This nation’s coffee myth must be confronted. It’s overrated and at $6 a cup, overpriced

July 16, 2026 — 3:00am

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If you want something emblematic of the post-truth era in which we live, look no further than Melbourne’s claim to be a world leader in coffee. Something demonstrably false has been willed into existence by marketing spivs.

The city’s coffee ranges from unpleasant to the utterly undrinkable. Yet we’re being told that the bitter, burnt brew we’re being served isn’t just great – it’s somehow worth $6 of our hard-earned.

If your senses recoil, then you’re the problem, not the coffee, they say. It’s an acquired taste. Just keep drinking it. Cough up the cash until you accept that black is white and Australia is leading the world.

How did this happen? At what moment did we start simply repeating the coffee industry’s talking points?

If you need a sense of where we should be, try landing at Pisa airport. The coffee they serve – often in paper cups – is to die for: light, rich in flavour and with zero bitterness.

That’s the name of the game throughout Italy: a divine cup plonked on the counter with zero pretension: there’s no hipster barista with faux Polynesian tats rolling his eyes; no pouring of milk into cappuccinos to create a design resembling a hedgehog.

My cafe is the best in the city. Coffee........

© WA Today