Third Wave Coffee

The idea of "waves" in the coffee industry demarcate different periods of time in which there were significant changes or development in the way that we consume coffee as a world.

While most chronological pathways are tracked by defining the time of each period, with the different waves in coffee, common understanding of the different periods often allude to the development in perspectives relating to the consumption of the drink.

First Wave

The first wave of coffee was marked by the commercialization of instant, convenient coffee.

Back then, consumers mainly cared about the convenience of coffee, and companies worked together with producers solely for the purpose of doing business, that is, buying and selling coffee beans. Coffee beans of average quality and of any source were all taken with the intention to produce and distribute widely as pre-ground coffee that could be kept for long periods of time. In order to meet this intention while keeping consistency across large batches, the coffee beans were often processed very darkly to normalize taste across different batches of beans.

As a result, taste characteristics of first wave coffee often vary in standards, but were found to be generally bitter and dark, and all stemming from the same method of brewing (pre-ground coffee).

Second Wave

The emergence of the second wave of coffee is commonly attributed to Peet's Coffee, and its proliferation a work of the coffee chain Starbucks.

Here, more significance was placed on the origin and quality of the beans, as well as the processing and roasting techniques of the coffee beans involved, to make a significantly better tasting cup of coffee while still catered to the masses.

The second wave coffee brought about the birth of the coffee shop culture. It was also here that the set of jargon coffee people are now familiar with was slowly created.

Most people associate second wave with the view of the consumption of coffee being an 'experience', both in the taste as well as in the ambience in which the coffee is being consumed.

Second wave coffee is perceived to be of darker based roasts of various origin, processed with the intention of highlighting the taste characteristics of the origin of the beans. A more varied set of brewing methods including espresso, French press and the many forms of milk based coffees, as well as coffee-based flavored drinks such as frappucinos.

Third Wave

The development of third wave coffee stemmed from rising prices, and mass produced coffee of its predecessors. Here, quality became of preeminent importance for consumers, and speciality coffee roasters stepped up to the forefront of the industry, providing unique, small batch roasts of beans that aimed to really highlight the individual quality of the beans.

Third wave coffee is often characterized by lighter roasts, single origin beans with high degree of origin transparency that come with specific flavor notes.

Roasters and baristas come to the forefront of focus in this wave, as they help to represent the cups of coffee to the consumer, from the tracing and sourcing of the coffee through to the roasting and brewing of there coffee.

Where does this lead us?

The world is always in a state of progress, and at the time of writing this article, the current trends that are coming to the fore in the industry is that of sustainability of the coffee industry as a whole. Some people know this as the fourth wave.

The worldview of the 'fourth' wave is one of partnership from origin to cup and back, in a cyclical loop of collaboration. Here, the focus is the people - the farmers that grow our coffees, the roasters that roast the beans, the baristas that brew the coffee.

There is an added emphasis on sustainability on the whole supply chain. With initiatives such as fair trade coffee which protects the coffee farmers by paying them a fair price, and the collaboration between all of the involved in the coffee industry to improve environmental and social sustainability, it sets the stage for a global movement that positively affects everyone involved, and the very coffee that we drink.