Not familiar with a term used in one of our articles or reviews? Click any letter below to view a list of coffee terms and definitions beginning with that letter.
Jamaica. Jamaica Blue Mountain is, or was, a balanced, classic coffee with rich flavor, full body, and a smooth yet vibrant acidity. These characteristics and its relatively short supply have made it one of the world’s most celebrated coffees. Whether it still merits this distinction is subject to debate among importers and roasters. Lower-grown Jamaica coffees (Jamaica High Mountain) tend to be less acidy and lighter in body. Other Jamaica coffees are undistinguished.
Jamaica Blue Mountain Style. Various blends of coffee intended by their originators to approximate the qualities of authentic Jamaica Blue Mountain. These blends may contain no actual Jamaican coffee.
Jamaica Blue Mountain™. Celebrated single-origin coffee from above 3,000 feet elevation in the Blue Mountain District of Jamaica. Can be exceptional: rich, complex, bouillon-like. More often a rather ordinary balanced, low-toned Caribbean coffee.
Java, Java Arabica. Unlike most other Indonesia coffees, which are grown on tiny farms and often primitively processed, Java coffees are grown on large farms or estates, most operated by the government, and are wet-processed using modern methods. The best display the low-toned richness characteristic of other Indonesia coffees, but are usually lighter in body and more acidy. Old Java, Old Government, or Old Brown are mature coffees from Java, created to mimic the flavor characteristics of the original Java coffee, which was inadvertently aged in the holds of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ships during their passage to Europe.
Jimma, Djimah, Djimma. A coffee from Ethiopia. Washed Djimah can be an excellent low-acid coffee. Dry-processed Djimah is a lesser coffee often exhibiting wild or medicinal taste characteristics and is not often traded as a speciality coffee.
Jinotega. Market name for a respected Nicaragua coffee.
Adapted from Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing & Enjoying; Espresso: Ultimate Coffee; and Home Coffee Roasting: Romance & Revival. St. Martin's Press.
Copyright © 1996, 2001 by Kenneth Davids. All Rights Reserved.
