A local guide to your city's best coffee.

By coffee snobs, for coffee snobs. Because life's too short for long extractions.

Disclaimer: Yes, we’re Magic aficionados, but not Magic snobs. We believe in diversity and inclusion, and coffee is no exception: every coffee is sexy in our eyes, but a Magic is our one true love.

Top rated right now
    For the uninitiated

    What is a Magic?

    A double ristretto topped with silky steamed milk in a small 150 ml cup. Stronger than a flat white, smoother than a latte. Melbourne invented it, and most cafés still don't put it on the menu. Tap a drink to see how it compares.

    Pick a drink

    Cup
    Coffee
    Milk
    Tastes

    The ratings

    Every coffee, ranked

    Open one for the breakdown and the verdict.

    Order by
      The map

      Where to drink

      Every rated coffee around Melbourne. Pick a region, then tap a score to see the cup.

      Map not to scale

      Melbourne edition

      How each area pours

      The best suburbs, the coffees readers love most, then a profile of any suburb: how it compares and where to drink in it.

      Top suburbs

      Highest average across Melbourne suburbs with three or more coffees rated. Tap one for its profile.

        Suburb profile
        The method

        How it's scored

        Five criteria, weighted the way coffee should be judged. What's in the cup carries two thirds of the score. We always order a Magic, the coffee with nowhere to hide, but you can score any coffee. Had one this morning? Slide to score it, then send it in.

        Blended score
        7.58
        7.58 / 10

        Field guide

        How to order one without outing yourself

        Now you know what it is. Here's how to get one, wherever you are.

        1. 01In Melbourne, just say "a magic"

          Any specialty café worth its beans knows it. Blank stare from the barista? Congratulations, you've just reviewed the café.

        2. 02In Sydney, keep it to yourself

          Ask for a Magic up there and you'll be clocked as a Melbourne wanker before the grinder stops. Order "a small flat white with a double ristretto" and play it cool.

        3. 03Don't say piccolo in Melbourne

          Same crime in reverse. It's a fine drink, but order one here and you're a Sydneysider until proven otherwise.

        4. 04Overseas, lower your expectations

          London, Dublin and Berlin have never heard of it. Ask for a cortado and quietly judge it.

        5. 05Small cup, always

          The ratio is the whole point. Anything bigger is a different drink using our name.

        About the critic

        Melbourne's least qualified coffee critic

        One person, one order, no free coffees. Always a Magic, because a café can't hide a bad shot or bad milk in one. Paid for, scored on the spot and posted as it was.

        Coffee. It’s the lifeblood that fuels the dreams of champions.

        Mike Ditka, Kicking & Screaming (2005)