JM Flamstead Estate Grade 1 Flat Bean

Flamstead Estate

Coffee production was first reported at Flamstead, St. Andrew, in 1764 and quickly became the toast of the British Empire. Various British Governors have owned sections of the Flamstead property and revelled in the high quality of the coffee produced. In 1982, Ambassador Carlyle Dunkley, Chairman and founder of Blue Mountain Coffee Venture Limited, acquired a section of the Flamstead property and began farming coffee.
Today, Ambassador Dunkley’s two sons Stephen and Graham, manage the company, which has evolved substantially. The hands on, detailed management involvement of the brothers makes sure Flamstead Estate stands out in every aspect in the journey from plant to cup.

In 2000, BMCV installed a modern coffee pulpery at Flamstead, where cherry is pulped the same day of picking. The equipment the minimum amount of water possible while processing the cherries. .
Once processed, the beans are sun dried on elevated wooden trays exposed to the sun and constantly turned. Great care is taken at this stage not to over-expose the beans or damage them. A coffee expert, with over twenty years of experience in coffee drying, described the handling of parchment coffee as “excellent, almost as if you are handling a baby”

At the estate’s dry mill, state of the art equipment along with dedicated staff monitor size and density of the beans. Following this, coffee is hand sorted to remove defective beans. Coffee is then put through detailed inspection internally before being packaged in wooden barrels and delivered to the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority [JACRA] for evaluation.

Flamstead Estate is committed to being responsible to the environment, reducing impact through:

• Sustainable agricultural practices to ensure water and soil conservation
• Harvesting rainfall
• Recycling water
• Reusing tyres (creation of tyre walls)
• Re-using paper / cardboard
•Composting coffee pulp
• Creating wetland for native wildlife
• Planting native trees

BMCV have also been recently supporting recovery work for Guava Ridge Basic School following the devastation of Hurricane Beryl. The St Andrew school lost its roof, as well as other damage. Stephen and two other local companies assisted with materials and builders so classrooms could re-open.