What Flavors Does St. Helena Coffee Have? What Coffee Varieties Are Grown in St. Helena?

Where is St. Helena Island?

St. Helena Island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, west-southwest of Africa, at 16 degrees south latitude and 5 degrees 45 minutes west longitude. It is a small island with an area of only 47 square miles.

History of St. Helena Coffee

St. Helena coffee can be traced back to 1733, when seeds were brought in by the British East India Company for cultivation. After Napoleon's defeat, he was exiled to this island and highly praised St. Helena coffee. Even on his deathbed, Napoleon wished to taste it again, which contributed to the lasting reputation of St. Helena coffee.

Unique Environmental Conditions

St. Helena Island is located in the middle of the vast South Atlantic Ocean. It is a British island that is mountainous with a subtropical climate, and it is one of the most remote places on Earth. Due to its difficulty of access, St. Helena Island has preserved the purest ecological environment. The harvested coffee cherries are washed using natural mountain spring water, giving St. Helena coffee its unique characteristics.

The remote geographical location allows St. Helena Island to maintain a pristine ecosystem. The volcanic geology provides extremely fertile soil, combined with organic cultivation and the philosophy of preserving the original small-bean varieties, making St. Helena coffee possess unique qualities.

Flavor Profile

It features a comfortable, bright, and uplifting aroma with apple-like sweetness and acidity, subtle berry notes, walnut, milk fragrance, and a delicate, elegant flavor.

Cultivated Varieties

Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica, Bourbon.

This bean variety is extremely delicate and fragile. Whether in cultivation, harvesting, washed processing, or roasting, it requires extremely careful attention to ensure the production of a wonderful cup of coffee. Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica is a coffee tree species from the Yemen region. At that time, it was transported by a ship named "Houghton" that sailed from the port of Mocha, Yemen, with a captain named Philips.

Once the seeds were brought to St. Helena Island, they were taken to various different points on the island for planting. Since these locations were all appropriate, even after long periods of neglect, the coffee trees at these locations were able to grow vigorously.

St. Helena Island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean and is a very remote region. Due to the blowing of the southeast trade winds, St. Helena Island enjoys the richest climate variations.

St. Helena Island is a volcanic island with very fertile soil. Located in a subtropical climate zone, combined with organic cultivation methods and a single-species approach, the coffee produced possesses unique characteristics.

Although St. Helena coffee received such high praise in the last century, today it is neglected, and even few residents of St. Helena Island drink St. Helena coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

St. Helena is a rare, isolated island coffee with a delicate, washed character, and anyone drawn to that profile tends to enjoy washed specialty lots. FrontStreet Coffee's washed range is a good place to explore it. FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gotingding Cooperative comes from the Gotingding village in the Worka area at the southeastern end of Yirgacheffe; it is washed in the most traditional way, with bright citrus and lemon acidity and jasmine fragrance, and has been called "the last pure land of Yirgacheffe."

FrontStreet Kenya Cherry Tomato is a Kenyan washed specialty bean from the Thika area, grown at 1,550-1,750 meters from the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties. It uses Kenya's 72-hour double washed fermentation and a light roast, giving clear cherry-tomato and dark-plum acidity with a full, juice-like body, prominent mid-palate sweetness, a clean finish of yellow-sugar sweetness, and a light green-tea note. FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1, a washed Typica at 1,310 meters, rounds out the group with richness and balance.

Because washed coffees keep more of the bean's own aroma while adding bright fruit acidity and a clean, fresh character, FrontStreet suggests brewing these with a V60 at 15 g, a 1:15 ratio, medium-fine grind, and 90-91 degrees Celsius.