Cindy-Lou Dale

About midway between South America and Africa, off the Tropic of Capricorn, in the south-Atlantic ocean, lies St Helena, an island just slightly more than twice the size of Washington DC.

Apart from historical greats such as author Charles Darwin, astronomer Edmund Halley, and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, St Helena’s other claim to fame is that the world’s most select coffee is produced there. In a good year a mere 15-tons of St Helena’s exceptional coffee beans are harvested, making the demand for this exclusive product very high and the price even higher. In fact, this is the most expensive coffee bean, anywhere in the world.

Had Napoleon Bonaparte not been exiled to the island, the existence of St Helena and the island’s coffee would in all probability have remained unidentified. Owing to Napoleon’s praise, St Helena coffee gained recognition in Paris where it enjoyed a short-lived vogue.

St. Helena’s terrain is astonishing in its contrasts, ranging from wind-eroded desert with multi-coloured ridges and valleys, to flax and tree-covered hillsides, soft pastures and vegetation-filled valleys. An emerald gemstone held captive by 300-metre high cliffs, which plummet to pounding azure surf and onyx-coloured rocks.

Visiting St. Helena is rather like going back in time. Despite electricity, paved roads and motor vehicles, it has retained a way of life reminiscent of bygone days; and because of its remoteness, reaching the island requires several days sea voyage.

I stood at the summit of a hill offering views of incomparable splendour, across a coffee plantation and a landscape patchwork in shades of willow green, lime, and sage; interspersed with hues of mauve and lemon vegetation, like a shaken out quilt just settling back onto a bed.

“Bluemans was the first of the new estates I developed,” said David Henry, the founder of The Island of St Helena Coffee Company. He went on to explain that paperwork of the English East India Company shows the first Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica coffee beans were brought onto the island in the early 1700s from the Red Sea port of Mocha.

The island’s road are about the windiest to be found anywhere, especially in Sandy Bay, where some turns are so tight even compact vehicles have trouble negotiating them. Nevertheless, driving on St Helena is extremely safe as there is a special road etiquette which requires everyone to drive at thirty miles per hour or less - in Jamestown, the capital, the speed limit is twenty miles per hour. All cars sound their horns when rounding bends and drivers coming down a hill need to yield for traffic coming up.

Standing in the shadow of ‘Lot’, a 370-foot pinnacle of basalt rock, at Coffee Ground Estate above Sandy Bay Crater, I surveyed the long views over sharply defined valleys.

“Whilst other new plantations were being developed, this estate was the only one being harvested.”

I drove toward Bamboo Hedge through lushly green countryside, dotted with small houses, where geese and chickens loitered along roadsides that seldom saw passing motor vehicles; the view of fields, valleys and woodlands stretching off to the distance. This was the GW Alexander Coffee Estate. The oldest estate on the island - probably planted in the early 1700's.

Other than receiving Napoleon’s approval, St. Helena coffee received further recognition. In 1839, following a tasting and testing, London coffee merchants, Wm Burnie & Co, pronounced it to be of superlative quality and flavour. St. Helena’s coffee then continued to top the London market. By 1845 the company had reached a sales price way above any other, thus creating the highest-priced and most fashionable coffee in the world. Then, for reasons unknown, the world’s best coffee all but vanished. According to the island’s records its coffee plantations were untended for decades and had grown wild.

“The GW Alexander Estate has undergone extensive rehabilitation,” David explained. “It was totally derelict.”

I inspected a few trees. There was a slight chocolaty perfume in the air. The estate comprised of several generations of coffee trees. Some were extremely old and had been here for many generations, with the newest ones having been grown from seeds of the original trees. Due to prolonged neglect, an immense rejuvenation project was undertaken, and it has only been in the past 20-years that St Helena’s coffee has resurfaced on the world market.

“When I began working on what was then the Alexander Estate,” David said, “it resembled a jungle, with some of the original trees standing 30 to 40 feet tall.”

