TAU-REMA
Altitude: 1950maslLead Farmer: Mario & Marquita de Deus
Google Earth Co-ordinates: 8°50’09″S 125°30’16″E
| Working together | Since 2021 | Process | Fully-washed |
| Harvest Period | June – August | Packaging | 30kg (Ecotact & Jute) |
| No. of farmers | 6 | Screen Size | 17, 16, 15 |
| Varietal | Typica, Timor Hybrid | What we taste | Raisin, Cacao Nibs, Roasted Hazelnut |
2023 is the third consecutive year working together with our colleagues from the community of Tau-Rema who, at close to 2,000m, are our highest altitude group.
When we were initially approached by the community in 2021, they explained to us that they wanted to work with Karst as processing speciality coffee would give their community an opportunity to increase their annual household income. At that time, farmers from Tau-Rema would need to walk approximately 2km to the nearest mountain road where they would then wait for a commercial buyer to come and buy their freshly harvested cherries for only $0.32c per kilo.
Fast forward to the 2023 harvest and the farmers from Tau-Rema have proven themselves to be a highly motivated group who – with the right training and investment in processing materials from us – are now consistently producing a delicious and clean fully-washed coffee. Most importantly, the community have continued to receive a higher price for their parchment compared to if they had continued to sell their cherries to commercial buyers.
As with all of the groups that we work with, coffee from Tau-Rema is shade grown alongside other crops including yam, sweet potatoes, mangoes and avocados, most of which are daily food staples. This cool and shaded canopy provides a perfect environment for coffee cherries to slowly mature and develop their sweetness that we believe comes out in the cup.
