Coffee from Agaete

The coffee plant arrived in the Canary Islands in the 18th century, specifically in Tenerife, where in 1788 and following a royal decree made by King Charles 3rd, a garden was created in the valley of La Orotava for the acclimatization of exotic plants from the colonies in America and Asia. It made its way from there across to Agaete, in Gran Canaria, during the first half of the 19th century, where it settled in the fertile farming valley, occupying the edges of fields of estates dedicated to the cultivation of subtropical crops. The French had already spread coffee-growing across the American continent, and quoted Tenerife in 1803 (through mining engineer Louis Gordier: “With great pleasure I once again saw palm trees, cotton fields, cacti, coffee plants and banana trees”), and in Gran Canaria in 1851 (Phillipe de Kerhallet, hydrographer and seaman: “They have made attempts to cultivate sugar cane and coffee plants”). The coffee plants are of the typica variety, one of the most ancient types of Coffea arabica, which has been recuperated and has seen its value increased. It is a true exotic variety of coffee, with a very limited production –barely 5,000 kilos are produced in the valley- and for this reason entail high costs, have no plagues or deseases, with the added idiosyncracy of being cultivated in a European country. Culinary journalist and critic José Carlos Capel describes it in one of his articles, following his visit to the valley, as “a light infusion, very aromatic and complex, moderately acidic and subtly bitter, with hints of chocolate, liquorice and fruits. A real delicacy”. (El País newspaper, December 2017)

Yuri Millares, December 2017