These types of stovetop espresso machines are widely used in Europe and have been for many years. They are gaining in popularity in the United States in recent years as more and more coffee drinkers take up the habit of drinking espresso. I suppose all the little coffee shops and chains popping up everywhere have something to do with that phenomenon.

For instance, take my small town of Two Rivers, with 13,000 and change in population. We have your popular McDonalds to get all of your coffee and cafe drinks, and at least 3 independent coffee shops. Plus, I just heard we are going to get a 4th coffee shop in the very near future. I would have never thought that a town this size could support all of these coffee shops, and also a coffee bean retailer/wholesaler.