HATUHEI

Hatuhei - East Timor Washed Coffee

Suitable for: Espresso & Filter Brewing
Best As: Espresso (Milk), Filter (Black)

Flavour Characteristics

White Grape, Red Apple, Milk Chocolate

Origin & Producer Details

Lead Producer: Carlos De Deus 
Farmers: Hatuhei Collective
Region: Letefoho, East Timor
Variety: Hybrid de Timor
Process: Washed
Q-Score: 86
Sourced Via: Kar-Yee, Stewart and Karst Organics

Recommended Rest

For the best tasting brew of this specialty coffee from East Timor, we'd suggest resting this for 20–38 days off roast — we wrote a blog on this here.

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About This Coffee

High Impact

Karst Organics are wholeheartedly committed to their work in Timor-Leste, spending six months each year — including the entirety of the harvest season — in the mountains of Letefoho. Working closely with over 140 partner farmers gives them the time to build a deep understanding of the communities, language, culture and expectations of the producers they collaborate with.

By working directly with farmers, challenges are tackled together. Whether it’s assisting with picking, sorting, pulping, washing and drying, investing in farm infrastructure, or offering hands-on training during peak harvest, no task is too much. Karst remain focused on their mission: to uplift farmers and make a positive, lasting impact on East Timor’s agricultural heritage. 

East Timorese coffee beans are not as well known as we would like them to be, but we are on a mission to change that! We now purchase from Hatuhei every year, making sure that you can buy East Timorese specialty coffee beans in the UK, in a much more accessible way. 

About Hatuhei

While we were drawn to working with Karst Organics in virtually any capacity, we were particularly captivated by the washed coffee produced by the Hatuhei Group. 

Hatuhei supports 32 smallholder farmers and is led by Carlos de Deus and his wife Maria. Carlos has worked tirelessly to encourage members of the group to undertake coffee tree rehabilitation practices — maximising tree health, increasing yields, and improving earning potential.

Carlos works closely with Simao Pedro de Deus, Karst’s Field Manager, ensuring that Hatuhei farmers receive weekly support throughout harvest. As production volumes grow and the coffee gains popularity, quality is never compromised. Only the ripest cherries are selected — often requiring multiple passes during the season to achieve optimum sweetness.

Hatuhei is located in the south-eastern part of Letefoho, in one of the region’s most difficult and remote areas to access. During the dry season, the group can be reached by car. During the wet season, this becomes impossible. The region’s packed-soil roads wash away entirely, cutting the group off from road access.

That this coffee continues to improve year on year despite these challenges is a testament to the determination of the farmers and the strength of the partnership.

Read more on this year's harvest here!

Transparency & Connection

Karst Organics ensure full transparency and traceability throughout the entire supply chain. They take pride in connecting roasters directly with the farmers who produce the beans, creating honest and lasting relationships.

In our most recent conversation with Simao, Kar-Yee and Stewart, we spoke about the uniqueness of East Timorese coffee and the challenges faced during the rainy seasons — particularly the reliable devastation of transportation routes and the need for self-sufficiency alongside coffee cultivation.

We also discussed forestry management, irrigation practices and tree management techniques such as shade growing and leguminous intercropping. The management of soil-based mycelium networks — which help share nutrients between plants — plays a crucial role in increasing yield, quality and flavour potential.

Simao has even established a model farm in Letefoho to demonstrate the effectiveness of these regenerative practices, supplying both coffee and leguminous saplings to partner farmers.

Intercropping & Shade Trees

In partnership with Karst Organics, we support a coffee and forestry model where each hectare of new or rehabilitated land is planted with around 200 leguminous shade trees, primarily Casuarina.

These trees:

• Provide a cool, protective canopy for coffee plants
• Fix nitrogen in the soil, naturally cycling nutrients
• Protect freshly tilled earth from erosion during heavy rains
• Allow farmers to intercrop staples such as yam, arrow-root, bananas and mangoes in the early years

Coffee here does not sit in isolation — the forest and understory crops function together as a system. When properly established, this agroforestry approach takes around nine years from planting shade seedlings to the first full harvest of cherries.

