Blue mountain coffe help!

[KATBYERS]

Can I have any info anyone has on how to tell if the Blue Mountain Coffee is authentic? We were at CSA in 2010 and are coming back in December and I keep thinking I read or heard somewhere to be careful about buying the coffee from just anyone or just anywhere (something about it being not the 'real' thing or outdated or something to that effect and something about the packaging) am I crazy or is this the case??? We LOVE LOVE LOVE Blue Mountain Coffee and are planning on buying ALOT! Don't want to get home and be disappointed Also where is the cheapest place to purchase it? Any changes at CSA since 2010 feel free to post those as well!

Kat

[Jan]

Authentic Blue Mountain is available at the airport and is reasonably priced. We always buy it there on our way home and allow extra time for shopping.

[Chris]

If it doesn't say "100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee" on the package, its not. The regulators of the coffee industry on Jamaica are very proprietary about this, and that wording is their "brand", if you will. There are more estates now than there used to be. Once there were only a few. Now, it seems, the model provides for packaging from those estates (there are only four of them) to other purveyors (even Couples has their own custom packaging). Where ever you buy, make sure that those words are on the packaging. Watch for the labels Jablum, Wallenford's, Mavis Banks for the real deal. If it says "High Mountain", walk away. If its being sold by a guy on the beach, its not the real thing.

One local purveyor in Negril used to claim she got her beans from one of the estates as "green", and she roasted them herself. I've heard a lot of good things about her coffee. Its it the real thing? Can't say for sure, because there is no regulatory way of knowing... she can't call it 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.

(One tip... I don't know that I've ever seen a package of 100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee that was NOT in a burlap sack.)

[BettyinToronto]

We bought 6 lbs at the Couples CN gift store on our last morning and then another 1 lb of Jablum at the airport. We drank the Jablum first and was disappointed. We are now drinking the CN coffee and WOW! What a difference. It is so yummy that we've started making a big pot and filling up our travel mugs to take with us on our daily after dinner walk with the dog. (We don't usually drink coffee on week-nights)

We are not back until September but will need more by then for sure. We paid $29 for both kinds but CN charged tax whereas it was duty-free at the airport. CN had it on sale for 15% off on Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat but ONLY in the morning. Hope that special is still there.

[randijean46]

I agree with Betty...the Couples Blue Mountain at the gift shops is much better than either the Jablum or Wallenford that we brought home last year! So even if it costs a little more, the Couples coffee is what I'll be buying next week at CSS....I'm down to four pounds so HAVE to go "home" to buy some more to last until our NEXT trip in Nov./Dec.!! :-)