It’s always a pleasure to have a call from fellow roasters, so when Jim phoned and said did I want to do a blind tasting of three single estate organic East Timor beans, I was on my way before the call ended. We pleasingly both selected the same Estate feeling that although all three were good this one was superior. Timor-Leste is the world’s 2nd youngest nation, gaining independence from Indonesia in 2002. The Quirilelo Estate, in the district of Liurai in the municipality of Aileu, grows the renowned ‘Hybrido de Timor’ strain of Coffea arabica, known for its high resistance to Coffee Rust a disease that devastated coffee production for years. In the 2018 Timor coffee competition the Quirilelo Estate came 7th scoring 83.38. Interestingly when Jim and I had selected our favourite we were pleased to discover that of the three it was the least expensive, always pleasing. The beans are Honey Processed, one of the benefits of this is that the process uses less water. This method allows the cherries to be de-pulped but then left to dry.