Can Blockchain improve Jamaica coffee, after all Starbucks wants to use it.
Fake luxury coffee hurts everyone in the supply chain. So knowing whether your beans are actually from a farm in the hills of Jamaica Blue Mountains is meaningful. Nowadays avoiding fakes requires buying brands you trust. And overtime one gets familiar with the origin taste profiles. But that’s knowledge built from experience. What about someone buying Jamaica coffee for the first time and concerned about getting ripped off with fake JBM costing upwards of US$50 per pound.
One solution is to buy through curated platforms like Etsy or brokers like us which micro tests batches monthly to ensure customers get quality.
Soon there will be another way.
Last year Starbucks announced plans to use Blockchain with the aim of allowing consumers to in real time trace the origin of the bean. Ultimately as a method of improving pricing throughout the supply chain. This method however more work but the outcome will definitely be replicated throughout the luxury coffee market.
Blockchain creates an immutable ledger of all transactions sort of like an email thread. You can quickly go back to the origin of a concept by searching the tread. Blockchain is increasingly being implemented in many back-office processes at industries from traditional banking and insurance, extending its application to even food production and pharmaceutical industries. Walmart in 2018, along with the support of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), reportedly adopted a programme that uses blockchain to digitize the food supply chain process with its pork suppliers. Consequently it takes roughly 2 seconds to trace the origin of food which aims to reduce chance of infected food entering the supply chain to customers.
In December 2019, the global blockchain technologies market was valued at about $2.01 billion in 2018, and is expected to grow to $9.97 billion at a rapid annual growth rate of more than 49% through 2022. Companies across various industries are increasingly investing in block chain technology due to its high efficiency in data management.
Blockchain technology is growing strongly in major sectors such as healthcare, banking and finance, digital assets, and also in several government departments. Thus, companies such as VISA, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon are investing in the technology to integrate blockchain with their daily operations at an early stage.
Cold drinks account for half Starbucks sales
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said that sales of cold coffee and teas now account for about half of the company’s beverage sales. Younger customers in particular are buying those drinks throughout the day, he said, not just in the morning, he said.
“We are being very focused on the things that we know matter the most,” Mr. Johnson said in an interview.
Is Jablum Gold worth the money
Jablum Gold is the premium version of Jablum.
But even the Gold standard sometimes tastes like hot water but costs three times that of Dunkin Donuts. Truth, is that the hot water effect tends to occur in Jablum Gold ground coffees more often than the beans.
So my advise to persons wondering about quality. Just avoid the ground coffees. But what about Jablum Gold whole beans. Is it worth the cash?
Cupping coffee is what we do. We do these reviews to keep the companies honest and to let caffeineocrats know what to avoid and when to avoid it. We don’t need sterile labs. We prefer cupping where it counts, at home in the hills of the Jamaica Blue Mountains.
Follow the process of popping open a box of Jablum Gold and cupping via a chemex pour-over.
History: Jablum Gold entered the market about 8 years ago as the curated version of its Jablum classic beans. In other words Jablum Gold sought to address concerns that Jablum was inconsistent with its taste. That the beans tasted like hot water. Like hot almonds. Anything but luxury coffee. So Jablum Gold entered the market with fatter better beans with more flavour. It always amazes me that the company maintained this elaborate packaging to this day.
Packaging: The steps to unbox the coffee is reminiscent of the theatre involved in unboxing a watch. Pop the top apart and it reveals two sleeves: One arms to the left and the other to the right. It reveals a blue burlap bag which further reveals a shiny blue sealed bag.
Aroma: Open with a pair of scissors shows fat swollen beans which smell of brown sugar. There are other spices but brown sugar dominates in a good way.
Preparation: Grind in between fine and medium.
Brewing method: Chemex, in an attempt to enhance crispiness and fruit essences. It’s based on previous knowledge that Jablum coffees generally enhances light chocolate tones and almond tones without much or any fruit. Comparatively utilising a french press would enhance the chocolate tones and mute any hints of fruit.
Taste: Black currant which quickly transitions to deep chocolate and transitions to cream soda with low to medium acidity, and then leaves the palette with a smooth finish.
Conclusion: 7.9/10 with Starbucks daily blend 6/10. So consider Jablum Gold for that affordable luxury.
Update: Just cupped a September 2019 bag. The roasted rare peaberry beans smelt great but tasted like hot water. What can I say, the taste profile is hit or miss.
jamaicamocha 