Description
Our first new crop JBM! Summer/Fall will bring the single estates like Flamstead and Clydesdale, but our buddies Edgar Munn and Arthur McGowan teamed up to create this Gr. 1 small holder lot that brings the terroir of JBM coffee to the table, as well as a decently better price tag to go with it.
From his tranquil farm more than 4000 feet above sea level deep in the Jamaica Blue Mountains (considered his office) Arthur ensures that the best quality coffee is brought to harvest. Each batch of coffee reaped from the farm is pulped, hand-washed, and then placed on a barbecue screen to air dry. Determination, ingenuity, and hard work are the epitome of Arthur’s character. He possesses more than 15 years of experience growing and manufacturing coffee in his playground, the Jamaica Blue Mountains.
Arthur owns a small farm himself, Constitution Hill, but his main claim to fame is the Trumpet Tree Coffee Factory, of which produced this offering. Trumpet Tree has buying stations set up in the areas of West Phalia, Penlyne Castle, Clydesdale, and Cinchona. Coffees are purchased here from smallholder farmers and brought to the company’s facility on Constitution Hill for processing. The coffees are depulped, demucilaged, and dried mechanically. They are rested for approximately eight weeks before being hulled, and are hand-sorted by a staff of 40 employees.
All Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee must be certified by the coffee industry board of Jamaica. The regulations are very strict and much of the coffee is rejected.
Have questions? We have answers! Check out our Jamaican Blue Mountain blog here:
Q&A On The World’s Best Coffee: Jamaican Blue Mountain
Tasting Notes:
Best at a medium to dark roast, a wonderfully complex cup of coffee with lower acidity and soft edges: chocolate/nutty/caramel darker tones. Lighter side of medium roasts accentuate the nutty, floral, sweeter tones and show a hint of lemony brightness, but too light can come off a bit woody tasting. Medium you start getting more nutty/caramel like tones with hint of cocoa. Darker gets pretty chocolaty but remain complex and a bit fuller bodied.
Roasting Notes:
I would avoid the light roast mark, although the acidity and nuttiness do balance, it can come off as slightly woody with more exotic tones developing when pushing it further. Going to a city plus to right before 2nd crack seems like the sweet spot – we slow down the roast a little to convert some of that lemony acidity and woody tones into a hint of caramel. A longer setup time really smooths out the cup.
John L (verified owner) –
As always, Burman’s roasting and tasting notes are spot on. I’m always a little leery of trying a coffee that is 3x more expensive than the other perfectly wonderful coffees available on this site, but this one is worth it. I took it to around City+, which is my normal roast level for most coffees. Certainly complexity is the first thing that is apparent. No taste dominates, and flavors actually kind of cascade as you drink it. First a slightly sweet taste hits, quickly followed by a nutty, bittersweet chocolate, followed by a faint caramel. But again, nothing strong or dominant. It’s just really smooth and enjoyable. Wonderful aftertaste lingers a while after you drink it. Not a bold, rich, or large-bodied coffee, but one that has you wondering how the cup got empty so quickly. At this price point, it’s never going to be a daily drinker, but for a splurge, this one is highly recommended. And if I’m not worth a splurge, who is?