Coffee Smarter: Week 9
Coffee comes in waves.
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THE COFFEE WAVES PODCAST
This week I ask Chris O’Brien, founder of Coffee Cycle & my own personal coffee advisory board to to explain what the differences between first, second and third wave coffees are. “First wave,” or “Third wave,” are phrases I’ve heard half a dozen coffee roasters say during interviews on this show in season one. I would just nod, and say, “Mm-hmm, expand on that,” but in none of those interviews did I really understand what they meant.
Chris fills in that gap in my brain, and helps us connect the coffee shops we get to enjoy today with the freeze dried Folgers that came to prominence in the early part of the last century. During the show Chris refers to Trish Rothgeb who coined the term third wave in regards to coffee. This link will take you out to more information about her, and her roastery Wrecking Ball.
Sadly, this is the last episode of Coffee Smarter in season one. I, for one, will miss this weekly check in with Chris, and I’ve made him promise to return for some guest spots in season two.
Since this is his last show this season, I turn the mic over to him to expand on what coffee-as a drink, career, passion-means to him. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say it was a moving response. In the year I spent behind the coffee bar learning from Chris I often left inspired. I also left annoyed and tired and with some brain pain at times, but mostly motivated to dig further into the world of coffee. It’s a drink that connects humans across time zones and time periods. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed listening to Chris all of those early mornings.
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. 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:
Artificially or “naturally” flavored beans
Language of “premium” or “gourmet”
Primarily pre-ground offerings
Super dark, bitter coffee
The supermarket coffee aisle
Second Wave:
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:
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
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COFFEE FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS
We teamed up with Coffee Cycle to buy some fancy coffee for local health care workers that are picking up coffees from Coffee-Cycle in Pacific Beach. If you are a healthcare worker stop by the shop. We got you. In hopes of keeping that going I’m offering 30% off subscriptions to a full year of Roast! West Coast’s premium content plus a copy of my fiction novella “Eli & Jane.”
Thanks for your support of this show, your own local healthcare teams and coffee roasters.
CHECK OUT COFFEE CYCLE!
Coffee Cycle, is a fantastic coffee shop in Pacific Beach, San Diego, and Chris O’Brien is one of the smarter coffee people I’ve ever had the chance to be around. He graciously agreed to answer my Coffee Smarter questions about coffee throughout Season 1 of Roast! West Coast. Today was the last Coffee Smarter segment of the season which makes me sad, but Chris will be back in season 2 at least a few times which makes me happy..
Thanks for reading, listening and sharing Roast! West Coast, and be sure to drink good coffee.
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