Hibrido De Timor

Timor Variety
Hibrido de Timor, Hdt, also called TimTim

Hibrido de Timor abbreviated HdT is the interspecies hybrid of C. Arabica and C. Canephora (Robusta) that was found in Timor Leste in the 1940s. This was presumed to be a spontaneous cross, and uncommon since Arabica and Robusta are not compatible in terms of the their genotype. They do not cross pollinate (and arabica is self pollinating). Still, if there are enough plants together for a long enough time, something will happen … and did.

It has been the basis of plant breeding for disease resistant varieties that are widely planted, such as Catimor, and has good resistance to the widespread fungal problem, Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) or Roya.

In Indonesia it is sometimes called TimTim (Sumatra). A new collection of HdT was made in  East Timor in 1978 planted in Aceh in 1979, and in Flores 1980 where the variety is called Churia. here were early selections brought in the 1980s in at least 2 waves, but ICCRI introduced a more stable and productive TimTim type in the 1990s. This 1990s release might refer to Gayo Dua.

While it has resulted in many hybrids, pure Timor Hyrbid is also widely planted, and there seems to be many variants of this coffee.

Our experience with this variety is a bit mixed. We have bought lots of Timor and TimTim, but oftentimes the processing method, such as Giling Basah (wet-hulled process) is dominating the cup, and variety flavors are secondary. While we have never offered a wet-process lot of this coffee (nor can I recall cupping one), I dont think it would pass our cupping test. Wet-process seems to highlight the variety flavor more, and the greenish herbal notes would likley come through strong on an HdT coffee!

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