Try this:
String text = "line 1\n\nline 3\n\n\nline 5";
String adjusted = text.replaceAll("(?m)^[ \t]*\r?\n", "");
// ...
Note that the regex [ |\t]
matches a space, a tab or a pipe char!
EDIT
B.t.w., the regex (?m)^\s+$
would also do the trick.