I travel a lot for work. Any city I go to, I try to frequent the small, independent espresso bars. Why? Well, I like to support entrepreneurs, I like tasting the different roasts, and there is a little bit of uniqueness in every cup. Been doing this for years. Oh yeah, I like espresso.
Anyway, yesterday one of the owners of Rapido Espresso Bar in Montreal asked me if I always went to third-wave coffee shops, and if so, there was an app to help locate them. Third wave coffee? Who knew?
So, turns out this is a thing, has been described since 2002, and I’ve been on supporting a culinary movement for all that time without knowing it.
I don’t know if mindless, pointless things I must share about beverages go here, but, there it is.
So what’s a “third wave” coffee shop? One that’s gone back to the way coffee houses were before Starburnts mcdonaldized the concept? Or just “independent” places that follow the SB model now?
I’ve actually got to know the owners of quite a few of these over the years, and it’s fascinating to hear their stories. They’re very passionate about their caffeine delivery systems.
I’m not even a coffee wonk, but I do admit that I really enjoy the local third wave coffee, whether it’s through a local coffee shop or by buying the beans directly from the roasters at the local farmers’ market.
I think the coffee people are getting a bit big-headed if they think that this “third wave” is limited to coffee; from my perspective, this artisanal food phenomenon is happening across all sorts of culinary categories. I can get just about any normal food product in a locally made, artisanal form.
I was a regular at two different shops who were doing all of that in the late 80s. Some degree of it was present in every “coffee house” I’ve ever known (above the level of diner, at least).
The idea that only today’s under-30 'preneurs can do this “artisanal” stuff, and that no one before Starbucks was concerned about the ethics and quality of the supply chain, can only occur to people who have no idea that wheels are circular.
But all power to the third wave, as Alvin Toffler might say
It is the generation that grew up on junk food while thinking Starbucks and Panera were some vastly improved alternative. When the truth hit, they had to reinvent the world.
Well, I grew up in coffee culture in the early 90s, worked at an independent coffee shop that used local roasters, single-source beans, one of those gigantic Italian hand pull espresso machines that built up your forearms, all that happy horseshit, but there is, in my opinion, definitely a new popularity of coffee appreciation and artisanship over the last decade that grew out of the independent coffeeshop culture of the 80s and 90s. Coffee culture now is distinct to me from coffee culture in the 90s and before, at least.
Fuck that. I have considerable sympathy with people striving to perfect craftsmanship and to those creating good organic food etc., and an entire absence of crap; but my faith in the word artisanal broke when I came across ‘Artisanal Water’ bottled in Norway.
I don’t think it’s even in the Wiki article. My best guess as to what waves 1 and 2 were:
1) Coffee as a commodity - diner coffee, Maxwell House, Folgers, etc. Coffee was pretty much the same anywhere you went. Generally sold by the 12 oz (or so) mug.
2) Coffee as an upscale product - “Starbucks” encapsulates this wave pretty well for most people.
Of course, there were tons of exceptions during both waves. There have always been localized/regional coffee cultures (e.g. New Orleans with its coffee-&-chickory, diner coffee in the Northeast), and there have always been local coffeehouses in at least some parts of the country. The “Starbucks model” of coffeeshop (think architecture, furnishings, etc.) was adopted by a lot of independent places, though – that was truly influential.
I sincerely hope that’s not what the Third Wavers mean or think. “Ludicrously simplified” doesn’t begin to cover it.
Coffee has a long and complex social/culinary history. It’s held a place closer to vintage wine in more times and cultures than to just “a cuppa joe at a diner.”
I’d be happy to support these places if only they’d burn some goddamn beans for me. I do not like medium to mild roast coffee, don’t like the acid, don’t like the floral notes, don’t care about the foodie babble about 'we couldn’t possibly ruin these beans by overroasting." I like burnt beans. If it doesn’t have a real dark roast, I won’t patronize the shop.
