Spotlight on...Organic Timor Coopertiva

Autumn is a great time for coffee. The last of the coffees from the northern hemisphere are rolling in along with the first coffees from the southern hemisphere. This week, we're looking south and shining a spotlight on the new crop of Organic Timor Coopertiva, one of our favorite co-op coffees from one of our favorite coffee growing regions.

Timor is an island in the Indonesian Archipelago. The western half of the island is part of Indonesia, but East Timor is an independent nation, Timor-Leste. That's where Organic Timor Coopertiva is grown, in the high altitude Maubesse region.

Coffee arrived in East Timor over 400 years ago, brought to the island by Portuguese colonists. Unfortunately, leaf rust ravaged the colonists' coffee plantations, destroying the island's coffee production. Coffee didn't return to East Timor until the 1900's, when a new variety of coffee, Híbrido de Timor, was introduced to the island. Today, most of the coffee growers are small with farms smaller than 2½ acres. In 1994, these small farmers came together to create the Coopertiva Cafe Timor (CCT). The CCT is a great example of why we love co-op coffees. By joining together, the farmers were able to organically certify and increase the quality of their coffee, so they make more money and are better able to support their families. The CCT also formed a free health care initiative that has funded seven rural clinics, three mobile clinic teams and eleven community healthcare teams. They've helped over two million people since 2001. We love finding coffee that is not only delicious but actually improves the lives of the people who grow it!

As awesome as the CCT and its accomplishments are, we wouldn't buy its coffee if it didn't meet our very picky standards. Luckily, Organic Timor Coopertiva not only meets but exceeds them. We love this coffee, and the new crop is a great example of why. Organic Timor Coopertiva is a washed coffee, so the brewed cup has a cleaner flavor than many Indonesian coffees. A full-bodied coffee, it's grown high enough that it takes any roast level well. The aroma features rich dark chocolate along with a whiff of sweet pipe tobacco. Lighter roast levels (City or Full City), bring out black currant sweetness spiced with a hint of black pepper. Roasted darker, the coffee becomes even heavier and sweeter.

Organic Timor Coopertiva makes a great brewed coffee at whatever roast level you choose. We prefer to brew it in a French Press, but at a darker (Northern or Southern Italian) roast level it makes an outstanding single origin espresso.

Have you tried Organic Timor Coopertiva? How do you think it compares to other coffees from the Indonesian Archipelago? If you have an opinion, please join the conversation and share it on the Facebook thread or in a comment on this blog. Or, if you'd like to share your thoughts with the wider world, leave us a coffee review on Google or on your favorite review site. Not only do we value your opinions, but reviews help more people find us. Help us connect coffee lovers to fresh, quality coffee!

Thanks!

~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast