What Are the Characteristics of Colombian Tabi Coffee Beans?
Tabi is a Colombian variety released by CENICAFE in 2002, bred from a cross of Typica, Bourbon and the Timor hybrid. Its main advantage is resistance to coffee leaf rust, and it also carries the good cup quality of its Bourbon and Typica parents. The name means "good" in the Guambiano indigenous dialect.
The plant looks much like Bourbon and Typica, with slender, tall branches, but its fruit and seeds are slightly larger. It suits high-density planting at altitude, up to around 3,000 trees per hectare. Washed and medium-light roasted, the cup shows citrus, caramel and nutty notes with soft acidity and a clean, balanced mouthfeel.
Tabi is a hybrid variety officially released by the Colombian Coffee Research Institute CENICAFE in 2002, derived from a cross between Typica, Bourbon, and the Timor variety. Its most prominent advantage lies in its resistance to coffee leaf rust, while also inheriting the excellent cup quality of Bourbon and Typica. Tabi is similar in plant morphology to Bourbon and Typica, but its fruit and seeds are slightly larger, making it suitable for high-density planting at high altitudes. This article will review Tabi's breeding history, botanical characteristics, and flavor potential, along with recommended information from Front Street Coffee.
In 1961, the Colombian Coffee Research Institute CENICAFE launched a research and field trial program on Hibrido de Timor. By 1968, the institute combined the Timor hybrid with the widely cultivated Caturra, and this breeding program continued on a larger scale throughout the 1970s. In 1982, CENICAFE released the Colombia variety, which was the result of five generations of selection and backcrossing of the Catimor line, with the goal of combining disease resistance with excellent cup quality and yield.
Related research continued and even accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, aiming to find a truly disease-resistant plant that would not sacrifice flavor. In 2002, CENICAFE officially released the Tabi variety: it was obtained by crossing Typica, Bourbon, and Timor. One of the variety's most important characteristics is its resistance to coffee leaf rust, and it also demonstrates good cup quality, thanks to its Bourbon and Typica parents.
Tabi is morphologically very similar to Bourbon and Typica, with slender and tall branches; however, its fruit and seeds are slightly larger. This variety can be planted at high density, with up to 3,000 trees per hectare, and can adapt to high-altitude environments.
The name Tabi means "good" in the Guambiano (an indigenous Colombian tribe) dialect.
Front Street Coffee recommendation: Front Street Coffee's Colombian Tabi beans are usually washed processed, with a medium-light roast profile. The cup shows citrus, caramel, and nutty notes, with soft acidity and a clean, balanced mouthfeel, making it suitable for pour-over enthusiasts to try.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
