A brief history of the coffee wave: the nostalgia of instant coffee, the rebellion of specialty coffee, do you really understand?

Text | Jiang Yinlong

Although coffee has a long history, the real popularity of coffee began with what the coffee industry calls the "three coffee waves", which have a history of less than a hundred years. There is a saying in the coffee industry: In the first coffee wave, people made bad coffee; in the second coffee wave, people made fine coffee; in the third coffee wave, people began to pursue the art of coffee. So what is the truth? This article will lead you to the history of coffee and take a look at the true transformation process of coffee.

The world's first two instant coffee patents were obtained by a Frenchman and a New Zealander in 1881 and 1890 respectively, but the history of instant coffee can probably be traced back to the American Civil War in the 1860s. At that time, the US Army was addicted to coffee, and an artilleryman once described it vividly in his book "Hard Biscuits and Coffee": "Soldiers must drink a large pot of coffee before leaving. Soldiers must drink coffee at every meal, before and after meals. Before standing guard at night, or after leaving work, they must have a cup of coffee."

American Civil War

There is no doubt that coffee was one of the most important military pay for the US Army during the Civil War. However, marching and fighting did not allow for leisure, so this rigid demand gave birth to an instant drink called "Coffee Essence" - a powdered mixture of espresso, milk and sugar, which can be drunk directly after mixing with hot water, making it very convenient to carry during wartime. Perhaps because of the bad taste or the lack of refreshing effect, this drink was not popular with the soldiers and was soon discontinued, so "Coffee Essence" did not usher in the era of instant coffee.

The details of American soldiers drinking coffee during the Civil War reveal two pieces of information: First, whether from the perspective of supply or taste, it is obviously not espresso that allows soldiers to drink a large pot of coffee at a time, from which we can infer that the tradition of American black coffee with a bland taste has long existed; second, American soldiers drink coffee with a strong purpose: they need caffeine to refresh themselves in order to cope with the ever-changing battlefield situation, which is completely different from the coffee culture origin of European artists or revolutionaries "clinking glasses" in coffee shops.

During the Civil War, American soldiers could not accept the "essence of coffee", the forerunner of instant coffee, but the development of coffee industry technology gradually changed the situation. With the advent of instant coffee patents, the taste of instant coffee became better and better. In 1910, American George Washington successfully commercialized instant coffee and achieved great success. In 1938, the world-famous Nestle company launched more advanced instant coffee technology. By the time World War II broke out, people were able to drink instant coffee that was relatively less unacceptable.

How many people's childhood memories

Inheriting the tradition of the Civil War, coffee was still one of the most important military supplies for the United States during World War II. Of course, it was too expensive to transport traditional coffee, so instant coffee quickly became a standard on the battlefield. For soldiers on foreign soil, coffee was not only a necessity for refreshing, but also a good medicine to relieve homesickness. Coffee manufacturers in the countries where the Allied forces were stationed also produced instant coffee in large quantities under the dual guidance of market demand and patriotism. The first coffee boom broke out like a river bursting its banks in the context of the integration of technology and war.

When future generations, especially the later generations of specialty coffee lovers, look back on the first coffee wave, they may have some complaints about its tendency to focus on convenience and ignore taste. However, after sorting out the historical background of the outbreak of the first coffee wave, it can be found that this tendency is a historical necessity. Soldiers in wartime would not have the opportunity to spend an afternoon in a coffee shop to taste the high-quality coffee that has been carefully roasted, ground, and extracted, and the people in the rear had to lower their requirements for coffee quality in order to ensure the soldiers' demand for coffee. During World War II, there were many articles in American newspapers about making diluted coffee. It was a bit "historical nihilism" to ask people to maintain a good taste for coffee under such circumstances.

The war stimulated the popularity of instant coffee, but also caused the taste of coffee drinkers to degrade. The former made the emergence of the second wave of coffee possible, and the latter made the emergence of the second wave of coffee necessary.

American Soldiers and Coffee During World War II

After World War II, instant coffee developed rapidly with the inertia of the war. In the most promising American market, many brands such as Nestle and Maxwell House were caught in a commercial war while entering a development period. For coffee producers, the taste of instant coffee is not good, so its main battlefield is not quality but price. Reducing costs has become the top priority for all coffee producers. The chain reaction triggered by this trend is the rise of Robusta beans.

Until the rise of instant coffee, Arabica beans were the main bean variety in the coffee industry. Arabica beans have a high-quality aroma and sour taste, but they have a long growth cycle and a small yield. In contrast, Robusta beans can bloom and bear fruit in two years and have a larger yield. Therefore, under the fierce price war, this bean variety naturally became the main raw material for instant coffee. For quite a long time after World War II, the Robusta bean content in most instant coffees on the European and American markets was more than 50%, and some cheap brands even used 100% Robusta beans - before World War II, large coffee producers did not even bother to use a single Robusta bean. The downgrading of coffee did not end with the end of World War II, but instead intensified under fierce market competition.

