440 Colombia Buenos Aires Tabi

Flavor Notes

Beans

Farm & Producer: Buenos Aires, Yovanny Gonzalez Lasso
Area : Pitalito, Palmar de Criollo, Huila, Colombia
Altitude: 1,700 m
Varietal: Tabi
Processing: Double Anaerobic Natural

Roast Level

Dark roast

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＜Buenos Aires＞

Finca Buenos Aires is located in the village of Palmar de Criollo, in Pitalito, Huila, southern Colombia. The farm covers approximately 5–6 hectares and is managed by Yovanny Gonzalez Lasso.

Yovanny’s parents have worked as coffee farmers throughout their lives. Although he grew up surrounded by coffee from an early age, surprisingly, Yovanny did not initially plan to become a coffee producer himself. When he was young, he wanted to explore other possibilities and consider a different path.

His relationship with coffee changed through a technical training program at SENA, Colombia’s National Training Service, followed by an internship at Escuela del Café, a coffee school.

There, he discovered a deeper side of coffee that he had never noticed before, perhaps because it had always been so close to him.

Different altitudes create different flavors.
Different regions bring out different characteristics.
Varieties and processing methods can also completely change the expression of a coffee.

The more he learned, the more questions he had, and the stronger his desire to learn became. This curiosity eventually led him to choose specialty coffee as his profession. Today, Yovanny manages Finca Buenos Aires, the farm his family has cultivated for generations.

For Yovanny, producing coffee is not about relying on one special technique. He believes that many important elements need to come together to create quality.

This includes proper fertilization to keep the soil and coffee plants healthy, carefully selecting only good-quality cherries during harvest, and paying close attention to processing and fermentation after harvest.

No single step can create quality on its own. Every part of the process is connected. That is why Yovanny takes care even with the smallest tasks, carefully building quality one step at a time.

At the heart of his work is his love for coffee.

He says that when the coffee they have spent so much time and effort growing becomes a cup of coffee, and someone far away drinks it and thinks, “This is delicious,” it makes all of the work and effort feel worthwhile.

There is one phrase from an interview with Yovanny, shared with us by our green coffee supplier, that particularly stayed with me:

“The interesting thing about coffee is that you can learn something new every day. There is no single answer that is always correct. There are many processing methods we have never tried, and there are always new varieties to discover. The world of coffee is constantly changing, and we continue to learn. Coffee never stops surprising us.”Even after working with coffee for many years, I still have moments when I think, “Coffee is really fascinating.”

I don't think we will ever reach a point where we know everything about coffee. Perhaps that is exactly why we can continue learning.

Reading Yovanny’s words reminded me that this endless opportunity for discovery is one of the reasons I love coffee.

Yovanny once considered taking a different path from his family. But through learning, he discovered the fascinating world of coffee and eventually chose to return to the family farm.

In that sense, Finca Buenos Aires may be more than simply a farm he inherited from his parents. It may be a place that Yovanny discovered and chose for himself after finding his own passion for coffee.

This coffee is made from the Tabi variety.

Tabi is a hybrid variety developed in Colombia with the goal of combining disease resistance with excellent cup quality. It was created by crossing Timor Hybrid, which has resistance to coffee leaf rust and other diseases, with Arabica varieties such as Typica and Bourbon. The variety was developed in the early 2000s with the aim of producing coffee that is both delicious and more resistant to disease.

This lot was processed using a Double Anaerobic Natural Process, with two 48-hour anaerobic fermentation stages.

The green beans have a distinctive yellowish and brownish color, characteristic of heavily fermented coffees, and a strong fermented aroma is noticeable as soon as you open the bag.

When I first saw the green coffee, the yellowish-brown color and fermented character made me think, “Maybe I should roast this quite dark.”

But then I thought, that would be too predictable.

I wondered what would happen if I deliberately roasted this coffee lighter. So I decided to take a chance and roast it on the lighter side.

It turned out to be quite challenging...

The moisture content is relatively high, but applying too much heat during the early stage of roasting can easily scorch the surface of the beans and result in a strong bitterness.

For this reason, I kept the heat relatively gentle during the first stage, then gradually gave the coffee more energy toward the middle of the roast to encourage the necessary reactions.

I also extended the roasting time to around 10 minutes. This helped soften the intensity of the acidity while bringing out the complexity of the coffee.

There is no single answer to what is “correct” in coffee. That is exactly why we can express the same coffee in so many different ways through roasting.

While roasting this Tabi, I was reminded once again of how fascinating coffee can be.

After around two weeks of resting, the sharp edges of the acidity gradually soften, the flavors become more balanced, and the coffee becomes easier to extract.

When you open the bag, you may notice an aroma reminiscent of dark chocolate.

As you pour hot water over the coffee, deeper aromas of cacao and spirits gradually fill the air.

When hot, the cup has a mature character reminiscent of cacao nibs and whisky, with a pleasant bitterness and depth.

As the temperature drops, fermented nuances begin to emerge, followed by layers of fruit that gradually reveal themselves—dried pineapple, red apple, cassis, and red cherry.

There is also a sweet and tart character reminiscent of umeshu, creating an impression similar to a rich fruit liqueur with intensely concentrated fruit flavors.

The coffee has a strong and expressive character from the very first sip. But I recommend drinking it slowly and paying attention as the temperature changes.

You may find yourself wondering, “What flavor will I discover next?”

The producer, the roaster, and the person drinking the coffee can each discover something new from their own perspective.

We hope you can experience some of the fascinating possibilities of coffee through this cup.