In Europe at least, Italy is famous for its coffee. How and why did the 'Italian' way of enjoying coffee spread across Europe and the world? Why is a country that doesn't produce coffee beans itself deemed an expert, rather than somewhere like Colombia.
Italy (or to be more precise , Venice) was the main importer of coffee from the Middle East and Africa, since 1600ties. This means, that with few exceptions, most coffee beans, coffee equipment, and brewing technique was first transfered to Italy, "europeanised" there, and then introduced to other countries. Possible exception to that rule was the Dutch, who attempted to import coffee by themselves, and Russians, who imported coffee and coffee culture from Turkey.
Because of this, Italian coffee culture was always more advanced, widespread, and had deeper tradition than in other European cultures. Even to this day, there are many similarities between Italian coffee (like esspresso) and arabic coffee (like quahwa).