When it comes to coffee, we Melburnians have long believed we’re home to some of the best in the world. And now, we've got the big guns to back it up: an expert panel from leading international dining publication Food & Wine has ranked the best cities in the world for coffee – and Melbourne nabbed tenth place.
The experts noted: "Melbourne's coffee scene is one more eclectic mix of cafés that each take their coffee just as seriously as those in Sydney. Proud Mary is a standout, offering not just exceptional coffee but also a little education around bean sourcing with every cup, and Acoffee offers on-site roasted coffee, making it some of the freshest you'll find in the city."
Oh, and let's not forget one of our baristas from Axil's Coffee Roasters was just crowned the best in Australia this year.
But you might want to don your most mournful Melbourne blacks today, folks. While we've been recognised for our world-class bean brews – and yes, that's excellent news (and duh, didn't we know it already) – Sydney has outranked us.
Sydney came in swinging at third place thanks to its cafés like Single O, while the number one spot was taken out by Copenhagen in Denmark.
The judges said: “The Danish capital is renowned for its quality-over-quantity approach, with coffee shops serving meticulously sourced beans and brewing award-winning cups.”
Tokyo came in second place, winning marks for its range of coffee offerings, which include everything from historic joints pouring siphon-brewed coffee to modern spots playing around with brewing techniques and flavours. In fourth place was San Francisco, followed by Milan, Lisbon, Amsterdam, London and Cape Town. You can check out the full list here, and if all this coffee talk is making you crave a cup of the good stuff, you can check out some of our fave spots around town here.
Melbourne sure loves a cup of Joe, but we're certainly not the only ones: Food & Wine reported that, globally, we knock back 2.25 billion cups of coffee a day. But at least, now we can drink in peace knowing we’re enjoying some of the finest bean brews on the planet. Time for another cup, we reckon.
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