TRY THIS INCREDIBLE NEW COFFEE
Last year, we worked with our import partners at Karst Organics to bring two coffees from Timor-Leste to our roastery as part of our Washed vs Natural pack. These coffees ended up being one of the highlights of the year for us, so when the season rolled around again this year, we just had to bring to bring one of those coffees back.
So we reached out to Karst Organics and managed to secure Eratoi's incredible washed coffee for 2024. But before we talk about the coffee, let's take a look at Timor-Leste and find out a little bit about their history.
Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste is a country situated in south-east Asia, and comprises of the easter half of the island of Timor. On the 30th August 2021, the East Timorese people voted in their first election organised by the UN to elect members of the Constituent Assembly. On March 22nd 2002, the Constituent Assembly approved the constitution, resulting in the return of more than 205,000 refugees. In May of the same year, the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor came into force and East Timor wasrecognised as independent by the UN.
Eratoi Producers
Found at around 1800masl, the coffee of Eratoi grows amongst forests, providing the coffee with a good balance of sun and shade, allowing it to grow and mature slowly. This leads to optimum sweetness when harvested and processed. The group of producers, led by Simao De Deus, has steadily grown and now consists of 25 smallholder farmers, all hailing from previous generations of coffee farmers. Working together, with a strong sense of unity, the goal to process only the highest quality coffee is at the forefront of their work. Through this collective mindset, working towards a shared goal, the Eratoi group continues to produce delicious coffee year after year, with bold flavour notes balanced with a hint of sweetness.
The Coffee
All the members of the Eratoi group follow the same processing methods, ensuring that only the ripest cherries are picked and processed with the utmost attention. Once harvested, each farmer will then hand sort and sieve their cherries to remove any defects, the cherries are then floated in a tank to further remove any defects. The mucilage-covered seeds are then fermented, 20kg at a time, for between 40-42 hours whilst the natural sugars are broken down. The coffee is then fully washed, before being dried on raised beds for 7-10 days. The craft that goes into producing this coffee is evident from the very first sip. Expect a super sweet and clean cup with notes of toffee apple, guava and Manuka honey.
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