Rotutu Cooperative | Timor Leste | Natural | Organic

Rotutu Cooperative, Letefoho, East Timor (Organic)

1420 masl

Typica, Timor Hybrid

Natural, African Bed Drying

Tasting Notes: Tropical fruits, jammy, lemon - incredibly smooth

This coffee was processed under Maun Simao Pedro de Deus (Karst’s Field Manager) at the Daurfusu facility. Fresh cherries from households were floated to remove defects, then put into an Ecotact bag to ferment for 12 hours. After fermenting, the cherries were dried on African beds under polytunnels. The team moved them regularly for even drying: thinly for the first 7 days until moisture fell to about 35%, then in thicker layers to dry more slowly. Cooler, cloudy afternoons in 2025 extended the drying to 34 days.

Timor-Leste, a tropical island ~1,000 miles east of Bali with green mountains and blue seas, has a turbulent history. A Portuguese colony (1600s–1975), then annexed by Indonesia until 1999, it became independent in 2002 and is still finding its place. The Portuguese introduced coffee—by 1900 it was the main export but declined under Indonesian rule. Today farmers are rebuilding coffee forests and aiming for the global specialty market.

East Timorese coffee is grown organically under large shade trees like Ai-Kakeu (Casuarina) and Ai-Samtuku (Albizia) in the mountains. Because of limited development and strong animist beliefs, chemical fertilisers are not used.

Previously £16 for 250gm and £56 for 1kg, now reduced so everyone can enjoy this coffee at a lower price.