Second Wave Coffee

The Second Wave of Coffee represents a pivotal shift in the global coffee industry, occurring roughly between the 1960s and the early 2000s. Emerging as a reaction against the convenience-focused, low-quality "First Wave" of mass-produced, canned coffee, this movement redefined coffee as an artisanal product. It moved the industry away from the purely functional view of coffee as a caffeine delivery system toward an appreciation for the beverage as a craft, setting the stage for the specialty coffee movement that followed.

The movement is widely traced to the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s, most notably with Alfred Peet opening Peet’s Coffee & Tea in Berkeley in 1966. Peet introduced darker roasts and stronger brewing methods that contrasted sharply with the thin-bodied, commodity-grade coffee that dominated the mid-20th century. This era also saw the emergence of the term "specialty coffee," attributed to importer Erna Knutsen in the 1970s, who used it to market high-quality, small-batch beans to independent roasters.

Perhaps the most defining characteristic of the Second Wave was the popularization of the café as a "third place"—a social environment distinct from home and work. This concept, famously championed by Starbucks, transformed coffee shops into community hubs. The era introduced a new vocabulary to the average consumer, centered on Italian espresso-based drinks like lattes, cappuccinos, and macchiatos, which became the standard offerings in these new social spaces.

For the industry, this period marked a significant change in how coffee was marketed and consumed. Roasters began to highlight the origins of their beans, such as Sumatra or Kenya, printing these locations on menus to educate consumers. While the focus was not yet on the granular, single-origin transparency seen in the subsequent Third Wave, it was the first time the general public was encouraged to consider where their coffee came from and how it was roasted.

From a business perspective, the Second Wave was defined by rapid scaling and the rise of coffee chains. Starbucks, growing from a handful of stores in the 1980s to a global presence, demonstrated that consumers were willing to pay a premium for a consistent, high-quality experience. This commercial success validated the idea that coffee could be a luxury or lifestyle product, fundamentally altering the economic landscape for roasters and retailers worldwide.

For farmers, the Second Wave began to create a market for higher-quality beans, though the focus remained largely on dark-roast profiles that often masked the nuanced, inherent characteristics of the coffee. The era established the infrastructure for the specialty coffee industry, including the professionalization of the barista as a skilled role and the normalization of home grinding and brewing equipment, which empowered consumers to engage with coffee beyond the instant-coffee standard.

The "waves" framework itself was coined in 2002 by Trish Rothgeb, a roaster and green-coffee buyer, to categorize these historical shifts. Today, the Second Wave is recognized as the essential bridge between the industrialization of coffee and the modern, science-driven, and origin-focused Third Wave. It remains a critical chapter in coffee history, having successfully transitioned coffee from a utilitarian commodity into a central pillar of modern social culture.