I am a coffee addict. I drank costly espresso and cheap 3-in-1 instant coffee back in Singapore. Moving to Melbourne, I have new coffee experience. Every morning, I will have my Long black before stepping into office, and afternoon, I will have my Strong Latte for my mid day coffee break. I always wonder why does coffee in Melbourne taste better? Is it just psychological effect?

Here is something that support my observation. I found CoffeeGeek.com.

In preparation for the arrival of the Italian Olympic team, a few enterprising members of the large Italian community in that city (1 million out of 3.5 million total) decided to import the very first espresso machines into Australia and serve authentic Italian espresso. (It is important to note that Italians prefer to drink espresso coffee only, always with sugar and without milk.) These cafés quickly gained popularity amongst the Italian community, hence the tradition of Melbourne being the “coffee” city.

So , my compliment is right. Melbourne is the “Coffee City”

What is unique is that, outside Italy, the Australian and New Zealand café markets are the only other 100% espresso-based markets in the world! The US and other countries are dominated by filter style, or brewed, coffee. You cannot give filter coffee away in Australia or New Zealand. Furthermore, the Australian and New Zealand markets are unique in that the espresso based coffees are nearly always served with milk – approximately 98%, compared to 5% milk based coffees in Italy.

I have travelled extensively in the US, and I cannot say with hand on heart that most cafés there represent the espresso coffee standard of the US Barista Championship or even the World Barista Championship. It is my observation that the US espresso standard (on a national average) is where the Australian and New Zealand espresso markets were 15 years ago.

That means that there is still a lot of room for development.

Interesting article about culture of coffee and cafe. Now I know a little bit more about coffee instead of just sipping it everyday 🙂 Check it out. Cafe Culture Downunder