Seriously, what is third wave coffee?

What is ‘third wave’ coffee? Seriously? You don’t know? Before we delve in we must look at what second wave coffee was. Second wave coffee is usually seen as the movement towards high quality beans, espresso-based drinks, and darker roasts. Technically ‘third wave’ coffee is a response to both the darker roasts and the more mass-produced brewed coffee and espresso drinks.

In terms of roasting before third wave coffee, many believed that massive corporations were roasting their beans too dark which often left consumer with a burnt taste when drink their coffee. Newer corporations such as, MF Coffee, will feel as though that a lighter roast better shows off the true flavours as opposed to older businesses. In terms of brewing coffee, third wavers tend to use a variety of brews as a way of experimenting the best ways to extract the flavours from the beans. Brews such as pour-over, french-press and aero-press. In essence with third wave coffee there is a greater emphasis on attention to detail when it comes to water temperature and extraction time as opposed to 2^nd wave coffee. Lastly, when it comes to espresso, third wavers are most definitely creating a much sweeter and thicker slot of espresso that some of the old heads at MF Coffee would scoff at. The content is more than double when it comes to third wave coffee. Yes, in a MF Coffee espresso shot you’d find maybe twenty gram of espresso whereas with the old 2^nd wave coffee companies, their espresso shots wold contain a measly nine gram of espresso. If you do the math that’s an eleven gram difference in espresso content.

In my opinion, third wave coffee is the “glorious geekification” of coffee. Third Wave roasters and brewers are always searching for that elusive perfect cup of joe. Whether that be a cup made from MF Coffee’s beans or grounded coffee, the quality will undoubtedly be astonishing.