The small French island of Reunion (originally named 'Ile Bourbon') sits in the southern Indian Ocean very near to Mauritius. Coffee was originally introduced to Reunion in 1708 by the French, who brought seeds and 60 coffee plants over from Yemen, but they did not survive. Coffee was then re-introduced in 1711 by Mr d’Hardancourt, Secretary of the French East India Company, on a mission to Reunion Island. Between 1715 and 1718, only 6-7 of these Arabica coffee plants from Reunion's plantations survived and adapted to the natural climate. In 1771 they were found to have naturally mutated into the Bourbon Pointu variety grown today, and became highly esteemed in the court of Louis XV.

Coffee production had almost disappeared on Reunion until a small group of dedicated coffee farmers, under the leadership of Yoshiaki Kawashima (research director at the Ueshima Coffee Company) formed the Bourbon Pointu cooperative in 2008 and brought production back in small commercial quantities of a few hundred kilos per year.

This Bourbon Pointu is grown and hand-picked on the volcanic slopes of the Piton des Neiges, and has an elongated, pointed shape true to its name. Each batch is tested by a jury in order to classify the coffee, with only the very finest zero-defect beans given the classification of 'Le Grand Cru'. Interestingly, Bourbon Pointu beans naturally have less than half the caffeine content (0.5-0.6%) of most other Arabica varieties (1.3-1.5%).

All our roasted coffee varieties can be purchased gift wrapped - simply select the gift wrapping option above the 'add to cart' button.

Gift wrapped coffee comes exquisitely packaged in our signature matte black boxes and finished with satin white ribbon - the perfect gift for any coffee lover.