Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is of the type Arabica which is grown all over the world. Nevertheless, in Jamaica, the climatic conditions and nitrogen rich soil takes this bean to its full potential producing a coffee coveted by connoisseurs around the world. Naturally a product bearing the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee brand would definitely be more expensive than your average run of the mill coffee sold at various retail stores. You will not find this product at your local A&P;, Wal-Mart, or Target stores. Your best bet for great deals on this product is online. I am typically not a big fan of online food purchase, but with the various deals you can find online, this is one item you cannot pass up.
In my search for Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee I actually learned a lot as you will quickly realize that there are many different products and merchants out there claiming to be selling the real deal.
FACT:
1. Jamaica Blue Mountain is intellectual property of the Jamaican Government not to be misrepresented in any way.
2. 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee implies 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, no blends, no substitutions.
3. Buying from a supplier who orders directly from Jamaica when you place your order ensures you that you are getting fresh product and not coffee that has been on the shelf for 6 months.
4. You have the right to request a certificate of authenticity/inspection from your supplier. Many sellers offer this paperwork while others may not.
5. All coffee leaving Jamaica must be inspected before shipment. This is the job of the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) – An arm of the Jamaican government whose job it is to regulate the coffee industry in Jamaica. Certificates of Authenticity are issued by the CIB.
A few things to note before you purchase your next package of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
Jamaica High Mountain Supreme, Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend, Blue Ridge Blend, and Jamaica Mountain Choice are not 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain. If it were they would call it Jamaica Blue Mountain. High mountain Supreme though grown at a lower altitude is still good coffee but not as good as Jamaica Blue Mountain which is grown at higher altitude. High Mountain Supreme is cheaper than Jamaica Blue Mountain.
1. Blue Mountain Blend is not Jamaica Blue Mountain. If the point of origin is Jamaica, then this is usually 70% High Mountain Supreme with 30% Jamaica Blue Mountain. This ratio is not necessarily the same if the coffee is roasted outside of Jamaica. Concentrations often times are different. Sometimes people will try to pass off blends with as little as 10% Jamaica Blue Mountain using the term Blue Mountain Coffee to lure would-be customers. It pays to read the fine print before you buy. A little research won’t hurt either.
2. The price is not always right. Use tools such as Google’s product search to compare prices.
3. Cheaper is not always better. Some merchants may offer you lower base price but then charge twice the actual shipping cost. This practice of hidden pricing is prevalent on many online auction and shopping websites, so beware.
4. Patience can pay deliciously. As stated above, the Jamaica CIB regulates the coffee industry on the Island. This regulatory body not only inspects the coffee leaving the country, it also regulates, the cultivating, harvesting and, oh yes, the roasting of said berries. To that end, the quality of coffee roasted outside of Jamaica may not be as consistent. In light of this, I think it is worth the wait to get the product directly from the source. I would go a step further and suggest that you buy roasted whole beans from your merchant and grind the coffee at home. You will find that your time and money will be best used if you click through a merchant’s site and get to the checkout page to see what the shipping charges are before you commit then use that information to compare total costs before you buy. Some merchants offer a shipping estimator for your convenience, usually on the add-to-cart page or in the shopping cart itself. Though most of these are listed as estimates, they often times are real shipping costs being supplied real time by the merchant’s shipping provider.
A good online source for your Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is BlumCafe.com – This is by far one of the best if not the best site out there for buying this coffee. These guys are so confident about their prices that they embed links to comparison shopping websites for most of the items they carry. This site is easy to navigate and best of all, the price is great and I don’t need to activate an account on their site to shop. Got Google Checkout or PayPal? Accepted! It’s that easy. What’s even more amazing is that there’s no club to join to get discounts, no minimum monthly purchase required. Just drop items in your cart and go. Discount is listed for each item so you know how much your discount will be before you add the items to your cart. At the moment BlumCafe seems to carry Wallenford Blue Mountain Coffee Products. It appears the Wallenford Brand of Blue Mountain Coffee is consistently higher priced than the other Blue Mountain Coffees such as Jablum (Mavis Bank Central Factory) and Country Traders. In response to a question I sent to BlumCafe customer service, they advised that they plan on offering other premium coffees in the future. Also it is important to note that Wallenford is actually the commercial arm or division of the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board.
There are other online merchants of this coffee, but of all the ones I surveyed BlumCafe, seems to have a more reasonable pricing structure. The service was great and I will purchase from them again.
