a style of coffee characterized by beans that have been roasted almost to the point of burning. The resulting beverage is nearly always very dark in color, and has a distinctive caramelized taste. In many places, French roast is the darkest roast available. Leaving beans in the fire for about a minute longer yields Italian or Spanish roast, both of which are right on the brink of incineration. Coffee lovers who enjoy a dark brew often choose French roast in part because of its easy availability, but also because it often has more of a coffee flavor than Italian or Spanish options.
Despite its name, most French roasts are not actually from France. The roasting style is modeled after the darker brews preferred by many Europeans during the turn of the 19th century, when coffee became something of a hot commodity in North America. Coffee houses may have initially adopted the “French” name as a means of adding an element of classiness or sophistication to their brews; today, however, the term does little more than indicate a very dark roast.