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Australians might have lost the global crown in the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops for 2026, but if you’re drinking coffee in Melbourne, there’s still plenty to feel smug about. The freshly dropped list confirms what locals already know: Melbourne remains one of the most serious coffee cities on the planet, with several of its cafés earning places among the world’s elite – even if a couple have shuffled around the rankings since last year.
The highest-profile Melbourne name on the list is Proud Mary Coffee, which continues to fly the flag internationally. After an eye-watering fourth place finish in 2025, Proud Mary slid to 27th in 2026 – a drop on paper, sure, but still comfortably within the global top tier. Given the sheer volume of cafés assessed (more than 15,000 worldwide), remaining in the top 30 is no small feat. Known for its obsessive sourcing, experimental brewing and encyclopaedic coffee knowledge, Proud Mary remains a pilgrimage site for anyone who takes their caffeine habit seriously.
Further down the list, Vacation Coffee ranked in 100th place – dropping 21 places from last year (it ranked 71st in 2025). 100th out of 100 is a modest position, but a meaningful one – especially for a café celebrated more for its laid-back neighbourhood vibe and consistently excellent cups than any flashy international ambition. Sometimes, the joy is in the everyday flat white done extremely well.
Melbourne’s presence isn’t limited to homegrown operators, either. Sydney’s breakout star Only Coffee Project, which stormed the list at fourth place overall and was crowned Oceania’s Best Coffee Shop for 2026, also operates an outpost in Melbourne Quarter. That means Melburnians can sample coffee from the highest-ranked Australian café without crossing state lines.
Rankings for 2026 were determined by a mix of 350,000 public votes (30 per cent) and scores from an expert panel of 800 judges (70 per cent), who assessed cafés on everything from coffee quality and barista skill to sustainability, innovation and consistency. In that context, Melbourne’s showing – spanning heavyweight institutions and smaller operators alike – feels less like a victory lap and more like a reminder of the city’s depth.
The takeaway? Melbourne might not be home to the world’s number-one coffee shop right now, but its benches are deep, its standards are ruthless, and its place on the global coffee map remains unquestionable. In other words: your local still probably knows what it’s doing.
You can check out the full list over here, and we’ve listed this year’s top 10 global coffee shops below.
The 10 best coffee shops in the world for 2026
- Onyx Coffee Lab, USA
- Tim Wendelboe, Norway
- Alquimia Coffee, El Salvador
- Only Coffee Project Crows Nest, Australia
- Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters, Australia
- Apartment Coffee, Singapore
- Gota Coffee Experts, Austria
- Story of Ono, Malaysia
- Tropicalia Coffee, Colombia
- Tanat, France