# Caught out with Jamaican Blue Mountain beans



## Zenistar (Aug 31, 2014)

So I'm in one of the local coffee roasters in Zurich today and am talking about different beans that they have in, based on taste profile discussed I decide on some Ethopian Yirgacheffe and some Jamaican Blue Mountain beans, 250g of each - no huge quantities.

I went on to pickup a couple of other items and then got the bill and my jaw hit the floor. It seems that the Jamaican beans are grade 1 and retail at CHF 166 a kilo or £110 - I certainly hope they are good!


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

For that money, you'd better PRAY that they cause angels to pirouette on your palette with even a slight whisper of a sniff.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Zenistar said:


> I went on to pickup a couple of other items and then got the bill and my jaw hit the floor. It seems that the Jamaican beans are grade 1 and retail at CHF 166 a kilo or £110 - I certainly hope they are good!


To be honest that's such a mark up on cost price of the green, they are taking the piss big time. Unfortunately the JBM is rarely worth the expense and you can get good coffees that are JBM varietals grown elsewhere. I hope you enjoy them, I used to drink it a lot, until I finally convinced myself it wasn't worth the money and there are better coffees for a lot less money.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

I hope it's fresh roasted too and not ancient / burnt!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

What was the taste profile you discussed with them , that concluded you needed beans at that cost ...

I'm almost certain any of us could recommend you some thing similar for considerably less £SSS.

If they didn't tell you the cost before they bagged em or suggested JBM then I would suggest they haven't don't you any favours


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## Zenistar (Aug 31, 2014)

It is typical Swiss service as they know that people that shop for fresh beans like that (think any 'gourmet product) in this city will not normally blink at the cost. Prices in general are high in Switzerland, for regular fresh roast single origin beans I would be looking to pay in the region of CHF 10 to 15 or £7 to £10 for 250g. There is a guy selling British cheese in the market opposite my office who quite regularly has people dropping CHF 200 / £130 on cheese for an evening dinner party.

The flavour profile I was after was sweet and creamy with low acidity, not overly fruity and the beans were roasted over the weekend.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

JBM is still the best coffee I've had to date but it was a small bag a loooong time ago. I'm sure you will enjoy it but at that price you might chalk it up to experience and swerve it next time!

I can fully vouch for how expensive Switzerland is for pretty much everything. Even £25 sunglasses sell for £45 over there, as I discovered on a recent trip to visit friends in Bern. If your regular beans work out at 7GBP for 250g that's probably a bargain given the overall tendency for prices CH vs UK. I can't imagine anyone dropping £100+ on cheese in this country, but having also spent time in Zürich I can well believe it over there! Viel Glück mit den Blaubergbohnen!


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Read somewhere that quality control for JBM isn't great with a lot of beans being passed off as JBM which aren't.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Read somewhere that quality control for JBM isn't great with a lot of beans being passed off as JBM which aren't.


Yes it is a bit like Kona, with more being sold than actually grown. Then you got the different grades in Jamaica and the farms Wallenford, mavis Bank and the other one I can't remember at the moment. You are also not paying for quality, but rarity. It's like the Cape Verde Coffee, ridiculous prices, because there is not much available. You also get the weasle marketing of Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend, Jamaica Blue etc..


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Dave, have you ever tried coffee beans from St Helena?


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Dave, have you ever tried coffee beans from St Helena?


 Ah, that's an interesting question and I'll be interested in Dave's answer. Only the other day, I was reading about St Helena's role in the history of coffee in Antony Wild's book.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Ditto what's interesting is St Helena is climatically unsuited to coffee cultivation according to Wild.


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Yes - it seems like a good case of the triumph of hope over expectation. You've piqued my curiosity - just had a browse on

http://www.st-helena-coffee.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=168&lang=en

They rely on Wild for their history section. Also see that Sea Island Coffee are selling the coffee - £21 for 125g. It has travelled a long way.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Dave, have you ever tried coffee beans from St Helena?


Yes, I've been there twice and you can buy the coffee from the locals as roasted beans (or green) and also in a Coffee Shop there....nothing remarkable I'm afraid, as someone else said, it's not really an ideal place to grow coffee. there is a small Microclimate region there, but really it's not ideal.


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## Zenistar (Aug 31, 2014)

Well the JBM beans are nice, great flavour and very smooth in both milk and as espresso, but I'm not going to be paying that money for them again.


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## Nick H. (Sep 21, 2014)

That price of £110 per kilo for JBM...could be worse, Caffe Molinari's UK price is £132 per kilo, Whiittards is £160. Is there a forum-approved supplier of JBM beans in the UK? I've only had it once, but it was unforgettable. Would love to make it at home.

Or could somebody suggest a less hyped bean which tastes similar but costs a more 'normal' amount?


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Problem with JBM is provenance. Because of its premium price, coffee is passed off as JMB which is fake. You can get Kenyan Blue Mountain - obviously not the same but shares some of JBM's characteristics.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

I would hazard a guess that the JBM sold by Richard at Coffee Compass is the real thing and "only" £98 a kg.


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

Charliej said:


> I would hazard a guess that the JBM sold by Richard at Coffee Compass is the real thing and "only" £98 a kg.


Absolutely for sure what Richard states in his adverts is what it is.

You won't want to waste much dialling-in then.


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## Nick H. (Sep 21, 2014)

How many cups are there in 250g? It's going to work out much cheaper than the cheapest high street cup. Except the free ones at Waitrose.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

Nick H. said:


> How many cups are there in 250g? It's going to work out much cheaper than the cheapest high street cup. Except the free ones at Waitrose.


