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Time was, in those forgotten years called the "late ’90s,” espresso only meant dark roast. And “espresso roast” meant oily-dark beans. At least that’s what they still write on Starbucks bags .

But then came the third-wave coffee revolution of the early noughties, dedicated to the proposition that all beans aren’t created equal. A new generation of coffee roasters and baristas began to question the notion that coffee beans should be roasted into submission, preferring to highlight agricultural origins and fruity aromas by roasting lighter. Often much, much lighter.

For espresso, the results wer

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