The best coffee in the Melbourne CBD

From the sibling duo that brought you Richmond’s Mayday and the CBD's Maverick, Greta is a European-inspired café that serves tasty bites and piping hot coffee. Axil Coffee Roasters supply the beans; made any way you like (there's no coffee menu). Enjoy your brew with their excellent beef cheek sandwich that comes with a side of gloriously excessive Napoli dipping sauce. Thursday and Friday Greta is open until 10pm so that you can transition seamlessly from a cup of joe to an Espresso Martini.

450 Flinders Ln

Nestled in a small CBD laneway with a brick shop front, Little Rogue runs the risk of contrivance. However, this is no ordinary Melbourne café. Little Rogue has an unmistakable, effortless cool factor – backed up by an excellent brew. They stock a
variety of roasters, including Melbourne’s ACoffee, and import distinct beans from around the world, which you can purchase to take home. Their drinks menu also caters to the non-conforming caffeine intakers with one of the city's best matcha lattes. Besides the excellent coffee, the best part of Little Rogue is their Japanese bakery sibling Bakemono – which is situated just across from them. This means you can pick yourself up with a caffeine hit and then slow it down with a carb overload.

12 Drewery Ln

This cafe is a serious brunch destination, offering up our favourite comfort foods with a twist. The coffee's also mint, thanks to Brunswick's famous Code Black behind the beans. Whether you like yours black, white, single origin, or as a cold brew, the friendly baristas at Operator 25 have you sorted for a caffeine fix that not only does the trick, but tastes great. In summer, you might even be able to get your hands on a cooling coffee Spritz. 

25 Wills Street.

Bright and airy, Vacation coffee shop has curated an environment that feels just like what it says on the label – a holiday. Retro tiles and papaya pink details make this the perfect vacay from your busy work week, latte in hand. They roast their beans in Brunswick, and as their adorable ananas mascot implies, they have a mellow, fruity flavour. At one of the higher price points on our list ($4.80 for a small white coffee), it might not be doing your holiday funds any favours, but why not take a vacation in your city in the middle of the day?

1 Exhibition St

Melbourne hospitality royalty the Mulberry Group knows that a successful café doesn’t just mean good food and coffee – it’s all about location, location, location. The group’s head honcho Nathan Toleman founded the Kettle Black in a Victorian terrace in South Melbourne, with a décor accented by pale timber and lots of plants, and Higher Ground in a heritage-listed former powerhouse with a dramatic 15-metre ceiling in the CBD, selling both in 2018. For his next trick, Toleman has opened a café-cum-wine shop in the foyer of the T&G building at the Paris end of Collins Street. The beans are from Square One Coffee Roasters so you just know the brews here are going to be good.

161 Collins Street

People's Coffee is half prepackaged sandwich shop, half hipster Brooklyn café. Located in the CBD's Bensons Walk, this streamlined coffee operation serves their drip black, white or as a batch brew. Fives Senses are the beans on offer here, and
they're as good as ever with a bold, roasty flavour. In addition, there's a selection of prepackaged sandwiches and salads, hot sandwiches, and a New York "everything bagel". A small white coffee will set you back $4.50; add on 50 cents if you prefer
milk of the non-bovine variety.

7 Bensons Walk

From their humble beginnings in Collingwood (where they still roast their beans) Midtown is Everyday Coffees’ second location. There’s a chocolatey Colombian blend for milky coffees or some interesting single-origin options available. 

213 Little Collins St

Inside the brightly light, cream-hued Workshop Brothers café lives delicious coffee. Axil Roasters have been providing the blends and Monk Bodhi Dharma providing the single origins, but Workshop Brothers have branched out and created their own everyday blend called the Huntly. It’s a peachy tasting medium roast with a crisp sweet aftertaste, delicious in a flat white. Hungry, too? Grab a Nutella croissant to go for a winning taste combination.

190 Queen Street

Sensory Lab has always been the easy target of those looking to make fun of Melbourne’s coffee culture, and it’s because Sensory Lab are very, very serious about coffee, and their locations are tucked away in a particularly Melbourne way – there’s one in the David Jones store near the food hall, for instance, and a little metal-and-cork module hidden in a small arcade at 30 Collins Street. Sensory Lab roast, sell and serve their own beans, and there’s usually six roasts on offer at a time. But is the coffee good? Of course it is. 

297 Little Collins Street

The ability to nip out of the office for a cheeky coffee is one of the key skills of the modern professional. Those who partake in the unofficial mini-break within the 3000 postcode get extra points now that a trip up Little Collins Street means you can dive into Industry Beans. If you've tasted the brews from their original café roastery in Fitzroy, you'll know this second outpost is an absolute boon to the CBD. 

345 Little Collins Street

Located in heritage listed 495 Collins Street, Bonnie is a carbon-neutral coffee shop that serves a damn fine joe. Filter and cold-brew are specialities here, made with meticulous attention to detail. Their Bonnie Blend is so popular they now have a liqueur available, "mummas boy coffee liqueur". Try the original G-rated version; we guarantee you'll understand why the 18+ liqueur was inevitable.

495 Collins St 

Market Lane Coffee, one of the first specialty coffee shops in Melbourne, continues its reign with the success of its booming sustainable coffee business, and further openings of stores across Melbourne. There's a reason why this charming no-nonsense coffee shop has developed such a cult-like following, having served its devoted community members consistent, top-quality and ethically sound coffee for many years.

Shop 73-76, Queen Victoria Market

Inside the beautiful old Ross House building on Flinders Lane is Dukes Coffee Roasters. It’s a beautiful space to drink beautiful coffees in, fitted with light wooden benches and green-and-blue tiled floors. They’re committed to ethical trading with coffee sourced from farms and small co-operatives that they bring home to roast here in Melbourne. 

247 Flinders Lane

Named after Baba Budan, the 16th century figure reputed to have smuggled seven coffee beans into India from Yemen, this café is an offspring of Seven Seeds roasters. With espresso, filter and pour-over available, takeaway is your best bet, as seating is limited (besides the ones on the ceiling). Expect wait times most of the time, as this revered café attracts crowds

359 Little Bourke St

Bright and brimming with good vibes, Patricia initially served coffee using beans from the Melbourne greats (Proud Mary, Seven Seeds, Everyday). In 2016 they started roasting their own product with Fieldwork and now serve their “Patricia Blend”. A white coffee will set you back $5, and a black is $4.70, but these prices are justified, and the product speaks for itself. A range of small pastries is available from Australian suppliers; we suggest the perfect little canelé for your coffee pairing.

493-495 Little Bourke St

It's difficult to walk through the city without seeing one of Axil’s branches slinging high quality, ethical coffee. Single-origin options are rotated daily at all locations. In addition, their Bourke Street, the Manse and Melbourne Central branches are now offering full-service food until 3pm, so it's the perfect option for a caffeinated lunch.

Bourke Street, Flinders Gate, Flinders Lane, Lonsdale Street, Spring Street, Collins Arch, Southern Cross Lane, Wesley Place, Melbourne Central, the Manse