Why Is Jamaica Blue Mountain So Expensive?

Jamaica is a beautiful island of intense color with tropical beaches and plains set among the Blue Mountains. When people hear Blue Mountain, the first thing to come to his mind is Coffee, and to be more precise, expensive and high quality Coffee. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is a classification of coffee grown in that specific region of Jamaica. This coffee is best known for its lack of bitterness and mild flavor. For decades, this Arabica coffee, along with the famous Kona Coffee, has developed a global reputation as the world's best coffee, which has served to make it one of the most expensive and desirable coffees in the world. So what is it really that actually makes it so expensive? High Demand This coffee bean is so unique and tasty, that it has an incredibly large demand worldwide. This is mainly due to the high quality and unique taste of this Arabica coffee. Grown in unique conditions, blue mountain coffee has a slower maturation process, and tastes different than any other coffee in the world. About 80% of all of Jamaica's coffee is exported to Japan, but the rest of the world wants a taste as well. As a result prices rise until the less dedicated blue mountain fans give up, and the highest bidder walks away with the prize. Limited Supply Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is grown in a very specific location of the Blue Mountain. It also needs to be cultivated between 2000 and 5000 ft. The environment conditions and space, which this coffee bean needs, are very limited. Because of these cool conditions, it takes about 10 months from bloom to harvest, which is about twice as long as other coffee producing countries. The designation for Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee can be applied only to a small area. This is why not all coffee grown in Jamaica is classified as Blue Mountain Coffee. The supply is so low, that they only produce between 4 and 5 million pounds (Panama produces about 13 million pounds and Dominican Republic over 118 million pounds). Labor intensive Since the coffee is not grown on flat land (or rolling hills), they use coffee pickers that climb up and down the difficult terrain in order to collect the cherries off the trees. This is not only tedious, but can also present a job hazard to coffee pickers. Sometimes they have to climb the same tree several times, since not all the cherries ripen at the same time. This labor intensive job increase the cost and forces the price to go up to ensure that coffee pickers are fairly compensated for their hard work. Conclusion After tasting this amazing coffee, we can all agree it is absolutely worth paying the premium price for a cup of real 100% Blue mountain coffee. To get your own, you'll have to get a hold of a specialty roaster, or order it directly from the island. There is no doubt that it's is one of the best Coffees in the world, and it's definitely worth checking out.