from the plants. Once these fruits are harvested, they are placed in clean containers in order to prevent contamination. The harvested fruits are taken to the wet mill for processing within 24 hours of harvesting.
Once the fruits are processed, dried and rested, they go through the post-processing activities. The beans are graded by size and checked for defects. This first step of quality control is carried out at the stage of preparation for export. As with the growing and picking activities, the processing and sorting of Blue Mountain Coffee beans require a lot of hands-on care.
The role of the regulatory body has been to provide support to all industry stakeholders, including the growers and processors. The support has extended to the establishment of clear rules for the growing, harvesting, processing and roasting of the country’s coffee. In addition, the regulations have allowed for the regulatory body to be the sole exporter of Jamaican coffee. This means that coffee has to be tested and evaluated before it is exported.
This evaluation is a formal and rigorous affair in which a sample of the coffee for export is taken and characterised for its colour, defects, moisture content and cup characteristics, which are ‘blindtested’ in order to avoid partiality.
Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee has etched for itself a place in the global gourmet coffee market. This has not happened by chance, but through careful and purposeful strategies aimed at complementing natural and agronomic factors in order to provide a quality product that has now become the taste of choice for many coffee consumers.