A coffee with blue-green drupes, unique for its flavour and the balance of its fragrances, is cultivated on the mountains of Jamaica, in volcanic soils located at high elevations. It is called Jamaica Blue Mountain and grows in small plantations, making it one of the rarest, most exclusive and sought after coffee varieties in the world, especially by Japan.
In Passalacqua’s Harem blend you will find two highly prized coffees: the Jamaica Blue Mountain with liqueur notes and a hint of vanilla and nuts, and the Portorico San Pedro, characterised by extraordinary fruity taste making it unique.
The Jamaica Blue Mountain comes in Passalacqua’s roasting plant preserved in traditional wooden barrels, just like the prized Caribbean rum. Before leaving, however, every barrel of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee must pass the quality checks of the Coffee Industry Board, during which the green coffee undergoes rigorous checks.
Only roasters who make coffee of the highest quality like Passalacqua choose Jamaica Blue Mountain for their blends, using the only import method able to perfectly preserve the flavour and fragrance of an extraordinarily valuable and exclusive product.
When we taste Jamaica Blue Mountain we find traces reminiscent of rum: this outstanding coffee has hints of liquor but also a hint of vanilla, almonds, pistachios and a fragrance reminiscent of chocolate. The colour of its drupe is unique, as is its flavour, which can perfectly absorb the scents and the thousand nuances of a colourful and lively country.
But not all Caribbean coffee can be Jamaica Blue Mountain: only plants that grow at altitudes above 1,800 meters in the districts of Portland, St. Andrew, St. Mary and St. Thomas, in an area of only 6,000 acres, can yield the real Jamaica Blue Mountain. This is a gourmet coffee grown with traditional care and attention in small farms that never exceed 70 acres.
This flavoursome variety of coffee comes from an extraordinary series of events. In 1723, Louis XV sent three coffee trees to Martinique, a French colony at the time. Five years later, the Governor of Martinique gave a plant to Sir Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica, which started the Jamaican coffee industry.
In 1737, Jamaica Blue Mountain was imported into Europe for the first time. It has been the most valued and sought after variety by the Western world since then, especially by Japan.