Did the hurricanes destroy Jamaican Blue Mountain Crop?

Joined Aug 2004
760 Posts | 0+
Florida West Coast
OK, now you've done it!

I bought the Press Pot.

I bought the burr grinder.

I bought a small amount of Jamaican Blue Mountain what's-its-name Estate coffee. (I told the clerk I couldn't believe I was buying $40 a pound coffee.)

I had it for breakfast this morning.

Great stuff!!! :hypercolor:

Now.................

Have the hurricanes destroyed the Blue Mountain crops?

Have the hurricanes destroyed the trees?

I understand that it takes YEARS for new trees to mature. Now that I've had "great coffee" am I going to be cut off? What does the future hold?

I may get grumpy over this!

:soap:
 
A Pot to Press In

While shopping for press pots, I found something interesting.

I was looking at "3 cup size" pots. The instructions on one said to grind the coffee fine. The instructions on the other said to grind the coffee coarse.

What gives?

:grumble:
 
For a Freedom Press, formerly known as a French Press, the proper grind is coarse. Do not let anyone tell you any differently. If you grind fine with a Freedom Press, you will live to regret it, and at $40 a pound, you cannot afford to have those regrets.

As for the recent hurricanes, I have not heard of any damage to the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee crops, but I will keep my ear to the ground. When I first started on gourmet coffee about this time in 1991, it didn't take me long to discover Jamaican Blue Mountain on the commercial market, having tried and loved it at a friend's apartment a few years before. At the time I first started purchasing it, I believe the cost was in the 20's per pound, and shortly after it went up to a standard $25 a pound, where it stayed for a few years.

Around 1996 I believe, the cost began to rise and then exploded to what became to this day a standard $40 a pound. Since that time I have repeatedly heard that 1988's Hurricane Gilbert, a Category 5 storm if I remember correctly, was to blame. The quality of Jamaican Blue Mountain from the late 90's up until recently has been anywhere from mediocre to bad, but the Kaldi's Jamaican Blue Mountain that I reviewed for this web site was wonderful.

While I will keep my ear to the ground for news on any damage that may have been done by the recent storms, I also suggest you try google searches for news on this coffee as well. I will also warn you that it is easy for marketers to blame certain price increases on natural disasters like hurricanes, so as always, let the buyer beware. I'm glad you liked your first try at Jamaican Blue Mountain. When it's good, it's GRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!!!!!

:D
 
When I prepared the Blue Mountain I did go with the coarse grind.

Logic dictated that if espresso is ground very fine because it is in contact with the water very briefly, then I needed a coarse grind for coffee that would be in contact with the water for 4 to 5 minutes.

It's amazing what you can learn from books!

Thanks for the response.
 
Not just for the amount of time in contact with the water, but think of the configuration of a Freedom Press. You'd have a mouth full of powder if you ground it fine!!! Believe me, I know, because I did it way back when. I didn't know what the grind was for a Freedom Press, so I figured, grind it to dust, it'll be REAL STRONG that way!!!

:lol: :eek:mg:

Yup, they don't call me The Great Dumboni fer nuthin' pardner!!!

I have a tendency to take long shots in life, like getting involved with certain things without having read up fully, or like not being fully prepared in certain important ways. Remind me to tell you the story of the home I might lose within the next month or so. Okay, okay, it's a story I don't want to ever tell, but it may happen. I have a few doors open to saving this situation from happening, and I have no regrets about the past five years, but I did take a long shot.

The only time I have regrets is when it affects others adversely, like my first corn snake, which I rushed into getting while being pretty ignorant of certain amenities, . . .

LIKE LIGHTS!!!!! :duh: :cry: :cry: :cry:

By the way, try no less than six or seven minutes for that Freedom Press. And if you're interrupted by an important call some day and don't get to it until it's been in there for 22 minutes, don't worry, it's just fine. As long as you don't grind it fine. :wink:
 
Glad you're enjoying it. I'd keep the JBM and Kona (not Kona blend) for special occasions. The world is full of equally good coffees, just most cost about a quarter of either.

Take some time to get to know the coffees of Ethiopia. They can be great. Also, some of the coffees coming out of Costa Rica are also very much underrated.
 
After Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona, Costa Rica's La Minita Tarrazu has been in my No. 3 spot for quite a while. If anyone ever asks me what the world's best coffee is, at least of the 40 or so that I've tried, La Minita gets my vote. As for Ethiopians, Yrgacheffe has long been a favorite of mine, and regular Ethiopian and Ethiopian Longberry Harrar are also right up near the top. African coffees are wonderful, and you can throw Kenya AA right up there along with the Ethiopians.
 
My friend taht has land in the JBM's that is used to grow these wonderful beans has said his friends there have suffered damage to their homes.
I have not had a chance to speak with him about the coffee beans.
He is raising money to help rebuild their home.
If I hear more I will post the info hear!
CC