Starbucks Reserve Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Review
This a new roast that Starbucks is offering in various roasters and Reserve stores.
As soon as I saw the words ‘Blue Mountain’ I knew that I needed to grab a bag of this for home.
ABOUT
This is not the first Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee I have reviewed, and I certainly hope it is not the last.
According to Starbucks, this particular offering of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is a small lot of coffee beans, obviously from Jamaica, that is a blend of 3 varietals: Geisha, Typica, and Catalan. As far as processing, these were fully washed.
Starbucks offered the following text about this year’s Jamaica Blue Mountain Reserve roast:
“Named after the mist that casts a blue-tinged glow over Jamaican mountainsides, this coffee was grown beneath the peak of the 7,400-foot / 2,250-meter Blue Ridge. The dew, along with plentiful rainfall and fertile soil, helps create ideal growing conditions. After the harvest, the beans are scrutinized and certified to ensure nothing short of high quality. The result: a complex cup with layers of citrus flavor and a hint of cocoa.”
REVIEW
This coffee is so individualistic. Having offered a cup of this coffee to a few friends, the reactions were all similar yet mixed. There was resounding appreciation and sense of awe for the roast, yet each person found different ways to appreciate the roast.
What does Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee taste like? Starbucks indicates that this particular roast has “floral aromas with cocoa and citrus flavors.”
It is similar yet wildly different from some of the recent Reserve roasts that have a similar taste profile.
The cocoa is definitely there, but more in like a dark chocolate truffle with fine cocoa powder kind of way. It is perfectly balanced by what seems like a trio of citrus flavors - lemon primarily with a hint of grapefruit and maybe tangerine.
Rating: 8.5/10