Starbucks East Timor Coffee Beans | East Timor Coffee Varieties | Tatamailau | Organic Coffee

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Single Origin Series

This coffee grows on Mount Tatamailau, the highest peak in East Timor, where farmers cultivate it in the forest of their own backyards. Rich soil and a temperate climate are ideal for producing East Timor Tatamailau coffee with wonderful flavors - a perfect marriage of herbal and cocoa notes. For years, Starbucks has committed itself to helping East Timorese farmers and their families by purchasing coffee from local communities and investing in health clinics.

Coffee Details

Region: Asia/Pacific (East Timor)

Altitude: 1,250 meters

Variety: Hibrido de Timor

Processing Method: Washed (wet)

Roast Level: Dark roast

Acidity: Medium

Body: Medium

Flavor: Herbal and cocoa

Pairs well with: Maple syrup, cheese, herbal flavors

Tasting Suggestions

Try comparing it with Sumatra coffee, also from the Asia/Pacific region, and note the differences in acidity, flavor, body, and aroma:

While both share the herbal character typical of the Asia/Pacific region, East Timor Tatamailau is washed-processed, unlike the semi-washed (wet-hulled) Sumatra beans. That lets you appreciate the bright floral notes, refreshing quality, and clean acidity of the Tatamailau.

Coffee Information

East Timor is a small island between Indonesia and Australia. After 450 years of Portuguese colonization followed by 25 years of Indonesian rule, the local people are generally not wealthy - the farmers especially live in poverty. The vast majority of growers cannot afford pesticides or insecticides, which has left most of East Timor's land uncontaminated and makes it an excellent region for organic coffee production. In recent years, East Timor has recovered from the economic collapse caused by past political turmoil. With effective assistance from the European Union and USAID (the United States Agency for International Development), more washing stations have been built, equipment updated, and farmers have switched to the stable, high-quality Typica variety. East Timor's coffee quality has gradually won favor in the international market, and prices have risen year by year.

East Timor Tatamailau coffee grows under shade, developing characteristics similar to higher-altitude coffee: shade trees slow the beans' growth and increase their density. Tatamailau grows at roughly 1,250 meters, making it a lower-altitude coffee. (East Timor's Arabica is otherwise grown at 1,300 to 1,800 meters.)

The Coffee Bean Packaging Design

Mount Tatamailau rises in the east-central part of the island and is East Timor's highest peak; in Tetum, Tatamailau means "grandfather of all." As for the island itself, legend tells of a boy who saved a crocodile's life. To repay his kindness, the crocodile transformed into an island where the boy and his children could live. The crocodile's back became the mountain range (Tatamailau, the highest ridge), and its scales became the hills.

FrontStreet Coffee is a Guangzhou roastery with a small shop but a diverse range of beans - famous names and obscure finds alike - offering both in-store and online service.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Anyone who loves coffee has surely tasted Indonesian coffee. The archipelago's finest growing areas are Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi, which anchor three great coffee names: Mandheling, grown in Sumatra, with moderate acidity and an intensely rich fragrance; Java coffee, an Arabica from the island of Java; and Sulawesi coffee, full-bodied and strongly aromatic, though Robusta makes up 90% of the island's total output. When it comes to Indonesian coffee, start with FrontStreet's Wet-Hulled Mandheling, and start with Sumatra's Mandheling region. "Mandheling" refers to Arabica coffee from Sumatra, processed mainly with the local wet-hulled method: because the beans are hulled while still half-dry and half-wet, the green coffee dries fully exposed to the air, which gives it the classic vegetal, herbal, and spice notes. FrontStreet's Mandheling comes from the Lake Toba area of the Lintong region; to express the classic profile it takes a medium-dark roast - low acidity and full-bodied, with rich aromas of caramel, dark chocolate, and toast, and a long, sweet finish. Perfect for lovers of bold coffee.

For top-tier Indonesian coffee, the first choice is FrontStreet's PWN Golden Mandheling. PWN is a trading company focused on buying the finest local Mandheling lots; its coffee is produced only at specialty grade, and Golden Mandheling is its flagship. Production follows strict standards for screening out defects - density, size, shape, color - and each lot goes through one machine sorting plus one manual hand-sorting, ensuring complete, uniform, plump, luminous beans and reducing the earthy and grassy notes Mandheling can carry. Legend has it the beans gleam golden in the sun, hence the name. Freshly roasted FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling offers sandalwood, herbal, spice, toasted hazelnut, caramel, and dark chocolate flavors, with a clean finish, a rich and mellow body, captivating aroma, and impressive complexity - a treat for your daily cup and an even better gift.

In the days before light-roast, acid-forward coffee became fashionable, Mandheling was considered the world's richest, most aromatic coffee, so it often found its way into espresso. Mamba coffee was the signature recipe Taiwanese roasters created back then: a blend of Mandheling and Brazil that fuses Mandheling's wild character with Brazil's smooth body, while the sweet fragrance of nuts counterbalances Mandheling's stronger bitterness and herbal edge. It was a hit on release and remains popular today. Since a perfect cup of Mamba needs rich, golden crema, FrontStreet's Classic Blend - a bold espresso and moka-pot coffee - adds a small amount of Robusta to the base and takes a dark roast, pushing the black chocolate, nut, and caramel aromas to the extreme. Even a complete beginner can easily brew an authentic Mandheling-style cup with it.