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Permalink Reply by Stephen Curtis on April 9, 2009 at 6:56pm

Nothing to do with me personally, but some interesting thoughts and comments on this blog.

http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/2009/03/remembering-the-third-wave/

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Permalink Reply by Bel Townsend on April 10, 2009 at 4:52am

Actually, I have no idea either, but it seems to be one of those things that everyone is expected to understand!!! Like urban slang...?? Thank you for asking this, I lacked the confidence. If you get any simple responses I'd be very interested to read them!

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Permalink Reply by Henry on April 10, 2009 at 7:10am

I'm with you Bel. I just read some from the link Stephen put up and I think I'm more confused now than I was before. We have been roasting and serving great quality coffee from some amazing farms since the 70s. We have been serving great espresso since the 80s. Can anyone else give us an explanation as to what exacting is meant by "Third Wave"?

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Reed on April 10, 2009 at 7:39am

The third wave refers to the resurgence of just plan old coffee, getting back to our roots.

First Wave Coffee takes root in South America and becomes a staple crop.

Second Wave Gaggia gets upset at long coffee breaks and speeds things up with espresso. It's so nasty that it takes an artist to make a cup. The profession of Barista is born, bean quality and roasting are now more important than ever. Espresso based drinks are king.

Third Wave The modern search of a single cup coffee maker, high quality at retail speed. The reason why espresso took off in the first place was freshness and speed.

I could be wrong, I never heard of the third wave before and just made all of that stuff up. The history is true though, but its relationship to waves is not. Waves are made from the moon's gravity and the ocean. Lattes are made from coffee (Espresso) and milk.

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Permalink Reply by Jesse -D-> on April 10, 2009 at 7:42am

I just wasted 40min of my life reading the comments on this blog. Oh and yes patrick you are wrong. Thanks for the history though.

Stephen Curtis said:

Nothing to do with me personally, but some interesting thoughts and comments on this blog.

http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/2009/03/remembering-the-third-wave/

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Permalink Reply by Brady on April 10, 2009 at 7:54am

As I understand, it was intended to represent the next level of evolution beyond the Starbuckesque model. Anything that could be considered progressive and high-quality. Small sizes, SO espressos, origin-centered, brew-to-order, latte art on every cup, etc. Someone else would certainly post a more detailed history if they weren't sick of hearing the term. Its been a little overused...

Pretty useless now, I think. I'd guess that many shops that could be defined as "third wave" will probably now reject that label. And as you've noticed, many are describing themselves using the term without regard to how well they actually deliver on the ideals.

I'm not, by the way.

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Permalink Reply by Henry on April 10, 2009 at 8:27am

Thanks for the feedback guys....It's just a topic that I hear tossed around a lot and always seem to have different views and ideas about it. Keep up the hard work making our coffee world a better place.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon on April 10, 2009 at 2:44pm

I really was dreading getting into this topic, but it deserves an answer eventually right?
The "waves" concept relates to sociology, specifically evolution/revolution, feminism, mordenism/postmodernism.
The idea is:
wave 1: Just get people doing things. For feminism it was overcoming legal barriers, for coffee it is just getting consumption up.
wave 2: Get people to realize and appreciate the goals, for coffee that's the A-HA there is actually something to this coffee stuff.
wave 3: Reflection and solidification of principles. Goals mostly accomplished. For coffee that means "letting the bean speak for itself", and all the naked pf, pourover station etc things to further the experience. It is coffee unleashed with nothing getting in the way.

There you have it. The critique of the wave system that it's "stupid" or whatever is arguable. It is a good point that you can only identify the waves when you look back at it all, but the cycle of action, appreciation, reflection is common to many movements. I didn't want to get into this because there is all this baggage that comes along with it. sorry.

btw Nick Cho is TOTALLY RIGHT on that blog. I applaud him!
You don't like my answer? Read Barista Magazine April 2006.

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Permalink Reply by The Barista Formerly Known As JavaJ on April 10, 2009 at 3:49pm

Wow, the fact that this topic is even on a place like BX says a lot about how much further we have to go and how much work left to be done that there is. Thanks Henry for asking what many were wondering about.

I simply do not have the energy right now to answer the question myself, as my wife and I just had a baby! However, I will say that while none of these answers are wrong (well, Patrick, yours is), none of them are exactly right.

The term "Third Wave" was popularized by Trish Rothgeb, and was something Nick Cho brought to the mainstream beginning with this article.

http://coffeegeek.com/opinions/bgafiles/04-02-2005

Also read:
http://www.baristamagazine.com/Issues/VolumeII/AprilMay06/aprilmay0...

Please read these articles for the original meaning of Third Wave. As with all terms, the meaning has been adapted, adopted, and otherwise used where perhaps it should not be, and even rejected by some of its fiercest proponents.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Curtis on April 10, 2009 at 5:42pm

Didn't mean to confuse you Henry...just thought it was interesting reading a couple different people's arguments for/against the use/misuse. It doesn't really explain what 'third wave' is...sorry about that.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on April 10, 2009 at 6:14pm

The Barista Formerly Known As JavaJ said:

Wow, the fact that this topic is even on a place like BX says a lot about how much further we have to go and how much work left to be done that there is. Thanks Henry for asking what many were wondering about.

I simply do not have the energy right now to answer the question myself, as my wife and I just had a baby! However, I will say that while none of these answers are wrong (well, Patrick, yours is), none of them are exactly right.

The term "Third Wave" was popularized by Trish Rothgeb, and was something Nick Cho brought to the mainstream beginning with this article.

http://coffeegeek.com/opinions/bgafiles/04-02-2005

Also read:
http://www.baristamagazine.com/Issues/VolumeII/AprilMay06/aprilmay0...

Please read these articles for the original meaning of Third Wave. As with all terms, the meaning has been adapted, adopted, and otherwise used where perhaps it should not be, and even rejected by some of its fiercest proponents.

OK, the "someone" has spoken... J, thanks for joining and congrats on the new little one. And thanks for posting the CG piece that I hadn't seen before. Wow, what a great look back. Thanks!

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