In 1953, the Jamaican Government created the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) of Jamaica, a regulatory body established to protect the quality of Jamaican coffee. Jamaica was the first country in the world to establish a defined geographical location designated to a specific coffee brand, similar to that constructed by the French wine industry with the creation of the AOC (Appellation d´Origine Controlleé).
All coffee exported from Jamaica is shipped by the CIB. Rigorous testing by highly trained quality control experts guarantees that all coffee exported is 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain.
Clifton Mount Estate Clifton Mount is the oldest functioning coffee estate in Jamaica and is recognized as producing the finest quality world renowned Blue Mountain Coffee. The farm with its elegant Great House is located in the Newcastle region of the island and is situated on the Eastern slope of Catherine’s Peak at 1300 metres above sea level. View of Clifton Mount Estate History Coffee started to be produced at Clifton Mount Estate in the middle of the 18th century (sometime after the year 1750). According to the Institute of Jamaica, a land survey done in 1810 shows that Robert Hamilton was the owner of the farm. This map shows Clifton Mount Plantation as being divided into two parts, Top Mountain with 80 acres of coffee and 427 acres in pastures and Bottom Mountain with 111 acres of coffee and 264 acres in pastures. Clifton Mount Estate by Marianne North, 1872 Mrs. Marianne North, the famous English painter and author, visited Jamaica in 1872 for 5 months and spent sometime at Clifton Mount. In her autobiography, “The Recollections of a happy Life”, she mentioned her visit to Clifton Lodge. “Clifton Lodge belonged to a gentleman who had lost his wife there and never wanted to see it again. He did not let it but rented it for a week at a time to different people who wanted a dose of cool air 1500 metres above the sea, beyond the lovely fern walk and in the midst of the finest and oldest coffee plantation in Jamaica”