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The Coffee Atlas
Tabi Coffee Variety
Tabi is Colombia's tall, rust-resistant Typica, Bourbon and Timor Hybrid cross, profiled here from three independently scored 100% Tabi cupping lots.
Flavor profile
avg. of 3 published reviewsScale: 1-10, Coffee Review / SCA-classic-form convention. Averaged from 3 independently published, dated Coffee Review scores of Colombian lots explicitly identified as 100% Tabi: Colombia Tabi La Roca (Big Shoulders Coffee, July 2024, anaerobic natural), Wilton Benitez Tabi VIP (JBC Coffee Roasters, May 2023, double fermentation) and Colombia El Espejo (Big Shoulders Coffee, March 2026, honey). Coffee Review scores attributes in whole numbers, so the averages are rounded to one decimal. All three are specialty lots with unusual fermentation or drying, scoring 93 to 95 overall, so this profile shows Tabi's quality ceiling, not an everyday washed lot. Three lots from two roasters is a small sample and individual-lot variance is large.
What it tastes like
Tabi was bred for the same reason as most modern Colombian varieties: leaf rust. Cenicafe, Colombia’s coffee research institute, crossed Timor Hybrid, a natural Arabica-Robusta cross that carries rust resistance, with Bourbon and Typica, the old cup-quality benchmarks. Roasters date the result to 2002. Unlike the compact Caturra-based Castillo, Tabi is a tall plant with large beans.
The pitch is a rust-resistant tree that doesn’t taste like one. SEY’s write-up calls it a disease-resistant choice with very high cup-quality potential, and the three 100% Tabi lots behind this profile bear that out: La Roca scored 94 on Concord grape and sandalwood, Wilton Benitez Tabi VIP scored 95 on nectarine, freesia and basil, and El Espejo scored 93 on red apple, caramel and orange zest. Across all three, acidity and body each earned a 9, with a viscous, plush mouthfeel and a sweet, fruit-toned cup.
Read those numbers carefully. Every one of these lots was anaerobic, double-fermented or honey-processed, and each was chosen for review by a roaster who sells it as a showcase coffee. They show what Tabi can do in careful hands, not what an average bag of washed Tabi tastes like. The same lots lean on processing for their grape and floral character, so some of what you taste is the fermentation as much as the tree.
How to brew it
Method fit for this origin · editorial guidance from roaster convention
Filtered clarity suits the bright, fruit-toned acidity and floral top notes the reviewed lots show.
The viscous, rounded body works in a shot, but the high-toned acidity of the showcase lots needs careful dialling in to avoid sourness.
Full immersion emphasizes the plush mouthfeel reviewers describe, though it can soften the fine fruit and floral detail.
⚠ Fit tiers are editorial guidance drawn from roaster convention; no industry standard scores brew fit, so we show tiers, never invented numbers. Reflects brew guidance commonly published by specialty roasters for Colombian filter-style lots, not an SCA-defined standard.
Caffeine content
Caffeine by dry weight · each gold dot = 0.1%
Caffeine content tracks species, not variety, origin, altitude, or processing: Robusta beans contain almost twice as much caffeine as Arabica (see Sources & data). Tabi descends in part from Timor Hybrid, a natural Arabica-Robusta cross, but it is bred and sold as Arabica. No credible per-variety caffeine measurement for Tabi was found, so this entry does not place it more precisely than the species-level comparison.
Where to buy it
Transparency: some links on this site are affiliate links; if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Roasters are picked for genuine, current sourcing of this coffee, never for who pays us.
Chicago roaster behind two Coffee Review-scored Tabi lots (La Roca and El Espejo). Look for returning lots.
View lot→Madison roaster whose Wilton Benitez Tabi VIP scored 95 points at Coffee Review in 2023; check the shop for current Colombian lots.
View lot→Brooklyn roaster that has released Colombian lots featuring Tabi, including a Tabi and Yellow Bourbon lot; watch new releases.
View lot→Tabi is a niche variety and listings vary widely; check roast dates, whether the bag states 100% Tabi, and seller reviews before buying.
View lot→Sources & data
- Coffee Review: Colombia Tabi La Roca, Big Shoulders CoffeeCupping scores (1 of 3 averaged): 100% Tabi, Finca Santa Monica, Armenia, Quindio, anaerobic natural, 94 points, July 2024
- Coffee Review: Wilton Benitez Tabi VIP Colombia, JBC Coffee RoastersCupping scores (2 of 3 averaged): 100% Tabi, double fermentation, 95 points, May 2023
- Coffee Review: Colombia El Espejo, Big Shoulders CoffeeCupping scores (3 of 3 averaged): 100% Tabi, honey process, Planadas, Tolima, 93 points, March 2026
- Coffee Review: scoring methodology1-10 attribute scale definition
- SEY Coffee: Flor Pechene El Silencio (Tabi and Yellow Bourbon)Roaster description of Tabi as a newer hybrid developed in 2002 combining Bourbon, Typica and Timor Hybrid genetics, chosen for disease resistance with high cup-quality potential
- P&T's Coffee: Colombia El Porvenir Tabi WashedDescribes Tabi as a disease-resistant Typica, Bourbon and Timor cross released by Colombia's Coffee Research Institute in 2002
- The Way to Coffee: TabiTabi as a Cenicafe-developed Timor, Bourbon and Typica hybrid resistant to leaf rust (La Roya), with tall plants and large beans, and cacao and hazelnut notes attributed to its Bourbon lineage
- Crozier et al.: Espresso coffees, caffeine and chlorogenic acid intake (Food & Function, 2012)Peer-reviewed (Univ. of Glasgow): states robusta coffee beans contain almost twice as much caffeine as arabica, by species (no percentage figures given in this paper)