Coffee Connected through Time: 1st, 2nd, & 3rd wave.

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Topic: A coffee history lesson.
Guest: Chris O’Brien, Coffee Cycle Roasting
Title: Founder & Head Roaster
Connect: Coffee Cycle Roasting • www.coffeecycleroasting.com • @coffeecycleroasting

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PODCAST

Chris can only tell us what he knows, which isn’t everything, but it is a lot.
I say Trish Rothkeb on the pod, but I meant Trish Rothgeb. Be sure to fact check kids. Also, this show is not written by an Ai. This profile in the LA Times from 2019 does a great job of accurately depicting Rothgeb’s impact on the industry.

She also offers her industry eyed view of what 3rd wave is missing and may be what future generations consider a 4th wave—social change. It isn’t something that we focused on extensively during today’s episode, but is a great example of how defining a moment you’re living can be a challenge.

If there is a fourth wave or a next wave, I’ve already seen movement toward it.
It’s making real change for everyone in the industry instead of individuals.

— Trish Rothgeb

The goal is better coffee.
Coffee has a long, long history, but the past say 100 years has seen incredible growth.
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WAVES TAKEAWAYS

Chris and I discussed coffee waves more in-depth in an episode of the original Roast! West Coast coffee podcast. Paid newsletter subscribers can access the archives to see the entire column, but I pulled this breakdown of the various waves for everyone to review.

IDENTIFYING 1st, 2nd & 3rd WAVE COFFEE:

Dan Oksnevad of Driven Coffee Roasters out of Minneapolis, Minnesota put together this helpful list of identifying characteristics found in the various waves of coffee. I added the headers. The link takes you to his full article if you’d like even more detail on the various waves, and they have a pretty solid sampler pack deal I’m thinking about gambling on.

First Wave: Canned pre-ground or instant coffees.

Artificially or “naturally” flavored beans
Language of “premium” or “gourmet”
Primarily pre-ground offerings
Super dark, bitter coffee
The supermarket coffee aisle

Second Wave: The introduction of the coffee shop centered around the espresso machine.

Heavy focus on flavored drinks
Fairly dark, bitter coffee
The supermarket coffee aisle
Slight recognition of coffee origin country
Baristas who are passionate about the cafe, but not the beans themselves

Third Wave: The focus reverts to coffee

Specific flavor notes (eg. honey sweetness, rose aromatics, and orange acidity)
Lighter roast profiles
Latte art
Single origin (single farm, estate) beans
High degree of origin transparency
Manual brewing methods like pour over cones and french presses
Freshness transparency by publishing specific roast dates

Check out that column and podcast or find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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First Light Whiskey won Double Gold at the 2023 SIP Awards! It is 97 degrees where I am today, so I’m going to blend some into a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Congrats, First Light Whiskey.