Oh, that little espresso in the morning… whether at the corner café, at home or with colleagues at the office, who doesn’t follow the daily ritual? On a global scale, coffee is the most consumed drink after water. In value it is the world’s biggest agricultural product.

And things are not likely to change, because consumption of coffee is on the rise, driven by new ways of consuming it. Over the last ten years the “regional” trend has become evident with the boom in coffee shops where baristas serve coffee as if it were wine. Behind their glistening neo-retro percolaters they talk of body, power, fruit, bitterness… It looks as if the “quick brew” is becoming “grand cru”.

Also available in French: Le café: la revanche du petit noir