Second annual Festival Kafe Timor announced

Festival Kafe Timor will return for a second year to the coffee-producing island nation of Timor-Leste from 21 to 28 October. Activities at the festival will include a national cup quality competition, field visit to rural coffee producing communities for international coffee professionals, cup quality, roasting and retail training sessions, and a lecture program concluding in an award ceremony for competition winners. The event is organised by the Timor-Leste Coffee Association (Assosiasaun Café Timor-Leste – ACTL – in Tetun), a non-profit volunteer trade association representing the country’s coffee stakeholders. “The first Festival Kafe Timor brought together people from across Timor-Leste to celebrate coffee,” said association spokesperson Evangelino Soares. “It was a positive experience for those who participated, motivating and educating farmers, roasters and baristas alike, and fostering a spirit of cooperation that can be built on to improve our industry.” In last year’s cup quality competition, smallholder farmers cultivating Timor-Leste’s signature heirloom Hibrido de Timor coffee variety led the field in the country’s inaugural national cup quality contest, with Tunufahi village in the Letefoho district of Ermera achieving the top score of 84.45 points from a panel of international cupping judges using SCA protocols. Second and third place farmers were less than a half point behind, hinting to what will again be an exciting competition in the 2017 harvest season. For more information about Festival Kafe Timor, visit the Festival Kafe Timor Facebook page or website, and see the video produced showing last year’s event here.