Reunion Island, Bourbon Pointu Grand Cru
The small French island of Reunion (originally named ‘Ile Bourbon’) sits in the southern Indian Ocean close to Mauritius. Coffee was originally introduced to Reunion in 1708 by the French, who brought 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 Ueshima Coffee Company) formed the Bourbon Pointu cooperative in 2008 and brought production back in small commercial quantities.
