UK-St. Helena Island: Dissemination and Brewing of St. Helena Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica Coffee?

St. Helena Green-Tipped Bourbon Arabica: The Spread and Brewing of UK's Saint Helena Island Coffee

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The uniqueness of St. Helena coffee lies not only in its pure Arabica beans but also because it belongs to the Bourbon variety of Arabica beans—Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica. This is a type of bean that requires extremely careful handling during harvesting, washing, and roasting to ensure all its perfect characteristics are preserved. Most discerning coffee enthusiasts can only dream of sipping coffee made from beans grown on Saint Helena Island in the South Atlantic, as they are rare and expensive. The green-tipped Bourbon Arabica from Saint Helena Island, originating from Yemeni coffee trees in the 18th century, produces some of the world's most expensive and captivatingly flavored coffee beans.

On February 10, 1733, the East India Company brought coffee seeds to Saint Helena Island. A ship from the port of Mocha in Yemen brought Green Tipped Bourbon Coffee seeds; these seeds began to be planted throughout Saint Helena Island and flourished even with minimal care. When Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena Island from 1815 to 1821, he praised St. Helena coffee highly, which began to attract world attention and became temporarily popular in Paris.

The most famous fan of Saint Helena Island coffee was the French Emperor Napoleon. Napoleon died on Saint Helena Island in 1821. During his six-year exile on the island, he lived in a house infested with rats. According to legend, he said that coffee was the "only good thing" on Saint Helena Island.

In 1839, London coffee merchant Wm Burnie & Co stated: "We introduce St. Helena coffee to our peers, and its quality and flavor have received consistent praise."

In 1845, St. Helena coffee claimed the top spot in the London market at a price of 1 penny per pound, becoming the most expensive and unique coffee in the world at that time.

In 1851, at a coffee exhibition in London (The Great Exhibition), coffee grown from Bamboo Hedge estate on Saint Helena Island won the favor of the judges.

Saint Helena Island preserves the remnants of coffee trees planted by the British East India Company nearly 300 years ago. The island's coffee plantations were once abandoned. When David R. Henry visited Saint Helena Island in 1986, he had the honor of tasting the island's coffee with the Governor of Saint Helena Island. This batch of coffee had very limited production and was grown at the Governor's residence on Saint Helena Island—Plantation House, which is also home to Jonathan, a 260-year-old tortoise (pictured below), witnessing the origin and long history of St. Helena coffee. In the 1990s, enthusiastic individuals began replanting, but it was short-lived as the main producer went bankrupt, and even sending coffee beans to Harrods department store in London, UK for sale was of no avail.

On October 16, 1996, a replica ancient sailing ship named Endeavour Replica set sail from Fremantle, Australia on a world tour, arriving at Saint Helena Island on January 26, 1997, for a four-day stay. After the ship docked, David R. Henry requested Captain Chris Blake to transport St. Helena coffee to Greenwich, London using 19th-century transportation methods and routes. The captain readily agreed, using ropes and pulleys to load bags of coffee beans onto the ship using traditional old methods. The crew members happily visited Saint Helena Island and later published this interesting journey on their website.

On January 30, 1997, Endeavour Replica set sail for the UK carrying St. Helena coffee. On March 25, 1997, under the attention of numerous media and crowds, Endeavour Replica arrived in London along the Thames River. David R. Henry personally welcomed St. Helena coffee at the port and held a public relations event in Greenwich with customers who purchased St. Helena coffee green beans—Mitsubishi, Harrods, and Whittard of Chelsea. To celebrate Endeavour Replica's arrival in the UK, Wedgewood designed a unique ivy-patterned coffee can containing St. Helena coffee, jointly presented to the British Queen by the two companies.

During the renovation of Napoleon's estate on Saint Helena Island, some broken original Wedgewood ivy-patterned tableware was discovered, indicating that during Napoleon's exile on Saint Helena Island, the French regent at that time commissioned Wedgewood to make ivy-patterned tea sets and coffee tableware for Napoleon.

On January 14, 1998, Endeavour Replica continued its journey from Plymouth, UK to North America, making stops at Tenerife in Spain, the British Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas, arriving in West Palm Beach, Florida on March 5, 1998.

The coffee produced by the Saint Helena Island Coffee Company established by David R. Henry comes directly from seeds brought to the island in 1733. After the island's plantations were cultivated and prepared, those coffee trees and seedlings that once produced coffee beans exported to the UK 150 years ago resumed production. Over the past decade, coffee connoisseurs from around the world have gradually come to know St. Helena coffee and have been captivated by its uniqueness. With the successful development of new coffee plantations, such as growing fruits and increasing capacity, the Saint Helena Island Coffee Company now proudly promotes its estate coffee to the world, sharing it with coffee lovers.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Grind size: 3.5 (Japan Fuji R440)

Water temperature: 90°C

V60 dripper, 15g coffee grounds, water temperature 90°C, grind 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15

Technique: 30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s

Pouring stages: Pour water to 120g, pause, then pour with slightly larger flow to 221g

That is 30-120-221, total extraction time 1:50-2 minutes

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