Sir Nicholas Lawes, a former governor, planted seven coffee seedlings from Martinique at Temple Hall in St Andrew in 1728. Cultivation later spread up into the Blue Mountains.
Peak exports came between 1800 and 1834, with over 34 million pounds shipped in 1814. After emancipation, large estates abandoned coffee and it became mainly a small farmers' crop.
Japan's UCC began buying directly in 1953. On 9 January 1967 a large shipment went straight to Japan, and today over 80% of Blue Mountain coffee goes there.
Field notes
What the record says
- Sir Nicholas Lawes planted seven seedlings from Martinique at Temple Hall, St Andrew, in 1728.2
- Jamaica's largest export year was 1814, when over 34 million pounds were shipped.2
- After emancipation in 1834 and the end of apprenticeship in 1838, large producers abandoned coffee and it became mainly a small-farmer crop.2
- Only coffee certified by Jamaica's commodities regulator may be called Jamaica Blue Mountain.1
- Over 80% of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is exported to Japan.1
- UCC Ueshima Coffee became the first Japanese company to buy directly from Jamaica in 1953.2
- Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Day marks 9 January 1967, when a large share of that year's harvest shipped from Kingston to Japan.1,2
What we couldn't confirm
Some sources date the first planting to 1730 rather than 1728. The well-known wooden export barrels were not mentioned by any opened source and are left out. No ritual sourced.
Sources
- Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- Jamaica's production and export of coffee: potential and challenges · The Gleaner, 2024 in the bibliography
