Secondly, roasting preferences establish decades ago favored a lower-temperature, longer roasting process. The dark "French" roast that we refer to today probably originated not as a high-temperature roast, but a slow and long roast that results in beans that have consistent color through the whole bean, and a dark color but no bubbling or burning. This distinction is VERY important, since many Americans today associate French roast with the all-too-common burning of coffee that takes place at certain coffee house chains. Burning coffee results in the breakdown of sugars and oils and fast oxidation and fermenting of coffee once exposed to the air. These drawbacks do not occur in the Southeast Asian dark roast, which is more stable.