Things you might not have known about coffee...Part 3

Espresso is the most popular type of coffee in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, France and southern Europe, notably Italy, Portugal and Spain, and is also popular throughout Europe, and North America. In Australia and New Zealand, espresso accounts for nearly 100% of the commercial cafe, coffeehouse and restaurant coffee business.

The popularity of different levels of roast in espresso vary greatly. Espresso is typically a blend of beans roasted anywhere from very light to very dark. In Southern Italy, a darker roast is preferred but in Northern Italy, a more medium roast is the most popular type. Companies such as Starbucks and Peets have popularized darker roasts in North America and around the world, but the current trend in espresso coffee is matching the roast level to the bean type; this means that the most popular roast style is moving away from being associated with roast color, and more associated with what each region and type of bean used produces the best flavor extraction in the cup.

With the rise of coffee chains such as Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and others, espresso-based drinks rose in popularity in the 1990s in the United States. The influence of Starbucks has caused a wide divergence from the Italian style of coffee, by adding syrups, whipped cream, flavour extracts, soy milk and different spices to their drinks. Long and complicated drink orders became the punchline of many jokes aimed at making fun of how finicky and obsessive coffee drinkers can be.

(wikipedia)