Timor-Leste Lacau

Over the past few years, we’ve fallen in love with coffees from Timor-Leste (or East Timor) - specifically washed coffees from the Letefoho area and Cafe Brisa Serena network. This is our third year in a row roasting coffee from the village of Ducurai, but our first time highlighting the Lacau Farmers Group!

Coffees from the Pacific Islands - Timor included - can be round and sweet, but the wet hulled process that’s common in the region - in which the coffee’s protective parchment layer is removed before drying - lends itself to premature fade and vegetal, funky flavors. So, we specifically seek out washed coffees from the islands, dried in their parchment to preserve the goodness and keep out the funk. The tiny country of East Timor has been on the come-up the past few years, in large part by focusing on fully washed coffees.

Cafe Brisa Serena is a social enterprise that works with farmers in East Timor's Letefoho district to improve growing and processing practices, obtain organic certification, and access the specialty market. This particular coffee comes from 14 organic-certified family farms in the tiny village of Ducurai that have organized themselves into a group called Lacau, and is all washed on-farm, rather than at a centralized mill. 

While this coffee does come from a different part of the world, it has quite a bit in common with a subtle, but nuanced washed coffee from Latin America. So if you’ve liked Huck coffees like Productores Cafénor from El Salvador or Atitlán Aprocafé from Guatemala, this could be your jam. We’re tasting chocolate chip cookies, a mix of dried fruits like golden raisins and apricots, and a pleasant, creamy, macadamia-like nuttiness. Lacau’s an approachable everyday drinker, and we’re glad to have Timor-Leste back on the menu for 2026!

*** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***

Sourced from the Lacau Farmers Group in Timor-Leste's Letefoho region, this washed coffee arrives at Huckleberry Roasters with a notably approachable profile. The roaster identifies chocolate chip cookies as the dominant note, supported by stone fruit sweetness (golden raisins and apricots) and a creamy mouthfeel. Washed-process coffees from Timor-Leste often display clarity and balance, and this lot leans toward comforting, dessert-like characteristics rather than bold complexity—the macadamia-like nuttiness adds textural depth without overwhelming the fruit-forward foundation.