Thoroughly modern coffee

Abstract

First Wave describes the post WWII proliferation of low quality coffee … second wave is exemplified by companies … mass producing higher quality espresso coffee for cafes and supermarkets. Third wave coffee makers are distinguished by their dedication to extracting the best from coffee in its purest, unadulterated form. (Ross 2009) An article in the Melbourne Age on 13 October 2009 left me feeling both annoyed and intrigued. The wave analogy implies Australia’s coffee culture did not start until after World War II and that post-war migrants from Southern Italy brought the coffee drinking habit to Australia. The ‘coffee snobbery’ inherent in the article, and the subtle suggestion that third wave coffee is accessible only to distinguished coffee drinkers, is also intriguing. This paper dismisses the wave analogy as a way of explaining the development of a coffee culture in Australia and, instead, explores the relationship that Australians have had with coffee since the 1930s. It challenges the collective belief that post-war migrants from Southern Italy transported their coffee culture to Australia and asks the question; is an appreciation of taste and flavour a cultural asset belonging to an elite coffee drinking group or has it become important because coffee has lost its connection to sophistication and become a mainstream beverage?