Better than Jamaican Blue Mountain?

[Carmine Domenaco]

Re: Mabey I''m just a Jerk...lol

I couldn't agree more with all the wierd names, but I think this is just another marketing technique designed to appeal to "coffee snobbery" and persuade people to buy the product. In facvt reading some articles, you would think that some roasters get their bags of coffee from a certain spot in a 50 sq mile plantation...this spot is shaded differently, watered by a sylvian mountain spring, has extra special soil and no insects. The plants fed on liquid ambrosia of the gods! I suppose we have cup of excellence to thank for this :-D

To talk of coffee generically is the right way e.g. Yirg or Guatemala, Costa Rica etc.., to specifically mention a posh sounding estate, is usually marketing, unless it's to identify a particular batch in a particular year from a particular suppliers....as we all know the quality of any coffee changes from crop to crop.

50 SQ mile plantation? Ummm, most of the coffees I see with very specific geographical information are coming from 1-4 acre farms and in a growing number of cases you can get GPS data and literally plug the coordinates into google earth and get a sat view of the place you were standing last week. It does require a little effort on the part of the roaster to actually travel to the farm and get their shoes muddy, but if buying off a spot sheet is just as good, why bother?

Yirgacheffe is fairly specific regional descriptor, so by your logic why not just call it "African" or "Arabica". There are quite literally thousands of small producer groups in Yirgacheffe, many of which are nothing more than four families at a crossroad. If a roaster buys all 15 bags of that group's coffee why is it "snobbery" to list the coffee as "Hama producer group?"

I've managed to cup well over two hundred lots from Yirgacheffe this year and can say without reservation that it is laughable to think that it a generic term is the best way to discuss this region's coffee. As for "plush estates" there aren't really any in Yirgacheffe, try round mud huts and 1-3 acre parcels.

But hey, if you would rather stick with the way it has been done for years and watch other roasters effectively market their coffees that is your perrogative. I'm just an importer and from where I sit it is far simpler to get a generic blender from any origin, but where is the fun in that?

 

[Davec]

Re: Mabey I''m just a Jerk...lol

50 SQ mile plantation? Ummm, most of the coffees I see with very specific geographical information are coming from 1-4 acre farms

But hey, if you would rather stick with the way it has been done for years and watch other roasters effectively market their coffees that is your perrogative. I'm just an importer and from where I sit it is far simpler to get a generic blender from any origin, but where is the fun in that?

I meant Hectare not mile, but that doesnt matter.

I am not involved in coffee for a profit (everything I do is to help the consumer), so if other roasters want to effectively market their coffees, then great. I do think that there is sometimes too much hype and that certainly in the UK, the consumer doesn't always get the best deal (from all types of outlet).

 

[moco]

How can someone be sure if the Blue Mountain is 100% BM? I live in Grand Cayman and here it is available at every supermarket, groceries store or souvenirs store for tourists. Would you buy it?
Also, anyone tried Cubita from Cuba? I would love to hear your opinion.
Thank you

 

[realjamrock]

This reply maybe two years late but I will reply anyways. Many of you are correct that alot of persons are passing of other coffee as blue mountain coffee or mixing it. But I can assure you that major Brands such as Jablum, Country Traders and Wallen ford are authentic and pure. depending on the shipping you should be able to get coffee for less than $35 a 16oz burlack.

I personally purchase my coffee from http://www.iriedutchpot.com and I get it fresh and authentic.

 

[hardwire]

This thread is almost 10 years old wow! Been a long time reader here, usually don't post much. But I saw old post and wanted to say that my trusty source for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and Kona coffee is still sending me great coffee. It's fresh and I brew it a few ways:

1. Aeropress, my favorite because I grind it by hand and get close to the coffee, gets me very close and connected.
2. Mokapot, this is my goto morning brew. Lots of confusion on how Mokapots brew online, but once you know, you just know. Grind: Please do have the proper fine grind adjustment, not just any fine grind. The coffee should be full in the brew basket, but not tight or packed. This is not espresso. It's Moka caffe. I pour it in, let it mound up just over the top and slice it off with the end of the spoon, back into the jar for more coffee later. The water, purified, and just at or just below the blow off valve (pressure relief valve). Heat, low. I put it on very low. Think: Slow & Low. These should help for anyone having difficulty with thier good Mokapot experience. But the first is the grind. If you aren't getting results, I would suggest purchasing a can of already ground Italian Coffee that is ground specifically for Mokapot. Practice your brew with that. Once you get it down, then introduce your own ground coffee and adjust for the desired results.
3. Superauto. It's so easy, press the button. I keep it filled with Jamaican Blue Mountain and the shots are wonderful. It sure beats the "great" coffee shops I've been to downtown. My gain, thier loss.

So I was curious and looked at the old links for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. Looks like they all went belly-up and have thier domains for sale except for FastCafe.com

blumcafe.com posted by: tsmalls0 has "Domain for Sale"
iriedutchpot.com posted by: realjamrock has "Domain for Sale"

But:

FastCafe posted by me has COFFEE FOR SALE! Looks like they are still going strong.

Please support this if you need some good Jamaican or Kona coffee, been a long time customer of them and never been dissapointed.

P.S. Hope anyone looking for MokaPot help finds my post useful, I should make a video.