Baunova, a coffee roastery and café in downtown Busan, has been combining traditional coffee culture with modern approaches since 2012. The interview explores their coffee philosophy, roasting techniques, and how they use technology to maintain quality while staying true to coffee's essence.

Can you tell us a little bit about Baunova?

Baunova first opened its doors on September 18, 2012, in the historic downtown of Busan. Located near the Jagalchi Fish Market and the International Market, it is a vibrant mix of tourists and long-time locals. For the past 13 years, we’ve embraced an analog sensibility, offering coffee and experiences that stay true to their roots. Today, we’ve evolved into a space that reflects the rich history and culture of this charming old downtown area.

Baunova is more than just a place that sells coffee. We hope it becomes a space where guests can step away from their daily lives, find some breathing room, and recharge their senses. To achieve this, we've designed the space by modernly reinterpreting the analog sensibility of the old downtown area, and we aim for a warm, human-centered approach in both our coffee and service.

To share a little bit more about why Busan. Busan is not just a place where the coffee industry is active, but a city where coffee culture has uniquely developed alongside local characteristics. 95% of Korea's coffee imports come through Busan Port, and international coffee-related events are frequently held here. Many World Barista Champions are from Busan. Because of this background, doing coffee in Busan is more than just a business—it's about leading the city's coffee culture.

Let’s talk about coffee now. What kind of coffee does Baunova pursue?

Baunova pursues "coffee true to its essence, coffee that can be comfortably consumed." We believe coffee should provide ongoing comfort beyond just tasting good. We create a balanced flavor based on sweetness, helping customers experience healing and escape stress while drinking coffee.

We use single-origin beans while maximizing the inherent characteristics of the green coffee or compensating for any lacking aspects through roasting. We believe sweetness can only reveal true depth of flavor when it harmonizes with coffee's other flavor notes like acidity and saltiness.

There are many reviews saying Baunova's latte is special. Are there specific things you pay attention to when making lattes?

Yes, our lattes are a menu item many customers particularly enjoy, so we're very attentive to them. We use ‘Busan milk’, which we feel enhances coffee flavor without overpowering it, providing just the right amount of richness and sweetness. Since lattes are about the harmony between milk and coffee, we continuously work to match the milk's taste with the coffee's profile.

Milk's taste changes slightly with the seasons. In summer, fat content decreases and flavor becomes lighter, so we slightly raise the roasting point to complement the coffee's flavor. On the other side, in winter when milk's fat content increases and becomes richer, we adjust roasting to be slightly lighter so the coffee doesn't become too heavy. We try to balance flavors this way according to the season.

What roasting machine does Baunova use, and why did you choose that model?

We use the German Probat L5 model. This roasting machine delivers a balanced combination of conduction and convection heat to the coffee beans, allowing you to preserve their unique characteristics while achieving stable, uniform roasting results..

We've used the Probat L5 since opening, because we trusted the machine's reliability and performance. We purchased it second-hand directly from the German headquarters and received tuning and training at the Giesen headquarters, thoroughly learning the machine's structure and usage. Through this process, our understanding of the machine deepened, and our affection for it grew.

The primary reason for choosing the Probat L5 is its precise heat management and high durability. It's suitable for small roasteries and can accurately implement desired flavors based on green coffee characteristics and roasting data. I still believe in this machine's potential, so I'm not considering replacement. Instead, I'm using the Firescope data analysis tool to maximize the machine's efficiency and continuously improve coffee quality.

What element do you consider most important when designing a roasting profile?

Roasting is a process of preserving the green coffee's inherent characteristics while creating a balance that customers can enjoy. We use the first crack and ROR (Rate of Rise) as critical standards when designing roasting profiles. For espresso, we set a lower ROR considering extraction ease, while for filter coffee, we raise the ROR to maximize flavor notes.

We modify profiles based on data collected during roasting to adapt to the changing characteristics of green coffee each year. Coffee is an agricultural product, so even beans from the same region can taste different annually. Therefore, we work to maintain the best taste by quickly responding to those differences based on data.

How did you learn about Firescope and what motivated you to adopt it?

I saw it being used by places like 180 Roastery on YouTube. Initially, it was just a curiosity of "what is that program?" But as I looked into it, I was attracted by its data management efficiency and user-friendly interface.

Previously, I was using Artisan. As you probably know already, it’s file-based, making data management and the initial set up a little bit complicated. In contrast, Firescope is cloud-based, allowing systematic data management, and enabling quick comparison of various profiles, which I found much more convenient.

Additionally, Firescope team is continuously incorporating user feedback, which was impressive. Considering the potential for future AI integration, I believed it could help us further improve our roasting quality.

What's your favorite feature of Firescope?

The profile feature plays a crucial role in managing and improving our roasting quality. Even with the same green coffee, the desired taste and extraction method differ when roasting for espresso versus filter coffee. It's important to design and manage separate profiles for each. Being able to systematically save these profiles and quickly load and compare them is extremely convenient.

What changes have you seen after introducing Firescope and Cupnote?

Introducing Firescope and Cupnote enabled data-driven coffee quality management. Previously, cupping results were simply noted or shared in group chats, which was quite limiting in terms of what we could do with all those data. Now, we can systematically manage all data through a cloud-based system, using this as a basis to fine-tune roasting and extraction processes.

Another thing is that the amount of beans we throw away has visibly decreased. By using Cupnote to compare espresso and brewing results and understanding their correlation with roasting profiles, we can reflect these insights in subsequent roasting.

If you were to recommend Firescope, to what type of roastery would it be most suitable?

I would particularly recommend Firescope to two types of roasteries. First, those that rely on manual logging. Roasting without data makes it difficult to maintain consistency or obtain feedback. Second, roasteries handling multiple green coffees and conducting multi-product roasting. In such cases, Firescope is extremely helpful for efficiently managing and analyzing green coffee characteristics and profiles.

The profile feature reduces margin of error based on accumulated roasting data, enabling consistently stable and predictable results. Roasters can clearly verify whether their designed roasting is proceeding as intended or needs modification through data and profiles.

Especially, visualized roasting data through Firescope allows roasters to gain confidence and certainty. By precisely setting error margins based on data logs and verifying whether green coffee and roasting results fall within this range, roasters can establish benchmarks for new roasting strategies even as green coffee characteristics change annually.

Ultimately, Firescope is more than just a tool—it's a partner that enhances a roaster's expertise and boosts confidence. This plays a critical role in maintaining data-driven reliability and quality.

What is Baunova's direction moving forward?

Baunova aims to continue providing coffee true to its essence while growing as a unique space connected to local culture. We want to use digital tools to refine coffee quality more precisely, while simultaneously offering customers an emotional and warm space. As a roastery cafe combining technology and sensibility, we will continue to provide special moments to more people through coffee.

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