Hi there. let me answer your question with some other questions....is Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee a "specialty coffee"? What is specialty coffee? What do you mean by "benchmark"? JBM is world famous. Why? (look it up). Does being famous make it specialty? Does being expensive make it specialty? In the scheme of things, what does it matter whether it is or not, if it is a nice coffee regardless of the answer? In terms of benchmarking. There are lots of great coffees, enough of them can be scored into "Cup of Excellence" territory. There are also lots of great coffees that are not "cup of excellence". Does it matter, if they are nevertheless...individually great coffees. Each has something that appeals, for various reasons, to lots of individuals, who each have difference tastes, likes and dislikes. I dont think you can benchmark things that arent comparable in the first place. You may benchmark one JBM to another JBM, but how could you benchmark a JBM, to any other coffee from some other location in some other country? I dont think you can but that's just my opinion, and others may disagree. By the way, please do not quote me or reference me or copy any of this into your blog. Thankyou.
