Riding The Third Wave of Coffee
21st May 2013 by
Naturally, a large chunk of the Chorlton Coffee Festival is about community, cafe culture and bringing together the cafe scene in this corner of South Manchester, but you may have started to notice phrases like single estate, pourover, and cupping creeping into some of the events and specials listings. Don’t be alarmed though, and keep an open mind, as this just represents a few breakers from the so-called Third Wave of coffee lapping at Chorlton’s shores.
Third Wave? This sounds technical. Is it a pretentious coffee snob club?
If you’ve never heard of Third Wave coffee, what I’m about to explain will probably leave you one of two ways. You’ll either feel intrigued and excited about the way that coffee and cafe culture might be heading, or slightly annoyed that just as you were getting used to ordering a ‘latte’ instead of a simple ‘coffee’, the aficionados have moved in and might make coffee inaccessible to anyone other than hipster geeks and coffee snobs. Try to bear with me though, because the good news is that the Third Wave can have benefits to all – as long as it’s proponents avoid falling into the trap of making exclusive head-nodding cliques.
Hang about! Explain the waves?
OK, the ‘waves’ refer to the way that the consumption of coffee has developed over the last sixty years or so. Definitions of the ‘three waves’ of coffee vary. However, all definitions have the same basic principles.
The First Wave points to the growing popularity of coffee consumption after World War II, with the emergence of the freeze-dried coffee. With the quality of the coffee often low, it was mainly viewed as an instant ’pick-me-up’ drink. Think Maxwell House, Gold Blend ads and crusty spoons in 1970s staffrooms.
The Second Wave saw a general improvement in coffee quality, helped by the emergence of global coffee chains. In the UK, Starbucks entered the market in 1998 and the UK’s perception of coffee has gradually changed ever since. This is when we got used to espresso based drinks such as the cappuccino and latte and a rise in the consumption of arabica coffee, rather than the inferior robusta variety. Think double-shots, ‘bean to cup’ machines, ‘frothy coffee’ and Italian terms.
Originally coined in the US (of course) in 2002, the Third Wave refers to the current trend of producing high-quality coffee. Coffee is more and more being regarded as an artisanal foodstuff, like wine, as opposed to a commodity.
The idea is that by equipping consumers with more coffee knowledge and providing more information about where their coffee comes from (bean to cup), the coffee industry will continue to evolve at all stages of the production process, from growing and harvesting, right up to brewing. Think single estate harvests, information on small farms and crop-altitude, independent artisan ‘micro-roasters’ and home coffee brewing gadgets.
That seems like progress, but also a bit scary. I’ll stick to my cappuccino please.
And of course you may. Espresso and the related Italian-style ‘barista’ beverages remain at the heart of coffee making in so-called Third Wave cafes. But what you may find as this revolution continues, is that the advances in the quality of the product becomes noticeable. Specialist roasters are now pushing to increase the quality of coffee to the tiniest degree. By going straight to the source (the farms) and upgrading techniques there to improve the quality of the bean they eventually roast, the flavour profiles they are able to extract from their product can be extraordinary. Certainly grab a cappuccino, but you may not need chocolate sprinkles any more to get a dash of sweetness or chocolatey experience in your cup.
OK, but does this mean that I have to don hipster glasses and umm and ahh about how the altitude of the farm makes all the difference to the citrus notes?
You can, but perhaps this is where the coffee revolution has to be careful. If you can find a friend who wants to cogitate over the merits of a Clever Dripper versus a syphon, then great. I’ll be your friend. I love that stuff. But just like wine, cars and some music and sport, Third Wavees have to be careful not to bore, scare or alienate people. The rise of the Third Wave has done great things for coffee producers in many parts of the world, raising standards and ensuring fair trade and sustainability. It has also brought coffee making out of the mass-production market and turned it into a real craft, where quality matters. But snobbishness is neither good for business or for allowing consumers to educate themselves.
Hopefully, that’s where the events at the Chorlton Coffee Festival can help. So don’t be scared of artisan coffee and don’t be embarrassed to ask for a single estate pourover for a change. Other than enjoying Chorlton’s cafe scene, try something different at the festival, where there will be events and specials at some cafes offering coffee tasting, single origin brews and the chance to sample coffee made differently. We promise not to allow it to turn into a head-nodding clique, and it might just blow your tastebuds.
Tags: coffee, coffee trends, espresso, history, pourover, single estate, third wave
