For Coffee Drinkers: New Style of Coffee Shop in the San Francisco Bay Area

Surfing Coffee's "Third Wave"
New East Bay cafes take their coffee very seriously. Some say too seriously.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/gyrobase/surfing-coffees-third-wave/Content?oid=1532172&showFullText=true

Interesting coffee trend in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For those accustomed to the bland, milky concoctions that pass for a cappuccino at many American coffee shops, drinking one at the newly opened Berkeley cafe, Local 123, can be a revelatory experience.

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The term [Third Wave Coffee] is generally attributed to Trish Skeie (now Rothgeb), who in 2002 wrote an article titled "Norway and Coffee's Third Wave" based on her observations of young, innovative baristas she encountered while working for a roasting company in Oslo. She asserted that there have been three distinct movements in the contemporary coffee scene: The first wave had its roots in the post-World War II era, when companies like Folgers and Maxwell House popularized instant coffee, making the product accessible to American households on a large scale. The second wave started in the late 1960s with the opening of Peet's, which of course had its origins in Berkeley, along with later imitators like Starbucks. These companies introduced America to higher-grade "specialty" coffees and were known for their dark-roasting style.

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The other hallmark of third-wave coffee is an overwhelming preference for light- and medium-roasted coffee, as opposed to the darker roasting style popularized by Peet's and Starbucks.

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It isn't altogether surprising, though, that some in the community might find this new breed of coffee shops and baristas a bit inaccessible and, shall we say, highfalutin. Just go to Local 123's Yelp page and you'll see, amidst glowing reviews, a handful of posters who complain about snobbery. One angry customer goes so far as to sarcastically dub one of the cafe's proprietors the "motherf**king queen of espresso" for refusing to serve an espresso over ice because, in her estimation, it would ruin the drink.

In this the-customer-is-always-right consumer culture, it's understandable that some would bristle at being told they can't have their coffee exactly how they want it — especially since one's morning cup o' joe is such an intensely personal ritual. Nearly all third-wave coffee purveyors have encountered similar resistance, and the way they choose to respond varies widely. One Washington, DC cafe owner famously threatened to punch a customer in his "dick" after said customer wrote a nasty blog post following a similar iced-espresso incident...

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If you drink coffee and are in the San Francisco Bay Area, check it out...