Clare Black, Oslo – East Timor, a brand new nation barely one month old, hopes that the rebirth of its legendary gourmet coffee will bring some much-needed income to its people who are amongst the poorest in the world.

A Norwegian development project aims to relaunch coffee production in the country located on the northern coast of Indonesia, Norwegian coffee consultant Alf Kramer told delegates on Saturday at a European specialty coffee conference.

East Timor became the world's newest nation just three weeks ago after centuries of Portuguese colonisation and more recently, 24 years of brutal Indonesian control, during which time more than 200,000 people were killed in fighting and by famine and disease that followed the invasion.

"Fine coffees have already begun to reappear on the world market. A coffee legend has returned," Kramer said.

Coffee was first brought to East Timor by the Portuguese in 1815. In 1974, after the Indonesian invasion, production gradually fell from 45,000 tonnes to around 6,000 tonnes today.

"This development may have serious effects as coffee represents the main – if not the only – cash crop in East Timor today," Kramer said in a recent report on the country's coffee industry. He said East Timor was aiming to get production back up to its 1974 level by 2006.

More than half the country's approximately 800,000 inhabitants have no more than 55 US cents a day to live off and 70 percent of the population earn income from agriculture.

With altitudes of up to 1,500 metres, shade trees, rainfalls and a rich soil, East Timor has the perfect cocktail of ingredients for a high-quality coffee.

"The quality of the washed arabica has vastly improved during the last years and I recommend using this 'old but new' coffee particularly for its clean, mellow and well-balanced cup," Alan Nietlisbach of Switzerland's Volcafe specialty coffee said.

An Italian cupper said during a tasting of East Timor's new crop on Saturday, that East Timor's new crop was an interesting coffee with a spicy, pepper taste.

"It is very exciting to taste these new coffees," he told Reuters, adding that it could be a good ingredient for an espresso blend.