Blue Mountain

This legally bounded high-elevation zone is a certification trademark and a geographical indication, traditionally marketed in wooden barrels, not bags.

Blue Mountain is a legally defined coffee-growing area. The 2018 JACRA regulations draw its boundary through named places, among them Skibo, Swift River, Chelsea, Font Hill, Dallas and Brandon Hill, and name no parish. In broad terms it is described as the parishes of Saint Andrew, Saint Thomas, Portland and Saint Mary. Perfect Daily Grind puts the designated area at about 6,000 hectares. A Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend must contain at least 30 percent Blue Mountain coffee by weight. The range peaks at 2,256 m, and sources give the minimum growing elevation as roughly 910 m (3,000 ft), with coffee grown at altitudes up to about 1,800 m. JACRA (formerly the Coffee Industry Board) oversees certification of the designation. The name is registered as a certification mark in the United States, a community trademark in the European Union and a certification trademark in the United Kingdom, and is also registered as a Geographical Indication with Jamaica's Intellectual Property Office. About 70% of the island's coffee is Typica. Blue Mountain coffee is marketed in wooden barrels rather than bags. The first three barrels went to Japan in 1953, which began a trade relationship that at its peak absorbed nearly all of the crop. More than 80% of Blue Mountain coffee is exported to Japan.