Where to source Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in the UK?

November 20, 2024 2:13 AM

Hello, looking for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, whole beans, FAIR TRADE or similar ethical certification. Not a subscription. Where do you recommend probably online in the UK please?
posted by runincircles to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Best answer: Anecdata FWIW. I had the same interest quite a while ago. I concluded that there was so little of it produced (annual production 400-1000 tonnes) that almost none of what was called Blue Mountain around the world could be actually be that.

Find a source you trust and who can verify their supply chain. You'd hope Whittards would sell the real thing as they do offer it (£232/Kg!).
posted by epo at 3:10 AM on November 20, 2024

Best answer: love going to the "Algerian Coffee Stores" in London and they seem to have Jamaica Blue Mountain
posted by alchemist at 6:01 AM on November 20, 2024

Best answer: This is one of those extremely limited volume products that, unless you are purchasing in Jamaica yourself to verify it's chain of custody, it is extremely likely to be counterfeit, even with certifications present. Good luck on the search, but keep in mind, you're likely not going to obtain the real thing (even if the people selling it to you believe it is the real thing). If you are not spending several hundred dollars/pounds you certainly aren't getting the real thing. And even if you are spending high prices, there is no guarantee. Coffee custody chains are, unfortunately, extremely corrupt. That doesn't mean the coffee won't be tasty, but if the provenance is important, know that this is difficult to impossible to truly verify.

Also, note that specifically Fair Trade certification guarantees a 'floor price', not an actual 'fair price.' So for higher end, luxury items, those certifications are often counterproductive and put more money into the hands of the certifiers, green coffee buyers, importers, and (typically white owned) roasters, not the landowners nor producers. Fair Trade certification of luxury items is unfortunately, doing the opposite of what you may be intending when you purchase those items.
posted by furnace.heart at 11:07 AM on November 20, 2024

Response by poster: Thanks for the tips and the insight! Did not know that about FairTrade. Might just buy a small amount from one of these places and that will have to do my Dad for Xmas.
posted by runincircles at 5:16 AM on November 21, 2024

I buy a small bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain beans once a month from Algerian Coffee Stores, as linked above. It is expensive, but not expensive enough for me not to think it some sort of blend. But it does taste very, very good.

You can also buy the absolute genuine article from Harrods food hall for about three or four times the price, as I found out during one slightly too exuberant pre-Christmas shop. I couldn't taste much of a difference to be honest.
posted by bebrogued at 5:19 AM on November 21, 2024