Coffee Waves: Understanding the Four Waves of Coffee Culture - Fourth Wave Coffee with Complete Traceability

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FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Coffee Waves

During the Industrial Revolution and two World Wars, coffee and tea played the role of refreshing and energizing beverages. Instant coffee emerged during this period, emphasizing convenience, speed, and affordability. The era when humans began consuming coffee in large quantities is known as the First Wave of coffee.

Although instant coffee was efficient and inexpensive, its taste left much to be desired. As world stability improved and living standards rose, chain coffee shops led by Starbucks became the new favorite. This marked the Second Wave of coffee, which packaged and marketed coffee as a lifestyle attitude.

As more people drank coffee and origin information became increasingly transparent, a group of coffee connoisseurs naturally emerged—including both industry professionals and customers—who continuously sought truly premium coffee. Driven by passion, they sacrificed time efficiency and profits to obtain exceptionally flavorful coffee. This became what we commonly refer to as specialty coffee, or the Third Wave of coffee.

The Fourth Wave of coffee is essentially about understanding the upstream story of coffee as an agricultural crop—not only focusing on origin but delving deeper into which specific estate the coffee beans come from. Coffee names now detail the country of origin, estate, coffee variety, grading, processing method, year, and batch number—all meticulously listed like fine wine.

In recent years, more and more "estate coffee shops" emphasizing origin and in-house roasting have opened in China, Japan, and South Korea. Estate coffee refers to coffee beans shipped directly from coffee origins to specialty coffee shops. These beans reflect local terroir characteristics to some extent, and each estate's products vary due to differences in microclimate and production techniques, preserving the most original and premium flavors of the coffee beans.

Just as one can understand a wine's flavor from its bottle label, estate coffee bean names work similarly. The packaging lists the country of origin, then narrows down to region, then to single estate or cooperative, and finally details the coffee variety, grading, processing method, year, and batch number within that estate or cooperative. For example, African Kenya estate beans might be described as: Kenya, Ruiru (origin), Tatu Estate, 16-17 (year), Bourbon (variety), etc.—much more detailed than information typically available to general consumers, making coffee drinking as refined as wine tasting.

One of the most famous estates in the coffee world in recent years is undoubtedly Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda. The Geisha coffee beans produced by this estate successfully auctioned for $601 per pound at the 2017 "Best of Panama" auction, becoming one of the world's most expensive coffee beans.

Beyond La Esmeralda, there are Pacamara coffee beans from the Inihpt Estate in Guatemala, Central America; the Musician Series coffee beans from the Canet Estate in Costa Rica, Central America; the wildly popular Yirgacheffe coffee beans from Ethiopia in Asia; and many others.

Knowledge Point: "Arabica" is not synonymous with good coffee—even among Arabica varieties, there are quality differences.

Conclusion

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research house dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation simply to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three coffee promotion events with significant discounts each month. This is because FrontStreet Coffee wants to enable more friends to experience the best coffee at the lowest possible prices—this has been our mission for six years!

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473