Breathing life back into his plantation produced abundant crops, with sizable beans. Over the past decade, David’s careful cultivation has produced a coffee which is truly unique, as it is not just a pure Arabica coffee, but a single type of Arabica bean known as Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica.

“The Green Tipped Bourbon,” says David, “is an understated bean - rather elegant, really - and expects a light touch during harvest, wet processing, and roasting. Tending to it in this manner ensures it retains all its superb characteristics for the gratification of dedicated enthusiast.”

The island of St Helena is one of the most remote places on earth, boasting one of the purest environments in the world. The fertile volcanic soil, when combined with David’s organic farming mind-set, is well nourished and fertile, and may go some way to explaining the true exclusivity of his coffee.

Now, on the other side of the island, the weather changed dramatically; salty mist was threading itself through the trees and bringing with it an air of mystery. The silence was deafening, only occasionally stabbed by a shrill bird call. I stopped just above the original tomb of the exiled Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, which is at the head of Geranium Valley. Here lies another plantation - Napoleon's Valley Estate. It is claimed that Napoleon often visited this site, as here he found peace and tranquillity and requested it as his final place of rest. Napoleonic artefacts and several stone terraces were discovered here during the development and planting of the estate.

Enquiring after the standards he sets for his beans, David announced that his coffee is subject to meticulous quality control, which is probably unmatched in world coffee today.

“Owing to our comparatively small crops, we are afforded the luxury of paying more attention to the bean.”

He continued and told that the company’s supervisors all received personal tuition from him, ensuring attention to detail at all phases of the production process.

“My dedicated staff make possible what would be unattainable at larger plants. All our St Helena Green Tipped Bourbon is wet processed, dried and hulled to the highest possible standards.”

David advised that in order to guarantee only the best red cherries are brought in during the harvest season, each plantation is picked on a weekly basis, resulting in an exceptional bean quality from the start.

Just a little south from Napoleon’s Valley is Mt Actaeon Estate, an endemic park, found just below the island's central ridge at 2,200-feet. I looked across a green bowl of valleys, punctuated with cattle and small holdings.

David continued and spoke of his prized beans. “This delicate medium-roasted bean has a high lively acidity, with good balance and good body. It carries a superb fragrant bouquet with no off-flavours with pleasantly floral and fruity hints of citrus and caramel, strongly hinting of its Yemeni origins.”

David sells his coffee in green form, either retail or trade, on a global basis, mainly to prestigious Café’s in England and Europe and only one commercial outlet in the United States. Demand is high, around sixty times his output and all his coffee is pre-sold, except for those reserved on direct retail web-sales.

“In developing St Helena coffee over the past twenty years, I have encountered many problems many of which stem from the fact that no one has done what I am doing, so by being a pioneer of sorts I am constantly breaking in new ground. My coffee dream has been a great learning curve for me and I expect it will continue. Harvesting, for example; our beautiful mountainous terrain and extremely invasive plant species, which are of great concern to me, only add to an already labour intensive business, making this type of work unattractive to most islanders, who are well educated and mostly work abroad. Even though I employ Saints, many for over ten years, there simply are not enough people to harvest my entire crop. So I provide employment opportunities for people from overseas, mainly South Africans, which bring with it logistical and cost factors.

The development of an airport, opening in 2010, will bring with it more opportunities for islanders and also for my business. As such, I hope to expand and take on a wider customer-base and deliver coffee to both retail and trade customers more swiftly. I also plan to develop a range of coffee associated products originating from St Helena.”

David is confident of a bright future as his key aim is to remain focused on the core principal of quality coffee production.

“You see,” David announced, “unadulterated passion goes into every ounce of coffee we produce. My staff and I take great pride in creating true gourmet coffee of exceptional distinction. My philosophy in producing this single origin gourmet coffee is that it deserves every care and attention, therefore the entire process is a damage limitation exercise from soil to cup.”

Although St Helena Coffee Company produces what is probably the most expensive coffee in the world, I feel it’s fully justified as the product is truly unsurpassed in its quality and its uniqueness.

--Ends--

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© Cindy-Lou Dale 2006

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