Black sesame in Australia

Roasted black sesame ground to a paste and stirred into lattes and matcha: nutty, toasty and a little bitter, and it turns the drink grey. The Froth has seen it at cafes in 8 Australian cities (Gold Coast, Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Canberra) as of 13 Nov 2026.

It is on 72 cafe menus across 8 cities right now, including Plus Coffee & Co in Melbourne, Melbourne, LLaw Boutique Restaurant Port Plaza in Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Antidote in Pyrmont, Sydney and CHANOYU Cafe Nerang – Matcha, Japanese Desserts & Pet-Friendly in Nerang, Gold Coast. The "Where to get one" list on this page has every menu, city by city, with the price where the menu gives one and directions. Menus change, so check with the cafe before you go.

The average is $7.08, from 30 cafe menus in 2 cities as of 14 Nov 2026. Most charge between $6.18 and $8.50; the lowest we have seen is $5 and the highest $10. Each city's own average is on its page.

Of the cities The Froth reads, Gold Coast has it on the biggest share of cafes: 1.7% of Gold Coast cafes in the last 90 days, against 1.4% in Melbourne and 1.1% in Hobart. Each city's share is of its own cafes, so a smaller city can be ahead.

Searches for it across Australia were up 20% in Aug to Oct 2026 against Aug to Oct 2025. There is no single Australian stage: each city has its own, from its own cafes. The Froth rates it Emerging in Gold Coast, Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth; Rising in Sydney; Fading in Canberra as of 13 Nov 2026.

There were 1,300 searches for black sesame across Australia in Oct 2026, with all its names added up. Across the months we have, from Jul 2024 to Oct 2026, it ranged from 480 (Dec 2024) to 1,300 (Apr 2026). These are monthly estimates of search demand across every state and territory.

The earliest cafe post or customer review about black sesame that The Froth has, in any city we read, is from 15 Feb 2023. We only see what we collect, so that is when we first saw it, not when it started: it may have been sold earlier, here or elsewhere.

A typical black sesame latte, drawn from cafes' own posts, is built from the top down with black sesame seeds (toasted, scattered on top), sesame cream (cream whipped with a little of the paste; some cafes add espresso), ice (fills the cup before anything is poured), cold milk (about 200 ml, turning grey where it meets the paste) and black sesame paste (roasted black sesame ground with sugar or honey, 2 spoonfuls). Each cafe makes its own version, so this is a typical build, not one cafe's recipe.

Every city is counted on its own, with the same rules: a cafe counts for black sesame from the first public post or customer review we found about it, and while it is on the cafe's current menu. A city's share is of its own cafes we see well (an Instagram post or a current menu in the same 90 days, a chain counting once), and its change compares the same cafes in the last 90 days with the 90 before. Cities' cafe figures are never added together, because we read some cities' posts and others only from reviews and menus. Searches are monthly search demand across Australia with all of a trend's names added up. The full method is on our "How we track cafe trends" page.