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Coffee has entered people's daily life for more than one hundred years, and today it has ushered in the third wave of coffee revolution. The third wave of coffee revolution belongs to the world of boutique coffee, from planting, processing to brewing, all processes have to pursue the highest quality. Although the number of intellectual coffee shops is small, it has an unimaginable influence!

The baristas of intellectual Coffee practice what the competition looks like. ©Intelligentsia Coffee all right

In 1850, coffee made its debut in the United States in powder form, so that coffee is no longer just a luxury for bourgeois, ordinary families also have the opportunity to enjoy the delicacy of coffee. After entering the 20th century, with the end of the two world wars, that is, soluble coffee became an opportunity for coffee to enter the popular market, coffee officially became a part of popular culture. In this way, coffee has come into people's daily life for more than one hundred years, and coffee has undergone three major changes in the past one hundred years.

"the Center of the third Coffee Revolution"

The first wave of the coffee revolution was instant coffee for household use, and the second wave was in the 1960s when Alfred Peets used espresso as a base to produce a variety of flavors (fancy coffee, variation), which became popular immediately after his coffee shop Peets' Coffee Coffee was first introduced to the world. His decisive initiative improved the quality of business coffee, and five years later Starbucks was born, step by step to catch up with Pitts Coffee and leap onto the world stage to become the most well-known coffee shop chain in the world. In order to maintain the consistency of coffee quality, Starbucks adopts the method of deep roasting (dark roasting) to provide a large number of manufactured coffee without losing its performance. coffee shop is no longer just a place to drink coffee, but a space for people to share life and nurture culture. Commercial production gives a new definition to coffee shop.

Today, coffee culture once again ushered in a new era-the "third wave of coffee revolution" (the Third Wave of Coffee). The third wave of coffee revolution belongs to the world of boutique coffee, this trend is no longer blindly pursue mass production, but from planting, processing to brewing all the process to pursue the highest quality. At the center of this ripple is the "three major baking bean shops in the United States," including Tree Pier City Coffee (Stumptown Coffee Roasters), counter-Cultural Coffee (Counter Culture Coffee) and intellectual Coffee (Intelligentsia Coffee), which led the revolution that started in the United States and expanded to the world coffee market.

Among the three operators, although there are only about 10 branches of intellectual Coffee, it has an unimaginable influence. When intellectual Coffee first started to trade directly with coffee producing areas, there were even fewer branches, and it is hard not to be curious about such a small company that has become a representative operator of the industrial revolution.

The staff of intellectual coffee. ©Intelligentsia Coffee all rights reser

"start direct trade in raw beans."

Intellectual coffee has a unique way of purchasing raw beans. A few years ago, it was almost impossible for an independent coffee shop to purchase raw beans directly from raw bean producing areas. Due to the constraints of time and money, the only way is to purchase through agents. However, this approach has many disadvantages to producers and buyers, because of the structural problems of the industry. On the whole, farmers and producers have no choice but to rely on intermediaries. Intermediaries have been using the information gap between the two to make exorbitant profits for years. Farmers can only keep cutting prices to maintain the market competitiveness of raw beans, while buyers often buy raw beans whose quality has not passed the test.

This malady made Doug determined to break with the convention and buy raw beans from the producing area himself. When Doug started the direct trade of raw beans, intellectual Coffee was just founded and had not yet gained a foothold, but Doug did not give up and struggled for several years, finally in early 2003, successfully signed the first paper direct trade contract, and began to introduce a large number of raw beans in 2008. At present, more than 20 coffee farms have maintained a stable and close direct cooperative relationship with them, several of which are exclusive transactions.

Direct trade guarantees the income of farmers, allowing them to focus more calmly on improving the quality of their crops and not suffering without a livelihood. While the company continues to grow, Doug is very happy to be able to ensure high-quality crops and help coffee farms in need. He hopes that more and more people will appreciate fine coffee in the future.

Coffee cart for intellectual coffee. ©Intelligentsia Coffee all rights reser

"one-on-one ordering service"

In addition to coffee, intellectual coffee is also served in a different way from ordinary coffee shops. Take the Venice branch as an example, each side of the coffee bar has a working space for two or three baristas to work at the same time. After checking out at the cashier, customers can go to the coffee bar to order food from the barista in their own order, similar to the way we usually wait for a number to be called when we go to the bank. Here, it is common to wait in line outside the door, and if you encounter a rush hour, you should be prepared to wait for more than 30 minutes. The Venice branch has nine baristas and four barista deputies, as well as three cleaners.

The space design of the Venice branch chooses baristas as the center, although it may be a little uncomfortable for some guests, but if we give priority to the convenience of baristas' homework, we will naturally be able to buy the most perfect coffee for customers. on the other hand, maybe this is the thoughtful expression that intellectual Coffee attaches importance to customers.

This article is selected from the book "Fine Coffee Entrepreneurship" published by La Vie.