Region: Island Oceania
Roast: Medium artisan small batch roasted and shipped the day you order!!
Cupping notes: Milk chocolate, honey, and orange.
Clydesdale is a renowned coffee growing region located in the parish of St. Andrew - formerly the parish of Port Royal - at an average altitude of 1000 meters. It is nestled in the Grand Ridge which is home to Jamaica’s largest National Park and Forest reserve. The Clydesdale coffee region is located at the very center of the Blue Mountain coffee area, which is why we can say it is “ at the Heart of the Blue Mountains…”
Origin of the Clydesdale Estate
Clydesdale Estate was founded in the late 1700s by Dr. Colin McClarty, a British national who came to Jamaica for what he thought would be a short visit but fell in love with the country and decided to stay. It was one of the first estates to plant coffee commercially in Jamaica. Following Dr. McClarty’s example and realizing the excellent quality coffee produced in this area, other farmers ventured into coffee production in the vicinity of Clydesdale Estate.
It is from these beginnings that the Clydesdale coffee region evolved. Clydesdale Estate Coffee was first exported in the late 1700’s and because of the exceptional quality of the beans, it has remained an important coffee growing region since.
Clydesdale Coffee Today
Although no longer in operation, the Clydesdale Estate factory, drying patios, and water wheel can still be seen and still stand after more than two hundred years. Once a favourite getaway for honeymooners, the Clydesdale Great House along with the factory, have now been appointed by the Government of Jamaica as a National Heritage site. The farmers in the Clydesdale coffee region have continued the tradition and still produce an outstanding quality coffee, only of the Typica variety.
The Clydesdale brand represents coffees from this region and other select regions within the Southern slope of the Blue Mountains, which is the oldest coffee growing area in the Blue Mountains. In a new decade of excellence, the producers of Clydesdale coffee continue to celebrate the old traditions that have made this coffee world renowned.
Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee or Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is a classification of coffee grown in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The best lots of Blue Mountain coffee are noted for their mild flavour and lack of bitterness. Over the past few decades, this coffee has developed a reputation that has made it one of the most expensive and sought-after coffees in the world. Over 80% of all Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is exported to Japan. In addition to its use for brewed coffee, the beans are the flavor base of Tia Maria coffee liqueur.
Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is a globally protected certification mark, meaning only coffee certified by the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica can be labeled as such. It comes from a recognised growing region in the Blue Mountain region of Jamaica, and its cultivation is monitored by the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica.
The Blue Mountains are generally located between Kingston to the south and Port Antonio to the north. Rising to 2,256 metres (7,402 ft), they are some of the highest mountains in the Caribbean. The climate of the region is cool and misty with high rainfall. The soil is rich, with excellent drainage. This combination of climate and soil is considered ideal for coffee.
Our Jamaican Blue Mountain is grown and harvested in the Clydesdale Region of Jamaica.
Contents
The Coffee Industry Regulation Act
The Coffee Industry Regulation Act specifies what coffee may use the Blue Mountain label. Additionally, it restricts the use of the Blue Mountain trademark to those authorized by the Coffee Industry Board. Broadly speaking, coffee harvested from the parishes of Saint Andrew, Saint Thomas, Portland and Saint Mary may be considered Blue Mountain coffee.
Traditionally, only coffee grown at elevations between 910 metres (3,000 ft) and 1,700 metres (5,500 ft) could be called Jamaica Blue Mountain. Coffee grown at elevations between 460 metres (1,500 ft) and 910 metres (3,000 ft) is called Jamaica High Mountain, and coffee grown below 460 metres (1,500 ft) elevation is called Jamaica Supreme or Jamaica Low Mountain. (All land in Jamaica above 1,700 metres (5,500 ft) is a forest preserve, so no coffee is grown there.)