19/03/2026
Region: Letefoho, Timor-Leste
Producer: Eratoi Cooperative (40 farmers)
Altitude: 1800 MASL
Variety: Typica, Timor Hybrid
Process: Honey
Notes: Chamomile, Honey, Macadamia
Eratoi is a centrally located sub-district of Letefoho, where the coffee farmers are widely dispersed throughout a large area of land under the watchful eye of Timor-Leste’s most sacred mountain - Mount Ramelau. At an altitude of 1800 masl, the Eratoi members’ coffee forests are all ideally located amongst the cooling shade trees, where the cherries are provided with a good balance of sun and shade, giving them the time needed to grow and mature slowly. With higher altitude comes marginally cooler temperatures, meaning that the cherries require a little more time to ripen.
Once only the ripest red cherries have been selected, they are sifted and then floated to identify and remove any defects. Afterwards, the cherries are pulped and when the seeds have been removed, they are immediately placed on raised drying beds. The drying phase is arguably the most challenging when processing honey coffees as although the mucilage on the seeds may feel slimy to begin with, the sugars within can become extremely sticky very quickly as the parchment begins to dry. Because of this, the parchment is constantly moved every hour for the first 7 days of drying to break up any clumps that have started to form before being dried to approximately 30% moisture. After this point there is still a further 7 – 9 days of drying required as even though the coffee is less sticky it still needs to be moved every 2 hours for even drying until the desired moisture content of 10% is reached. The overall drying time for this coffee was around 14 – 16 days.
The resulting cup contains a sumptuous sweetness with a warm well-rounded texture and mouthfeel.
