GOING BEYOND The Bean

Roast, notes, grind size are not vague words anymore. While we've been riding the new-age coffee wave for a few years, brands and cafés are crafting interactive, personalised experiences for consumers, creating a coffee community like never before

- Samreen Tungekar

DISCLAIMER: This is not another tired conversation about how drinking artisanal coffee is the new cool. In fact, the meaning of the third wave' has completely changed now. But before the pandemic took over our lives and our vocabulary, the third wave of coffee essentially meant emphasis on high-quality beans. Some say we're leaning into the fourth wave, some say we're already there. Yes, every coffee shop and brand now boasts of freshly roasted beans – you can order your blend and it'll be ground on the day you want it. But now that we understand the value of quality coffee, brands, cafés, and coffee experts are taking this conversation a step further by creating a communication channel with their consumers about what they are drinking through workshops, courses, and marketplaces.

There was always an offline culture for coffee lovers, but what Dalgona started in 2020 led to even the non-coffee drinkers finding themselves interested in how they can brew good coffee at home. Coffee consultant, cafe curator, and barista Geetu Mohnani shares, "With the third wave of coffee culture came the idea of educating the customer. It was offline, as we didn't believe we could connect with consumers online because coffee is to be tasted, and anywhere that you are, the taste would be very different because it's largely dependent on water. So the experience was only domestic, or local. Today, that's not the case."