Atlantic Island Coffee | What is the cultivation history of Saint Helena Green-Tip Bourbon Arabica?

Atlantic Island Coffee | The Cultivation History of Saint Helena Island's Green-Tipped Bourbon Arabica

Saint Helena is an island in the Atlantic Ocean under British sovereignty, located 1,900 kilometers from the west coast of Africa and 3,400 kilometers from the east coast of South America. Saint Helena Island preserves the legacy of coffee trees planted nearly 300 years ago by the British East India Company. The island's coffee plantations were once abandoned, but in the 1990s enthusiastic individuals began replanting them. The effort was short-lived, however, as the main producer went bankrupt — and even sending coffee beans to Harrods department store in London for sale proved futile. Despite this, these organic beans remain in high demand. The company's annual coffee bean production ranges from 1 to 1.5 metric tons, a mere drop in the ocean compared with global production of approximately 8.5 million metric tons in 2014. All the company's beans are shipped directly to the UK before roasting. This precious coffee is favored by numerous independent coffee roasters and distributors from the European Union, Russia, Japan, the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Thanks to its remote geographical location, the island maintains an unpolluted ecological environment. Its volcanic geology provides fertile soil, and combined with organic cultivation methods, Saint Helena coffee possesses unique characteristics. Saint Helena coffee can be traced back to 1733, when the British East India Company brought seeds for cultivation. When Napoleon was defeated and exiled to this island, he greatly praised Saint Helena coffee; even on his deathbed he wished to taste it again, cementing its reputation for posterity. Saint Helena Island, located about 1,900 kilometers from the African coast, is where you'll find the cultivation and production of Saint Helena coffee. All this is thanks to its popularity, as Napoleon Bonaparte once planted his own coffee on Saint Helena Island.

The green-tipped Bourbon Arabica from Saint Helena Island is a coffee variety from the 18th century originating in Yemen, producing some of the world's most expensive and flavor-captivating beans. The most famous fan of Saint Helena Island coffee was the French Emperor Napoleon. Napoleon died on Saint Helena Island in 1821. During his 6-year exile on the island, he lived in a house infested with rodents. According to legend, he said coffee was the "only good thing" on Saint Helena Island. Saint Helena Island preserves the legacy of coffee trees planted nearly 300 years ago by the British East India Company. The island's coffee plantations were once abandoned, but in the 1990s enthusiastic individuals began replanting them. The effort was short-lived, however, as the main producer went bankrupt — and even sending beans to Harrods department store in London for sale proved futile.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Method:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Technique: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, using 15g of coffee grounds. First pour 25g of water and let it bloom for 25 seconds. Second pour to 120g and pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g total. Extraction time should be around 2:00.

Analysis: Using a three-stage brewing method clearly defines the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing the pour helps extend the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Saint Helena is one of the rarest island coffees in the world, and if that combination of rarity and balance appeals to you, FrontStreet Coffee has a few Arabica beans that echo the theme. The closest parallel is FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 — another island coffee grown from the Typica variety, whose medium roast balances acidity, bitterness, sweetness, and aroma into cream, caramel, chocolate, nut, honey, and light fruit notes. Roasters often describe it as the easiest specialty coffee for most people to love.

Because Saint Helena's signature bean is a Bourbon, you might also enjoy FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate, the rare Yellow Bourbon from Mogiana: a natural mutation of Red Bourbon with cleaner fruit notes, showing cream, peanut, toast, caramel, and sugarcane sweetness, and suitable for pour-over, a moka pot, or an espresso machine.

And if it is rarity and refinement you are after, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Esmeralda Red Label Geisha — grown at 1,600–1,800 meters and cupping above 90 points, with each batch drawn from a single small plot — is one of the world's most sought-after coffees, much like Saint Helena itself. All of these can be brewed with a V60 at 90°C, 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, ground on a Fuji Royal setting 3.5, in three stages for a total extraction of about 2:00.