Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste

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Cristo Liurai

Name: Cristo Liurai
Brand: Karst Organics
SKU: CRISTOLIURAI-HALF
Price: 11.95 GBP
Availability: InStock

£11.95
As low as: £12.00

£11.95

85.0 Cup Score

In the hills of Timor-Leste, the Cristo Liurai community is pushing the boundaries of speciality coffee. Led by Luis Santos de Jesus—a schoolteacher by day—this group of 24 farmers has embraced precise processing techniques to produce exceptional coffee.

Each farmer carefully processes their own harvest at home, selecting only the ripest cherries before floating, pulping, and fermenting them for 40–44 hours. After an intensive washing process, the beans dry on raised beds for 7–10 days, turned regularly until they reach the perfect 10.5% moisture level. A community-funded moisture meter has given farmers even greater control, ensuring consistency across every lot.

After resting for six weeks, the coffee is transported to Dili for grading, hand sorting, and export. This hands-on approach brings out a beautifully clean and vibrant cup, showcasing the dedication and skill of Cristo Liurai’s farmers.

Processing method

Washed

Main flavour notes

Green Apple | Roasted Hazelnut | Raisin

Varietal

Typica , Timor Hybrid

Harvest period

June - Jul 2024

Altitude

1500-1600 masl

Screen

+16

Species

Arabica

Region

Cristo Liurai, Letefoho
See on a map

Recommended brewing method

Espresso, Filter, V60, Aeropress

Order Samples

50g Unroasted £3 Unroasted added

30g Roasted £5 Roasted added

Roasted samples are roasted using the most suitable representative profiles and may delay delivery.

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Roasting Recommendation

In my experience, coffees from Karst and their partner producers in Letefoho are notably dense, with relatively high moisture content. They share similarities with washed coffees from East Africa in terms of flavor profile and characteristics, and can be roasted using a similar approach. When roasting these coffees, it’s essential to start with higher initial heat to effectively remove moisture and avoid an extended color change phase. Maintaining consistent energy throughout the roast, particularly leading into the first crack, is crucial. These coffees are known for having a strong, pronounced first crack, and it’s common for the Rate of Rise (ROR) to drop off sharply afterward. To avoid any potential crashes, especially if this aligns with your roasting style, preemptive adjustments might be needed.

Roasting Recommendation By

Ted Mahoney

From Cartwheel Coffee

Nottingham, UK

Meet your producer

Name Cristo Liurai Group

Year Started 2020

Location Cristo Liurai, Letefoho See on a map

The Cristo Liurai group, led by Luis Santos de Jesus—a schoolteacher by day—embodies the potential of Timor-Leste’s emerging speciality coffee sector. With the right investment in materials, processing training, and strong leadership, this community has steadily grown. Today, Cristo Liurai has 24 members, with more farmers joining each year as they seek better opportunities to improve their income through high-quality parchment processing.

Luis’s meticulous approach to processing has set a new standard within the group. Inspired by his example, other members now keep detailed records of drying times and moisture content, ensuring consistency and quality. This was further strengthened in 2023 when green bean sales financed a dedicated moisture meter for Cristo Liurai farmers, providing greater autonomy and precision in their processing. The 2024 harvest brought more stable weather than previous years, allowing for optimal drying times of 7–9 days to reach the ideal 10% moisture content.

With all 24 members now equipped to process their own coffee, the next stage of development begins. Karst Organics is supporting Luis and the community in coffee tree rehabilitation efforts and plans to establish Cristo Liurai’s first coffee seedling nursery. Until now, seedlings had to be transported from Karst Organics' Field Manager, Maun Simao de Deus. A local nursery will help increase cherry yields per hectare, ensuring sustainable growth and higher household incomes for the farmers of Cristo Liurai.

Meet your sourcing partner

Karst Organics

Countries of operation Timor-Leste

Established date 2017

Karst Organics is a relationship-driven green bean exporter and importer, dedicated to bridging the gap between the coffee farmers of Timor-Leste and specialty roasters. We spend half the year in Timor-Leste, including the entire harvest season in the mountains of Letefoho, working closely with our partner farmers across 144 households. This deep investment of time allows us to truly understand their communities, language, culture, and expectations, fostering transparency and stronger partnerships.

Our direct collaboration with producers within their coffee forests and households has naturally built a foundation of mutual trust and respect. Together, we navigate challenges and respond to needs as they arise, offering support wherever it’s needed. This includes direct investments in farm-level infrastructure, specialized training in processing specialty coffee, and hands-on assistance during critical harvest times—whether it’s lifting, carrying, picking, sorting, pulping, washing, or drying coffee.

£11.95
As low as: £12.00

£11.95

Cupping Score

85.0