The sharp increase in demand for Robusta beans has partially changed the layout of coffee production areas. The conditions for growing Robusta beans are not as restrictive as those for Arabica beans. Therefore, many newly independent African countries can use Robusta beans as an important means of earning foreign exchange, just as the Ottoman Empire once relied on coffee exports. These emerging "Robusta countries" include Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Uganda, Congo, etc. Although some Southeast Asian countries have also joined the ranks of Robusta bean growers, their output cannot compare with that of Africa.

Main coffee bean producing areas

The rise of the origin of Africa, the expansion of the American market, and the downgrade of coffee drinkers' tastes have expanded the overall influence of coffee, and the concept of "coffee break" has also come from this. On the earliest handheld game consoles, the logo of the rest button is a cup of coffee, which is the origin of this. However, once people are away from the quagmire of war, they will gradually have higher and higher requirements for the quality of life, and coffee is no exception.

So in 1971, a groundbreaking coffee house came into being: Starbucks. Over the years, Starbucks has become synonymous with ordinary, commonplace, and even "coffee tyranny" in the eyes of coffee lovers, but historical events always need to be examined from a historical perspective. The birth of Starbucks is not only a milestone in the history of coffee, but also full of the feelings of coffee lovers.

In the 1960s, the American coffee market was still dominated by cheap instant coffee, but more and more people began to pursue fine coffee, including Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Seeger, the three founders of Starbucks. In pursuit of their dreams, the three found a shabby second-hand shop in Seattle and planned to open a fine roasted coffee shop. The name of the shop is very literary: Starbucks is the name of Captain Ahab's first mate in "Moby Dick", and the logo uses a 16th-century Nordic woodcarving of a split-tailed mermaid. Usually such a literary shop is difficult to maintain for a long time, but Starbucks was a hit and quickly became synonymous with fine coffee in Seattle and even the United States.

Star Dad

In the second year after Starbucks came out, the "Mr. Coffee" electric drip coffee maker was launched, becoming another benchmark for the marketization of specialty coffee. Times make heroes, and the success of Starbucks and "Mr. Coffee" indicates that coffee lovers have the desire to say no to instant coffee, and the confidence behind this is naturally the material wealth accumulated in the more than 20 years of peace since World War II.

In 1975, a very dramatic case occurred in the United States: a federal judge in New York State severely warned a vendor because the coffee he sold was too bad: unless the vendor promised not to provide inferior coffee in the future, he would be arrested. In the same year as this case, the famous "Black Frost" occurred in Brazil. The rise in the price of low-end coffee beans made the price of boutique coffee relatively lower. With this force, boutique coffee shops became more prosperous and gradually entered major cities in the United States. Under the influence of these forces, the second coffee wave officially hit and gradually spread to the world.

After more than 20 years of development since the founding of Starbucks, the trend of specialty coffee has basically stabilized at the end of the 20th century. The Specialty Coffee Association of America, founded in 1982, had less than 100 members in 1985, but by 1995, the number had exceeded 1,000. At the same time, coffee-related books emerged in an endless stream, and the number of specialty coffee beans on supermarket shelves gradually increased. Purchasing staff of specialty coffee companies flew to various production areas around the world to purchase high-quality seeds - there is no doubt that the times have accumulated for coffee lovers to explore the next stage: at the beginning of the 21st century, the coffee industry saw a popular trend known as the "third wave of coffee."

The third wave of coffee is more about culture

The third wave of coffee was first mentioned in Michael Weissman's book "The World in a Cup". In this wave, coffee lovers' sensitivity to price has dropped significantly, and they have turned their pursuit to experience. In short, people made low-end coffee in the first wave of coffee, and made boutique coffee in the second wave of coffee. In the third wave of coffee, people have begun to elevate coffee making and tasting to art, trying to seek the ultimate in it.

In this process, it is not difficult to find the best among them, such as Blue Bottle Coffee, Intellectual Coffee, or Fields Coffee, which directly shouted "Resist Starbucks' tyranny". However, the soul of the third wave of coffee does not lie in a certain coffee shop, but in the determination to pursue and explore coffee as an art rather than a single drink. Coffee lovers are increasingly establishing connections with coffee houses, and the romantic experience of on-site cupping is gradually becoming popular. What is even more gratifying is that the interaction between the market and the origin, and between baristas and coffee farmers will arouse people's attention to the general poverty in coffee producing areas, making the coffee supply chain more fair and sustainable. Compared with some African countries using Robusta beans to earn foreign exchange to maintain their bloody rule, the third wave of coffee may have more humanitarian concerns.

The history of coffee is undoubtedly a microcosm of human history. In a cup of dark coffee, future generations can taste the legends of Ethiopia, the charm of the Ottoman Empire, the pioneering road of European colonists, the wars carried by American soldiers... Thousands of years of history have slowly come, and the taste of coffee has become more profound because of the precipitation of various past events. Tea has developed a long-standing tea ceremony in the East. Will coffee develop a coffee ceremony with more contemporary characteristics in the future?

The answer is self-evident.