What are the growing conditions for East Timor coffee beans? How many coffee varieties does East Timor have?

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What are the growing conditions for East Timor coffee beans? How many coffee varieties exist in East Timor?

In 1994, after years of conflict, East Timor's coffee industry began to emerge. With assistance from NCBA and USAID, coffee farmers formed the Cooperativa Cafe Timor. This island nation, located about 400 miles off the northern coast of Australia—then still part of Indonesia and a few years away from declaring independence in 2002—started its journey.

To stimulate economic growth, Sam Filiaci, a coffee supplier based in East Timor at the time, sent hundreds of faxes to potential buyers. Filiaci noted that many people hesitated to travel there during that period, but one of the first to respond to his inquiry was Olsen.

Knowing that Indonesia already offered substantial coffee—from Sulawesi to Sumatra—Olsen believed it made sense to look beyond traditional sources. Even so, it was a risky move. He expected East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, to be relatively underdeveloped when he visited, but he did not realize how underdeveloped it would be.

"The roads were terrible. The houses were very meager. People had nothing. And it's not that you didn't see smiling faces and such. But in political, economic, and social aspects, in every way you could imagine, it was deeply troubled," Olsen said.

During his first visit, Filiaci had only about half a container of coffee available for sale—approximately 14,000 pounds, or 120 bags of green coffee—an insufficient quantity, especially by today's standards.

Since that modest beginning in 1994, Starbucks has continued to source coffee from East Timor. Filiaci remains the company's exclusive supplier and now also provides many Indonesian coffees. Coffee plays a vital role in the country's economy today, and Starbucks purchases the majority of its washed Arabica.

Quality keeps improving, and Starbucks highlights East Timor coffee through special platforms such as Starbucks Reserve East Timor Peaberry and Starbucks East Timor Tatamailau, part of its single-origin series.

The Geographical and Economic Context

East Timor, often referred to as Timor-Leste, is an island nation spanning the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In 2002, with a population of 1.2 million, it became a formally sovereign nation. For a country of this scale, Starbucks' global brand promotion offers significant momentum for the economy, tourism, and global market awareness.

Mount Rameleau, at an elevation of 9,721 feet (2,963 meters), is the highest peak on Timor island and anchors a rich, fertile ecosystem. In the indigenous Tetum language it is known as Tata Mailau, literally "Grandfather of All." A 2013 United Nations Development Program study noted that deforestation had rapidly become a growing problem in East Timor—an issue that sustainable sourcing and expansion of the coffee industry may help alleviate. As the Natural Resources Defense Council states, "Agroforestry systems, including those involving coffee, have the potential to improve a country's economic and ecological stability."

Quality and Partnership

Andrew Linneman, a 21-year Starbucks partner, is enthusiastic about the new Mount Rameleau coffee, which serves both consumers and the people of East Timor. He describes coffee from the slopes around Mount Rameleau as "very different," with a "brighter flavor profile" atypical of Asian coffees. Linneman, who first began sourcing from East Timor in 1996, is pleased that the region's single-origin coffees can now be showcased. As Vice President of Global Coffee Quality and Engagement, he calls the new Mount Rameleau coffee "an important recognition of the work done by the East Timorese government and our farmers in improving infrastructure and supply chain."

As a 2013 report noted, "46% of East Timorese households rely entirely on coffee for income." A 44-page 2012 study by the Swedish Industrial Economics Research Institute found that infrastructure, outdated factories, and other technical issues hindered East Timor's coffee industry, and it cited World Bank research indicating that investment and modernization could raise gross profit margins nearly fourfold and returns per labor day by over 50%. The report, published two years before Starbucks launched its single-origin East Timor coffee, concluded that Starbucks' presence and promotion of the country's coffee would have high impact.

Coffee is East Timor's main economic crop and its primary export. In 2009, roughly 67,000 households grew coffee, with exports aimed mainly at high-quality niche markets abroad. Starbucks' decision to sell East Timorese coffee significantly enhanced the product's reputation and opened up a vast potential market.

Linneman says that approximately 22,000 farmers in cooperatives supply Starbucks from East Timor, and he looks forward to the Mount Rameleau single origin "enhancing our customer experience." He also emphasizes the Coffee and Farmer Equity (CAFE) Practices Starbucks applies in all 28 countries where it sources, including environmental and social programs: farmers working with Starbucks' partners in East Timor have access to 20 mobile medical clinics and 9 fixed-location clinics, with Starbucks helping to pay for these services. "Our success is intertwined with our farmers' success," he says. "We want to provide stability for farmers so that we can reliably produce our products for consumers and provide reliable livelihoods for our farmers."

Social and Agricultural Challenges

Many communities in East Timor are plagued by what they call the "hungry season"—a four-month period of famine between the depletion of last year's crops and the next harvest.

Child mortality rates from malnutrition and poverty are among the worst in Asia and often reach crisis levels for farmers during the harvest gap.

The World Bank's private-sector arm lists East Timor as one of the most difficult places in the world to do business, but several NGOs are working to rebuild the small nation's self-sufficient agricultural base and business practices.

In agriculture, rebuilding villages paralyzed by hunger and poverty takes a decade; NGOs like Empreza Di'ak are improving facilities and livelihoods through various projects in a country where much food is imported.

Organizations like Seeds of Life work to identify the high-yield crop varieties best suited to the country's climate.

By introducing reliable seeds, they hope to improve livelihoods and yields, but efforts to improve food security and seed distribution in this primarily agricultural society remain controversial.

Some locals view modern agricultural methods and industrialization with suspicion, arguing that traditional organic methods and crops are better because they are part of the culture.

Timor Coffee Plant Varieties

The interspecific hybrid of Robusta (Coffea canephora var. Robusta) and Arabica—the Hibrido de Timor—was first discovered on the island of Timor in 1940.

Timor coffee began to be cultivated for its strong resistance to coffee leaf rust, a disease that afflicts most coffee varieties.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Method

• Dripper: KONO dripper
• Water Temperature: 88°C
• Grind Size: Small Fuji grinder setting 4
• Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:14 with 17g of coffee. First pour of 25g water for a 30-second bloom. Second pour to 238g total. Extraction time approximately 2:30.
• Analysis: The KONO dripper has fewer ribs at the bottom, so the filter paper fits closely against the walls and restricts airflow. Water and grounds stay in contact longer, securing extraction time and rate for coarse grounds, so the coffee extracts fully with enhanced body and concentrated flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

East Timor's Timor-Hybrid lineage leads naturally to Indonesia's other great coffees, and FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesia lineup is the place to explore them. The FrontStreet wet-hulled Mandheling comes from the Lake Toba area of the Lintong region in Sumatra; the wet-hulled process—hulling the parchment while the beans are still half-dry—gives it the typical herbal and spice character, and a medium-dark roast delivers a low-acid, full-bodied cup of caramel, dark chocolate, and toasted bread with a long sweet finish.

For the top of the range, choose the FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling: graded for density, size, shape, and color, then sorted by machine and by hand to remove defects, it tastes of sandalwood, herbs, spice, roasted hazelnut, caramel, and dark chocolate with a clean, mellow richness. Espresso drinkers should try the FrontStreet Classic Blend, a deep-roasted Mandheling-Brazil combination with a touch of Robusta that maximizes black-chocolate, nut, and caramel notes and pulls a thick golden crema—the modern descendant of the classic Mocha-Java style pairing.