When monster Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica it not only threatened lives, property and infrastructure, but also one of the world’s favourite recreational habits — luxury coffee drinking.

Jamaican Bermuda resident Warrel Jeffrey, who runs coffee import business WJ Coffee Retail, said the record-breaking Category 5 storm could not have come at a worse time for the coffee industry on the island.

“The coffee beans are ripe and this is the season for reaping,” he said. “There is going to be a lot of spoilage, because of the damage the storm has done.”

Jamaican coffee exports earned the island an estimated $26.2 million in 2023.

Mr Jeffrey started WJ Coffee Retail in 2022, importing coffee to Bermuda from the Blue and High Mountains, where he grew up.

In addition to battering wind from Tuesday’s storm, Jamaica saw widespread flooding and mud slides that have the potential to cause great harm to farmland.

Because the coffee is only grown in a tiny region of Jamaica on volcanic soil and harvested largely by hand, it is one of the most expensive types in the world and is sometimes referred to as the “champagne” of coffees.

Japan buys about 80 per cent of the crop, which has a reputation for producing smooth, full-bodied and balanced coffee.

Mr Jeffrey said there could be impacts to his business but not immediately.

“I have enough product to last into next year,” he said. “To top up, I placed another order the day before the hurricane.”

He was more concerned with his family, who have much work ahead in the clean-up and restoration efforts.

Three quarters of the island was without power in the early hours after the hurricane.

“We still do not yet know the severity of things,” Mr Jeffrey said.

He spoke to his sisters a few hours before the hurricane roared ashore with winds of up to 185mph — one of the strongest storms to hit the island.

Mr Jeffrey predicted that Melissa would be a real setback for the country still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Beryl, which caused up to $200 million in losses — 1.1 per cent of the island gross domestic product.

In the aftermath, some Jamaican officials have called Hurricane Melissa’s impact “apocalyptic”.

Mr Jeffrey said many Jamaican homes are built strongly with lots of concrete and steel embedded in the walls.

“We have to deal with not only hurricanes but also earthquakes,” he said. “Poorer people, however, cannot afford to build like that. It is them that will feel the worst of it. They would not stand a chance in a Category 5 storm.”

His family live on the eastern side of the island.

“That side was not hit as badly but still received a lot of wind and rain,” he said. “This thing was huge. The outer bands spread far and wide. Some of the roads and hospitals in Montego Bay have been damaged. Jamaica really took a battering.”

In the days leading up to Hurricane Melissa, the Government urged farmers of all types to harvest mature crops before the storm.

Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Floyd Green, told the Miami Herald that in terms of farming, this was a particularly bad time to have a hurricane.

“Farmers, fishers, they look forward to the uptick in demand that comes with Christmas,” he said.