Divide 250g by the amount you typically dose so if you dose 20g thats 12 doubles with 10g over and if you dose 15g that's 16 doubles with 10g over etc. not including any wastage in these figures though just examples so you can work out your own figures.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

£1.56 a cup!


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

urbanbumpkin said:


> £1.56 a cup!


Put like that, it's not too bad.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Put like that, it's not too bad.


That's if you get it dialled in correctly 1st time


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## Xpenno (Nov 12, 2012)

Does anyone actually rate this stuff?

Taken from wikipedia

"The best lots of Blue Mountain coffee are noted for their mild flavour and lack of bitterness"

That's the best they can say about it...... I think I'd want something more exciting for my monies....


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

I personally prefer the Australian Skybury to either JBM or Kona in that type of coffees, the Skybury just has a lot more about it, and also seems to work both lightly and on the darker side of medium too.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

As far as I understood it JBM has just managed to market itself very successfully as the most premium bean, and whilst nice, is certainly not in a league of its own.


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## tonerei (Aug 3, 2017)

https://www.jamaicacoffeetrading.co.uk/1kg-jamaica-blue-mountainr-green-coffee-beans.html

Friend got some of this in Sorrento from an italian coffee shop. Bowled over. I have read some of the threads and posts and most seem to feel it is very overrated. Wanted to try some green beans of this type to get it out of the system. Has anybody used the place above? Would hope if I dig deep to buy this stuff that I at least manage to get non fake beans.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Xpenno said:


> Does anyone actually rate this stuff?
> 
> Taken from wikipedia
> 
> ...


I do but there is a need to bear something in mind. I don't think it relates to Italian style coffee at all. The fresh roasted I tried needed a fairly fine grind and didn't produce what many might expect. They might say weak but find it has a very noticeable and distinct coffee after taste.

Some one also bought me some beans from Betty's - sort of supermarket. Much stronger and a different taste but the taste from the beans dropped off surprisingly quickly which makes me wonder what they do to the beans.

I bought the fresh roasted too soon really and now know that I can very probably get more taste out of the bean so am likely to buy some more. I don't think a super small pack will be enough to sort the bean out though. I'd guess that coffee direct might be a good source for the beans. The reviews on there might be of interest. There is one on another bean that it seems is similar to blue mountain blended with a stronger bean.

I suspect people need to bear in mind that the famous fictional character came from a different era and probably wouldn't touch what many people drink now as it might wreck his taste buds even if followed by some really strong cheese. Bit like how coffee beans are actually tasted by pro tasters probably for the very same reason.

John

-


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

For info:

http://bounbeans.com/

I have no idea what the JBM is like, but the green Konga is good quality.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Batian said:


> For info:
> 
> http://bounbeans.com/
> 
> I have no idea what the JBM is like, but the green Konga is good quality.


Green Konga is a new one on me









Seriously though, that's a heavy markup on an already expensive coffee. I don't even think it's Kona Extra Fancy or they would have said so and even if it was Kona Extra Fancy (best grade you can get and more expensive), it would still be a 300%+ or more mark up. Personally I think that's too much on such an expensive coffee. certainly I would never pay such prices even for the green coffee at wholesale.

Although if the forum want to try Kona Extra Fancy it at a more reasonable price you could always club together any by a 45kg bag wholesale for £2700 + shipping and then pay someone to roast it bag it and post it out...remembering you have 15% losses in weight, so you you get about 850g per person between 45 of you. You would all have to agree on a medium roast level, because it must not be roasted too dark or too hot...so you might all want to agree on the roasters suggested profile as well.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Batian said:


> For info:
> 
> http://bounbeans.com/
> 
> I have no idea what the JBM is like, but the green Konga is good quality.


Sponsored by Britains; Next Top Model ..

That's all i need know .

Those models know their coffee


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

DavecUK said:


> Green Konga is a new one on me


It's green Konga---

Because as the link was there I didn't see the need to say that it is a---- Gr1  Ethiopian washed Yirga Cheffe from the Gedeo zone and a whole lot more!

It is also available from the same seller on eBay.

I see Falcon Coffee are/were selling it wholesale.

Best.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

The offer: 'culturally infused coffee roasting' whatever that is.


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## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

The Systemic Kid said:


> The offer: 'culturally infused coffee roasting' whatever that is.


Before I parted with cash for the green Konga, I did some www. research on the seller and found the following YouTube video.

It may offer some explanation?


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

The Systemic Kid said:


> The offer: 'culturally infused coffee roasting' whatever that is.


The washing process involves the whole village pee'ing on it....


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

His mission is, 'to bless Britain with great tasting coffee'. Funny, no-one else has thought of that.


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## Nutisbak2 (Dec 27, 2016)

Zenistar said:


> So I'm in one of the local coffee roasters in Zurich today and am talking about different beans that they have in, based on taste profile discussed I decide on some Ethopian Yirgacheffe and some Jamaican Blue Mountain beans, 250g of each - no huge quantities.
> 
> I went on to pickup a couple of other items and then got the bill and my jaw hit the floor. It seems that the Jamaican beans are grade 1 and retail at CHF 166 a kilo or £110 - I certainly hope they are good!


Hey Zenistar, which Coffee roasters in Zurich was it you went to? Someone else told me they have never found a decent roaster in Zurich..... do you agree?

Blue Mountain is always expensive but sure to be cheaper sources in bordering countries I would guess.

I am moving to Zurich later in month so feel free to pm me and give me some info.


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