LimeTree Farm » Blue Mountain Coffee

The Ratcut Coffee Co

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:14:35 +0000

When you purchase a pound of grade A Blue Mountain Coffee you’d be excused in thinking that this is the best coffee in the world. How could there be anything better?
The hidden truth is that the Blue Mountain RATS, yes RATS have taken the best, let me explain!
When the coffee is riping Cherry Red on the Coffee Trees in the Blue Mountain sun, the rats move in selecting only the sweetest, fatest, most succulant berries, these are piled at the base of the tree & as darkness falls over Blue Mountain Peak the feast begins – the rats eat only the cherry ripe sweet tasting skin & leave the biggest & best beans of the crop neatly stacked for whoever might want them.
Traditionally Blue Mountain coffee farmers collected this coffee for their own consumption & kept it a closely guarded secret.
Lime Tree Farm recently acquired all the machinery needed to process our own coffee.
Now guests at Lime Tree will be able amongst a select few worldwide to be able to take part in the processing of our own Estate Coffee as well as been able to purchase a “few” pounds of what is truly the” best coffee in the world” – just ask the RATS they’ll tell you.

Blog by Charlie

Ratcut Coffee Co

CINCHONA BOTANICAL GARDENS – TAINTED!

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:16:49 +0000

I was recently forwarded an article in the Financial Times written by Ian Thompson. The former guest of LIME TREE FARM who forwarded the article & I agreed that the article did not do justice to one of the worlds more magical places.

Thompson tries to paint a picture of Cinchona as an oasis surrounded by theives & devestation – yes the Blue Mountains have suffered terribly from 5 hurricannes in 5 years but their beauty has been untarnished & is there for anybody who can be bothered to make the journey to see.

As for thieves – I know the odd Orchid Bloom is taken by a visitor but theft is NOT a big problem. Thomson also paints the”RASTA” picture – another favourite for journalists looking for an “angle” – Stamp the manager is not a Rasta & although one of the workers there is the others are not & do not spend their time lying about smoking “weed” – the beauty of the gardens is testament to their loving care, just talk with Albert or “Broke-up”, 2 of the gardeners & you can’t help but feel their enthusiasm for the place.

The Observatory House is not a victim of vandalism rather it has suffered from years of neglect by various Jamaican governments notorious for ignoring Jamaica’s rich heritage not to mention the hurricanes.

WHY is it that when journalists write about jamaica they can’t help but sensationalize the crime problem here – yes we have a social/crime problem here but then so do parts of any country in the world – London, New Orleans etc etc.

Cinchona Botanical Gardens are so far removed from this problem they might as well be in the North Pole & I’m afraid that the FT article has tainted the pure magic of Cinchona which can easily sustain an article in it’s own write without resorting to the normal sensationalism associated with Jamaican Press.

If you would like to see what I’m ranting about & feel the pure magic of Cinchona Botanical Gardens check out our website – www.limetreefarm.com – I’d be more than happy to take you there & show you how far removed from Thomson’s article it really is!

Blog by Charlie

New Coffee Season begins at Lime Tree Farm!

admin — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:21:50 +0000

The 08/09 coffee picking season began this week for Lime Tree Farm when the first box of coffee was picked by myself & farm manager Busher, the coffee was then sold to Mavis Bank Coffee factory who export it under the Jablum label.

After last years disappointing crop(250 boxes), due to Hurricane Dean hitting us in Sep 2007, the 08/09 crop is looking good we did sustain some damage from Huricane Gustav but the winds were not as terrible as Dean so the bulk of the crop survived.

We still have a month left of this hurricane season but farmers in the Blue Mountains are hopefull that we have received this years disaster already & will be spared further hardship. If all goes well Lime Tree Farm should be looking at a 1000 plus box reaping which will be more than welcome!

We are planning to acquire a pulper, huller & vacuum packer so that we can process some of our own coffee & sell to guests at Lime Tree Farm. More about this early next year.

Blog by Charlie

Blue Mountain Coffee Season 2007/8

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:03:31 +0000

The 2007/2008 Blue Mountain Coffee crop is officially over for Lime Tree Farm, sadly it was the smallest crop in our 18 year history. Why? – The 06/07 crop was huge which is always a sign of a small crop to follow, in addition to this we were badly mauled by Hurricane Dean in August of last year causing many of our unripe berries considerable damage.

Although the quantity was small the quality was excellent with hardly any light coffee & this was generally seen throughout the Blue Mountain Coffee growing region.

On a brighter note we've had a reasonably wet spring & the coffee has blossomed well pointing to a large crop for 08/09, hopefully without any hurricanes!

Some of 2007/8 Blue Mountain Coffee Harvest

Lime Tree Farm is presently in negotiations to buy a further 3.5 acres of land adjacent to the farm, this could raise our output of coffee by as much as 50%, I've been "after" this parcel of land for 15 years and everybody is really excited about the prospect especially me!