by Napoleon is currently out of fashion with the release of Ridley Scott’s new swashbuckling biopic. But when he died in 1821 in the British overseas territory of the South Atlantic on the Island of Saint Helena, after six years in exile, historians recall that these fallen megalomaniacal days were restless and coffee was one of the few comforts he had daily. The St Helens coffee he drank is one of the rarest and most expensive coffees in the world today, retailing at £96 per 3.5oz at Harrods.
After arriving on the island’s newly-introduced mid-week flight from Johannesburg – which doubles St Helena’s air transport to two weekly flights – I walk down to Jamestown’s harbor front to have my first local coffee. Against a backdrop of crashing Atlantic waves and purple-flowered jacarandas, my £3 French press arrives at Jill Bolton’s coffee shop close to where Napoleon landed in 1815.
The coffee is brewed from an Arabica bean known as green-tipped bourbon, brought in from Yemen, and introduced to St Helena by the East India Company in 1733. It has never been cross-fertilized with any other varieties and is as clean with the imbibed Napoleon brew. This rarity combined with export logistics and the island’s minimal production ensure that the beans are worth their weight in gold.
“It’s a light coffee with floral notes,” said Jill from Sheffield, who started the coffee shop in 1995 with her husband, Bill. Her cafe is one of the few places you can drink it on the island as her beans come from a 2.5 acre plantation established by her husband called Rosemary Gate Estate. Most of the other cafes in town serve imported coffee as even on the island the native coffee sells for around £10 per 4oz bag.
By appointment, visitors can visit Rosemary Gate, where unroasted green coffee beans are exported exclusively to Harrods. I noticed before traveling that the Knightsbridge store was completely out of stock. “There were problems with our shipping company, so I haven’t sent any over to England since February 2022,” said Jill.
Rosegate is 25 minutes outside Jamestown. If the bijou capital is magical – all Georgian architecture, Union Jacks, and 70s beer pubs selling drinks at 90s prices – the terroir of the coffee plantations is like Lundy on steroids. Corkscrew roads climb up a long steep hill and plunge into deep valley bowels and cloud-forested peaks leading to dark volcanic cliffs. I’m driven by a 75-year-old taxi driver, Ronald, who explains that he can’t afford St Helens coffee.
“I buy imported coffee from South Africa for three quid a tin,” he said.
The tour takes me through the entire processing operation. From picking the “cherries” when they are mailbox red to removing the soft flesh and then drying the exposed beans in the sunlight. They are then bagged for export and any that are not trimmed – the heavens above Harrods customers would live with spoiled beans – are roasted for consumption on the island at Jill’s coffee shop.
Once hailed as the “best mocha” at the London Exhibition in 1851, St Helena coffee production declined sharply until the early 1990s when a number of small operations emerged. Jill recalls the first time they sold beans to Harrods. “My husband started as a hobby when he retired and suddenly we are the only supplier to Harrods. It was hard to believe. It is a bit like a fine wine. People buy it because of price and reputation.”
Although none of this impresses the Honorary Consul of France in Saint Helena, Michel Dancoisne-Martineau. I join him for lunch at Longwood House, converted for Napoleon during his exile. After dessert, surprise quelle, imported French roast coffee arrives in bone china espresso cups bearing the emblem of the République Française.
Michel said historians were wrong about Napoleon’s love of local coffee. “Yes, he liked drinking coffee but like me he found the local stuff too bitter and weak. The coffee he enjoyed was imported from Sri Lanka”.
Among Michel’s duties is the maintenance of Longwood House, which was sold to France in 1858. It is one of the most atmospheric historical sites I have visited as the interior of this one-story wooden house is set in beautiful agapanthus gardens. it seems like yesterday Napoleon picked up sticks and left. . Much of the furniture is original, including a deep bath in which he soaked for hours every day he resigned to his fate in exile.
“Longwood is a memorial to where he died, not a museum,” Michel said.
After lunch, Ronald drives me to stunning Sandy Bay where volcanic lava spikes rise like baguettes above rampant vegetation, including bananas that grow in the subtropical climate. St Helena’s small coffee production is concentrated here, and my caffeine day ends with the charming Debbie and Neil Fantom, who recently launched coffee production at Wranghams.
Debbie is a Saint (islander), and Neil is from near Derby. Not only have they restored an acre of abandoned coffee plantation from a previous venture but they have also restored 18 majesty.th– a Georgian manor house of this century, where they host high teas for visitors in their garden. A wonderful cook, Debbie introduces me to island delicacies such as “bread-‘n’-dance”: spicy tomato paste spread on bread.
Neil explained that with some tips gleaned from the internet, they overcame the coffee bushes from overgrown vegetation and bounced them back into production. The aim was to grow enough for their own consumption but last year they reached 175 pounds so they sold it for £10 a bag. “In the 70s there was a report saying that St Helena cannot economically export coffee but the demand for exotic roasts has changed over the last 20 years,” said Neil.
Would you like a cup, he asked?
Its roast is darker, and it makes my first St. Helena espresso. If I didn’t know why this light coffee is so popular but not too common, my first sip of her espresso is a wheel from Catherine’s mouth as the bolder intensity evokes citrus notes wonderful. Even Napoleon, with all his Gallic disdain, might have been satisfied with it.
How to do it
Getting there: Virgin Atlantic fly to Johannesburg from £678 return. From Johannesburg, the five-hour connection to St Helena with Airlink is from £726 return.
Where to stay: Mantis St Helena offers B&B doubles from £250 per night.
More information: Visit the St Helena Tourist Board website
