Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee rainfall. The soil is rich, with excellent drainage. This combination of climate and soil is considered ideal for coffee. The Coffee Industry Regulation Act specifies what coffee may use the Blue Mountain label. Additionally, it restricts the use of the Blue Mountain trademark to those authorized by the Coffee Industry Board. Broadly speaking, coffee harvested from the parishes of Saint Andrew, Saint Thomas, Portland and Saint Mary may be considered Blue Mountain coffee. Traditionally, only coffee grown at elevations between and could be called Jamaica Blue Mountain. Coffee grown at elevations between and is called Jamaica High Mountain, and coffee
Blue Ridge Mountain Bull Run and Catoctin mountains, which lie approximately to the east across the Loudoun Valley, and Short Hill Mountain, located to the east, which runs parallel to the Blue Ridge for near its northern terminus. To the west of the mountain is the lower Shenandoah Valley. Blue Ridge Mountain is noticeably lower in elevation than other sections of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. The southern section of the mountain contains the highest peaks, and the ridge gradually loses elevation as it gets closer to the Potomac. Elevations in the gaps are typically around , while peaks range from to