Our review of Jamaica Blue Mountain whole bean coffee from Hayman Coffee.

Many thanks to the folks at Hayman Coffee for sending us a bag of their whole bean Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.

Hayman Coffee is a London, UK company, and is focused on the very top end of specialty coffees.

This isn’t the first of their coffees we’ve reviewed. Quite a while back they sent us some Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee pods for Nespresso machines.

We loved it, and wondered when they’d be shipping whole beans. Well, as you can see from the photo, that time has come.

As always, we ground the beans immediately before brewing, to get the maximum from the aroma and taste.

And, one more time, I asked my wife to try the coffee first. She has a way better nose, and picks up a lot of subtleties when tasting.

Here’s what she said about this coffee…

First, she noticed the chocolate in the aroma. Then she took here first sip.

And this where things got a little strange, as she definitely started anthropomorphising this coffee… as if it were a living being, a close friend with a unique character.

Keep in mind, I didn’t tell her anything about the coffee she was tasting. But she immediately knew it was something special.

She quickly picked up on the chocolate sweetness, and the fruit in the finish and aftertaste.

Then she stated talking about the strong character of the coffee… like that super-confident friend who carries their confidence in a quiet and understated way.

She felt something deliberate and determined about the balance of flavors in the coffee. No one trait dominating, but showing a quiet strength as a harmonious whole.

An interesting thing she said at the end was that this coffee must have come from trees that needed to be strong to grow, flourish and produce quality cherries.

That made me smile, because I’ve seen where these coffee trees grow.

On the slopes of the Blue Mountain range in Jamaica…

Several years ago I visited the Blue Mountain Range in Jamaica.

First, the long drive up the mountains from Kingston, driving on narrow, winding roads, with the edges washed out by heavy rains. Quite scary sometimes, particularly when meeting a truck laden with sacks of unprocessed coffee cherries coming down in the opposite direction.

As you can see from the photo, once you get high into the mountains, steep slopes are planted with coffee trees, and the mist shrouds the mountain tops.

I met some of the coffee pickers who often stay up in the mountains for the whole picking season. Their work is back-breaking, navigating the steep slopes and picking the coffee cherries by hand.

So yes, when my wife talked about a strong, confident coffee that grows in tough conditions, she nailed it.

This is a fantastic coffee

Many coffees taste like they’re trying too hard… super-strong, super-sweet or super-smooth.

This Blue Mountain Coffee from Hayman Coffee is in a different class. It has strength, it has that sweet aroma and aftertaste, and it is definitely smooth.

But, as a mark of a fine coffee, it carries everything in a rich, harmonious balance.

A truly great coffee.

You can find out more about Hayman Coffee here…

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