St Helena, Bamboo Hedge Estate

In the heart of the South Atlantic Ocean lies the remote, tropical windy island of St Helena. The island has been a British colony since the 17th Century and is one of the most isolated of British overseas territories. The native Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica varietal coffee was introduced to St Helena in 1733 by its then owner, The East India Company, brought over from the fabled port of Al-Mokha in Yemen.

The island's most famous resident was the Emperor Napoleon, himself a huge coffee enthusiast, who was exiled to St Helena after his defeat at Waterloo in 1815 until his death in 1821. Many connoisseurs consider this to be the best coffee in the world - and Napoleon agreed, stating that “the best thing about St Helena is the coffee”!

Produced in small batches by Bamboo Hedge Estate, believed to be the original plantation established by the East India Company in 1733 and whose coffee fetched the highest price on the London market in 1845, this farm lies high in the Sandy Bay valley at between about 400 and 500 meters above sea level. The limited annual harvest makes this coffee exceptionally rare and prized by coffee connoisseurs. The ripe coffee cherries are hand-picked, and wet processed using natural spring water from the island's peaks. The result is a cup of superb elegance and subtlety with wonderful balance, perfect for drinking all day.