What Exactly Is the "Third Wave" of Coffee You Often Hear About? What Is Specialty Coffee?

Introduction

The "Third Wave" of coffee is a term many have heard, though numerous coffee enthusiasts know the name but not its meaning. FrontStreet Coffee will explain the "Third Wave" coffee movement in this article!

To understand the "Third Wave," it's essential to know what happened during the "First" and "Second Waves."

The First Wave: Coffee Popularization

The First Wave occurred around World War II, during which two significant events took place. First, military forces urgently needed coffee and other strategic supplies during the world war. Second, in 1938, Nestlé developed more stable instant coffee, which also solved Brazil's coffee bean overproduction problem. The combination of production capacity and consumer market created the First Wave coffee movement. After the war, soldiers from various countries (especially American troops) returned to civilian life, forming a stable consumer market due to their dependence on coffee. The period from 1938 to 1958 marked the major development of instant coffee. During this time, coffee captured the market in its instant form and became a daily consumer product for the masses.

The Second Wave: Coffee Quality

If instant coffee was the protagonist of the First Wave, then espresso coffee was the star of the Second Wave. This wave primarily made people realize how delicious coffee could be and began to popularize the concepts of freshly roasted coffee beans and grinding and brewing on demand. At the same time, many commercial coffee shops focusing on espresso emerged. The main purpose of the Second Wave was to improve coffee quality (cultivating a group of users who valued coffee flavor from the existing instant coffee market).

The Third Wave: Coffee Supply Chain

Often, the Third Wave is mentioned alongside specialty coffee. Their relationship is one of inclusion—specialty coffee is an element of the Third Wave. The Third Wave began after 2000 and continues to this day. Its main elements are traceability, from coffee's origin—planting, to processing, trade, then roasting, and finally brewing and presenting to consumers. This entire process is transparently presented to end consumers. It's not just a cup of coffee, but a cultural symbol. Just as people learned about lattes and cappuccinos during the Second Wave, in the Third Wave, you'll discover Yirgacheffe and Sidamo.

It is precisely this transparency that positively promotes cultivation and processing standards at origins, win-win fair trade systems, and improves roasters' roasting quality and coffee shops' brewing capabilities. The main purpose of the Third Wave is to better pursue coffee flavor and bridge the distance between consumers and coffee origins.

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