Introduction
The Island of St Helena is a small, mountainous, sub tropical island of 47 square miles, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, on latitude 16 degrees south and longitude 5 degrees 45' west. The island was discovered by the Portuguese Admiral Joao da Nova on the 21st May, 1502. He landed where Jamestown stands today and built a chapel there. For over eighty years the Portuguese kept their discovery a secret and used it to replenish their East India fleet.

St Helena ceased to be Portugal's exclusive preserve in 1588, when Capt. Thomas Cavendish called there during the last stage of his round-the-world voyage in HMS Desire. English and then Dutch ships were soon calling frequently. Following a Dutch attempt to annex the island in 1633, the East India Company decided to fortify it and in 1659 the first permanent settlement was established.

In 1673 St Helena was captured by the Dutch but only four months later was recaptured by the English. The East India Company was granted administration of the island which continued until 1834 when it was brought under the direct control of the British Crown.

On 15th October, 1815, the defeated French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived at St Helena and began his imposed exile. His home was to be Longwood House, where he was to remain until his death on the 5th May 1821.

Today St Helena is a British Overseas Territory with an English speaking population of approximately five thousand people, mainly of English, African and Chinese descent.

The nearest land is Ascension Island, some 1125 Km north west of St Helena, with the closest mainland port being Cape Town, Republic of South Africa, and some 2720 Km southeast of the island.    St Helena Island is one of the most remote places on earth. Without an airport, access to the island is via the Royal Mail Ship St Helena, operated by Curnow Shipping Ltd. at Falmouth, Cornwall, England.

St Helena Coffee
On the 10th February 1733, coffee seeds were brought to the Island of St. Helena, by its then owners The East India Company. The Green Tipped Bourbon Coffee seeds were brought from the coffee port of Mocha in Yemen, on a Company ship the "Houghton" by Captain Philips.

Over the past ten years, St. Helena coffee has been become known to coffee connoisseurs world-wide, who have been seduced by its distinctive quality and uniqueness.

St. Helena coffee is unique, as it is not just a pure Arabica coffee, but a single type of Arabica bean known as Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica.

Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica is a subtle and delicate bean, which requires great care during harvesting, wet processing and roasting, to ensure that all of its wonderful characteristics are preserved for the enjoyment of the true coffee connoisseurs.

With the Island being one of the most remote places on earth, situated on the South Atlantic Ocean, in the path of the South East Trade Winds, St. Helena has one of the purest environments in the world.

Only natural fertilizers are utilized. Livestock manure is not used as it may contain non-organic substances from concentrated animal feed or veterinary treatments.

The coffee is wet processed using pure spring water descending from the Island's peaks, along the Central Ridge.
St. Helena is fortunate of having a rich supply of guano, the dropping of sea birds, which are collected from small out-crops, of rock along the island coasts and used as a natural fertilizer. The guano being extremely rich is allowed to dry and than applied sparingly at the base of the trees during the early stage of the wet Season.

Being a volcanic island, St Helena's soils are extremely rich and the climate sub-tropical. Combined with our organic cultivation philosophy and single bean origin, St Helena Coffee is a truly unique coffee sensation.

 
Napoleon's Valley Estate
His coffee estate is situated just above the original tomb of the exiled Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, at the head of Geranium Valley. Napoleon often used to visit this site, where it is said he found peace and tranquility and requested as his place of final rest. This estate was also the place of residence for his Chief Aid, Marshall Bertrand and his wife.

During the development and planting of the estate, several stone terraces were unearthed and artifacts discovered, such as Wedgewood china, wine bottles and a lovely set of stone steps framed by an arch of ferns leading towards Napoleon's tomb.

Napoleon´s Valley Estate is owned by Mr. David R. Henry, an Englishman who 25 years ago had the vision to bring back coffee production to St Helena.  His father was a St Helena native who migrated to England many years ago. Mr. David R. Henry owned a construction company in England which he sold in order to move to St Helena, the land of his father, and start the only coffee enterprise in the island. He was 25 years old at the time. Mr. Henry has personally trained all the workers at the estate to ensure attention to detail at all stages of the coffee production process.

Napoleon´s Valley Estate Profile
Napoleon´s Valley Estate coffee is wet processed to the highest possible standards, with a wonderful semi translucent sheen in green bean form. This delicate bean, medium roasted has a high lively acidity, with good balance and good body. This coffee has a superb fragrant bouquet with no off flavours and pleasant floral fruity hints of citrus and caramel strongly hinting of its Yemeni origins.


Quality Control
Napoleon´s Valley Estate coffee is subjected to the most rigorous quality control. Due to the relatively small quantity of coffee produced, it is possible to give the coffee more attention than a larger coffee industry could expect to do.

One of the major challenges for coffee production in St Helena is the deep scarcity of local farm labor. 

Here are some of the characteristics of Napoleon´s Valley Estate: