Il cosiddetto caffè "third wave" è un termine americano. La schifezza che beve mio padre (Maxwell's house/Folgers) sarebbe la first wave. L'arrivo dell'espresso grazie allo Starbucks è stata la second wave. Meno male è arrivata la third wave che rappresenta la prossima evoluzione di caffè.
La miscela classica italiana consiste di chicchi troppo tostati che danno un gusto molto amaro e bruciato. Questa tostatura aggressiva serve per nascondere tutti i difetti dei chicchi commerciali.
L'idea della third wave è trattare il chicco di caffè come alimento artigianale più che un prodotto di un processo industriale. Ora in America ci sono tanti coffee shop che fanno il caffè specialty/third wave. I grandi nomi sono Blue Bottle, Stumptown e Counter Culture Coffee. Prendono i chicchi migliori dai paesi come il Nicaragua, la Colombia e Panama, a volte da un'unica piantagione. In questo caso, il caffè viene chiamato mono origine.
Il risultato di questo rispetto per il caffè? Un caffè con più complessità. C'è il sentore di frutta tropicale, note acide e anche la terra. E' come paragonare un lambrusco con un barolo.
Oltre alla classica macchina da espresso, ci sono anche dei nuovi metodi per fare dei caffè lunghi con il caffè specialty: Ad esempio, V60, Chemex, Aeropress, e Siphon. Sono tutti da provare.
Ringraziamo il mitico Raffa del Taglio per aver portato il caffè third wave a Milano. Purtroppo il suo bellissimo locale sta un po' lontano da casa mia. Ora c'è un'altra opzione buona nel centro. Caffè Pascucci è un bar molto carino a San Babila che fa del caffè specialty. Hanno anche una Marzocco, la Rolls Royce delle macchine da espresso.
I baristi Marta, Luana, Sabrina, Cinzia e Iuri sono bravissimi. Ci sono anche le splendide donne Marina e Giulia che lavorano alla cassa. La prossima volta che siete in centro, vi consiglio di passare da loro a bere un ottimo caffè.
Photos by Toney
Marta
Marta
Marta
Marta e Cinzia
Luana
Tattoos and coffee
Giulia pours a V60
Lorenzo, Sabrina, Marchino, Cinzia, Marta
The third wave of coffee has finally arrived to Italy. For those of you who aren't familiar with the American terminology, the first wave of coffee refers to the commercial and disgusting Folgers filter coffee my Dad still drinks. The second wave was the first arrival of espresso coffee to the USA thanks to Starbucks and Seattle's Best. Third wave is the next evolution...
Many Italians are still under the the false impression that their classic espresso blend they drink every morning at the neighborhood is good coffee. Many consider Naples to have the best espresso in the world. A few years ago, I also shared this mistaken opinion on coffee. That was until I discovered the third wave revolution of coffee.
Why hate on italian-roasted coffee? It's quite simple, the classic coffee blend is way over-roasted to hide the many defects of the mass produced beans. This gives unpleasant bitterness and burnt taste to the coffee. This is probably why 90% of italians add sugar to their coffee.
The third wave of coffee simply means treating the coffee bean as an artisanal foodstuff instead of thinking of it as an industrial and heavily traded product. Now in America but also Melbourne, Amsterdam, London, Japan, and pretty much everywhere there are serious foodies, there are many specialty coffee shops.. Some examples of third wave cafes include Blue Bottle (San Francisco), Ritual (San Francisco), Stumptown (Portland), Counter Culture Coffee (Durham) and the Coffee Company (Amsterdam). These shops source the beans directly from independent coffee farmers in countries like Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Panama. If the beans come from a single farm, the coffee is called single origin, perhaps the greatest expression of coffee.
The love that goes into coffee from picking the fruit, washing, drying, roasting, and brewing results in a coffee that is much different than commercial coffee. Specialty coffee is far, far more complex. You can get notes of tropical fruit, vanilla and even the terroir. In addition, specialty coffee is more acidic, something that most foodies crave. Specialty versus commercial coffee is like comparing a Barolo consumed directly at the Cavallotto vineyard to one you find at Esselunga.
Other than the extra care that goes into third wave coffee production, there are also a host of new techniques used to brew good coffee. Most of these methods seek to make longer American-style coffees, to yield a mellower but more interesting coffee drinking experience. V60, Chemex, Aeropress and Siphon are some of the more popular methods. Another advantage of these methods is that you don't have to invest €10 000 in a high-end espresso machine. I personally have both Aeropress and V60 at home with a total investment of €100 so far.
In Milano, we can thank Raffa from Taglio from bringing third wave coffe to Milano. Unfortunately his awesome restaurant/bar/foodstore is really far from home. God bless Pascucci that recently opened a cafe in the center of Milano near San Babila/Duomo. Not only do they have great single origin and blended coffee, but also a Marzocco, the Rolls Royce of espresso machines. Of course, they also do V60, aeropress, siphon and even Chemex if you are really lucky. The staff at Pascucci are all adorable. From the sweet Marina and Giulia at the cash register to the talented Marta, Luana, Sabrina, Cinzia and Iuri at the coffee bar. If you are near Duomo, Pascucci is an absolute must visit.