The cafeteria recently added Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee to its already diverse menu of caffeinated specialty beverages. They’ve always had the free stuff that’s made in a large urn with a spout and tastes suspiciously like it wasn’t brewed but instead made from a mix. Even though it’s free, I never drink this coffee because it tastes terrible. Last year they added a nice selection of Starbucks coffees including iced coffee that is so delicious and cheap that I’d rather get my summer morning iced coffee in the cafeteria than stop at Dunkin Donuts on my way in like I usually do.

I always thought the Starbucks coffee was good, but the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is extraordinary. It is very expensive at three dollars for a large, but it’s worth it and I try to limit myself to one cup per week. On the days I buy myself the special coffee I always make sure that I will have time to sip it at my desk and really enjoy it because it’s pretty expensive. I usually save Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee day for Fridays when I am catching up on my paperwork and mindless data entry.

It is known that cruise ships serve some of the best coffee in the world. I have to agree with this theory because I tried the coffee on a cruise I took to Bermuda years ago and when the cruise was over and I had to go back to drinking regular coffee, my taste buds staged a protest in my mouth, and it was two weeks before any coffee tasted good again. The difference between excellent coffee and good coffee is so extreme that if you’ve ever experienced excellent coffee you will search it out for the rest of your life because the memory of it is so vivid and wonderful. Starbucks coffee is good, Dunkin Donuts coffee is good, but Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee belongs in the category of true excellence in coffee.

I’m not really sure what makes Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee so much better than all the other coffees I have tasted in my life, though I suspect it has something to do with the growing, harvesting or roasting processes. Maybe it is all three. Or maybe they slip an extra secret ingredient into their coffee that makes taste buds respond so positively to it. But I admit I am not a coffee expert and I know nothing about the process of growing, harvesting or roasting the beans. My area of expertise is in drinking it, and so far, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee has made my taste buds happier than any other coffee in the world.