Replenishment & Rehabilitation

Karst are also working with farmers whose older coffee trees have become unproductive — often having grown too tall or unmanaged. Rehabilitation includes pruning or replacing ageing trees so lower branches fruit more effectively, and establishing fresh coffee forests where land allows.

For every 10kg of green coffee purchased, Karst pledges the planting of one seedling in their Letefoho nursery, prioritising households most in need.

With our 2026 commitment of 100 sacks (3000kg), we will plant over 330 trees together — investing not just in this year’s harvest, but in the long-term health of the landscape and the livelihoods of young farming families.

Quality & Growth

When we first began buying from Hatuhei, the coffees were scoring around 85.00 on the SCA scale. Last year’s harvest reached a confident 85.75. Under Simao’s watchful eye — and thanks to favourable cultivation conditions and increased rigour from the Hatuhei farmers — we expect 2026 to be the most refined harvest yet.

This is the fourth season in a row that we have worked with Kar-Yee, Stewart, Carlos and Simao. What began as 30kg in 2022 has grown steadily year on year, culminating in our largest purchase yet for 2026.

Although we are a small fish in a big pond, it has been humbling to grow alongside Karst Organics — expanding volumes together, filling containers together, and strengthening a partnership built on integrity.

A Permanent Seasonal Edition

Karst’s integrity as a value-led company has made it the easiest decision in the world to make their coffee a permanent seasonal edition of our offering.

Each cup of the 2026 Hatuhei harvest reflects the patience required for selective picking, the care invested in regenerative farming, and the shared commitment to quality at every stage of the journey.

We’re incredibly proud to continue this partnership — supporting rural farmers, contributing to positive agroforestry impact, and celebrating the legacy of Timorese coffee, year after year.

Preparation Guidance

Preparing this coffee depends a little bit on your equipment and your water quality.

Hatuhei works beautifully as espresso, but also makes a delightful filter coffee. Both espresso and filter brews yield intensely sweet cups. Espresso-based drinks will yield a little more acidity, and stand out wonderfully against milk. 

We have been brewing this coffee using a number of recipes (depending on your equipment), as it's incredibly versatile.

On our equipment (Lagom 01 + Victoria Arduino Prima), we found a great range of versatility, working well at the traditional 18 in 36 out, or a turbo shot. The best shot I tried was: 18g in, 40g out, 29 seconds.

It's worth noting that if you are running turbo shots, you need a coffee grinder with a burr set fitted that allows for a more unimodal style of grind size particle distribution, otherwise your coffee will likely taste very ashy at these lengths. It's also a good idea to have a really good set of scales (we wrote a guide on this here) to allow for accurate, repeatable results.

For filter, consider brewing at a 1:16 ratio. We've tried a number of different brew methods, and personally I really like this coffee through the Orea V4, as you can really bring out a little more acidity this way, but feel free to try some of our other recommended recipes here.

Hatuhei – FAQs

Is this coffee good for espresso?

Yes — this coffee is suitable for espresso. You can make this as a milk-based espresso drink or a black drink, it will shine equally as both.

Can I brew this as filter?

Absolutely. It performs well as a filter coffee. Consider an immersion-based brewing method to get the best results.

Why rest this coffee for 20–38 days?

Resting allows the roasted CO₂ to outgas, helping sweetness and clarity develop in the cup. We explain the science in our blog linked above. You can brew it sooner than 20 days, but you won't get the absolute most out of your experience.

What flavour profile should I expect?

White Grape, Red Apple, Milk Chocolate

Why did you buy from East Timor?

East Timor is not a conventional place to source coffee beans from. When we met Kar-Yee and Stewart, we were blown away by their kindness, genuineness and overwhelming enthusiasm for the future of East Timorese coffees. We knew that this was a project that they believed in and that was enough to convince us to take a chance. The coffees have only ever been incredible and we're lucky to extend this relationship into 2026.

What does East Timor Coffee Taste like?

Coffee from East Timor tastes quite malic. Lots of apple and grape. You can also find flavours like cola and milk chocolate. Some can also have umami flavours. 

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