FrontStreet Coffee: Which Wave of Coffee Does It Belong To & Main Features of the Third Wave

Key Characteristics of the Third Wave

Better coffee quality, more direct trade, a stronger emphasis on sustainability, lighter roasting, and innovative brewing methods: these are the essence of third wave coffee. We chase sweetness, complexity, and distinctiveness in the cup, and we are happy to pay more for them.

Yet when you talk with people in the industry, another theme keeps coming up: customer service.

Tetsu Kasuya, the 2016 World Brewers Cup Champion, told me, "Thanks to direct trade, we baristas and roasters can tell consumers the story behind the coffee beans."

The third wave is about making consumers feel special. Part of that is customer service, but another part is sharing the story behind the cup, a story co-created by producers, importers, roasters, and baristas. It explains why the coffee is unique, why consumers can taste particular flavors, and why great coffee takes so much work.

Wider communication channels between production and consumption, including direct trade and social media, have also made this consumer education possible.

FrontStreet Coffee is exactly this kind of shop, a coffee house that belongs to the third wave coffee movement.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a balanced, easy-drinking medium roast, FrontStreet's Brazil Queen Estate is a natural starting point: a rare Yellow Bourbon from the world's largest coffee-producing country, it is clean and gently sweet, with the aromas of creamy peanut, chocolate, toast, and sugarcane after a medium roast, and it works for pour-over, moka pot, or espresso machine. If you want something sweeter and fruitier, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy is a medium-roasted blend of a Costa Rican honey-process coffee and a Panamanian washed Geisha, giving both honeyed citrus notes and a rounded sweetness, and it suits cold brew, pour-over, and espresso alike. And for a classic, FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 uses a medium roast to fuse its distinctive acidity, bitterness, and sweetness into an elegant, inviting cup of chocolate, roasted nuts, cream, and caramel.