The Froth: what's catching on in Melbourne cafes

Melbourne right now
How these are worked out
Rising fastest: the change in Melbourne Google searches, Aug to Oct 2026 against the same months of 2025, among trends that are rising or emerging. A change shows only when a trend had 50 or more searches a month both now and then; below that, its searches a month show instead.
Most common: the share of Melbourne cafes we read that had it in the last 90 days.
Prices: the average on 243 Melbourne cafe menus that list a flat white with a price, one price per cafe.
Cooling off: trends at the Fading or Peaking stage in Melbourne that 8 or more cafes have had, the biggest fall in searches first. The fall is the same comparison as the rises, and shows only from the same base of searches.

Rising fastest, searches vs a year ago
Most common42%Matcha of Melbourne cafes
A flat white, on average$5.11
- Latte$5.16
- Cappuccino$5.14
- Long black$5.05
- Iced latte$6.73
All prices in Melbourne

Cooling offsearches vs a year ago

FeaturedRising drink

Mont Blanc coffee

Iced cold brew under a thick cap of sweet citrus cream, finished with lemon or yuzu zest, so the bitter coffee is sipped through a cool, tangy cream.

+84%Melbourne searches vs a year ago

Where to get one See the full story

Melbourne cafe trends
The order
By the change in Melbourne Google searches, Aug to Oct 2026 against the same months of 2025. Trends without a search figure come last, the ones on the most cafes first.

Fastest rising first

Run a cafe?See what Melbourne's frothing for

Out with the dog?80 cafes in Melbourne with something for dogs on the menu

Where it's happening
The map
Each area is coloured by the share of its cafes that posted a rising or emerging trend in the last 90 days, against Melbourne as a whole.
Tap or point at an area for the three trends most ahead of Melbourne there (5 or more cafes posting each). Open it to see everything there.

More cafes on rising trends than Melbourne overall
Fewer

Trendiest suburbs
Trendiest suburbs
Suburbs with 12 or more cafes we follow that posted in the last 90 days (15 in Melbourne), in order of the share of those cafes that posted a rising trend. Smaller suburbs are left out of the order: in a suburb of a few cafes, one or two posts move it a long way.

Cafes on a rising trend, last 90 days

72 smaller suburbs have too few cafes to rank

See every Melbourne area and suburb

Questions people ask

How much is a coffee in Melbourne?

A flat white averages $5.11 on Melbourne cafe menus. A latte averages $5.16, a cappuccino $5.14 and a long black $5.05. Iced lattes cost more, at $6.73.

From 243 Melbourne cafe menus that list a flat white with a price, updated 15 Nov 2026.

What are the biggest cafe trends in Melbourne right now?

Cold foam, salt bread and jasmine matcha cloud are growing fastest: Melbourne searches are up 606%, 128% and 113% in Aug to Oct 2026 against the same months of 2025. Matcha is still the most common, on about one in two Melbourne cafes.

Google searches in Melbourne and the cafes we follow, updated 15 Nov 2026.

How much does a matcha latte cost in Melbourne?

A matcha latte averages $6.27. Flavoured matchas cost more: strawberry matcha averages $9.51.

From 261 Melbourne cafe menus that list a matcha latte with a price, updated 15 Nov 2026.

What new drinks and dishes are Melbourne cafes trying?

Small trends only a few cafes have so far: salt bread (9 cafes in the last 90 days), blueberry matcha (7 cafes in the last 90 days) and iced turmeric latte (6 cafes in the last 90 days). We tag these Micro until 10 or more cafes in a city have them.

Cafes we follow in Melbourne, updated 15 Nov 2026.

Which Melbourne suburbs are the most trend-forward?

Among suburbs where we follow 15 or more cafes, Richmond (6 of 15 cafes we follow), Carlton (8 of 24 cafes we follow) and South Melbourne (5 of 18 cafes we follow) had the most cafes post a rising trend in the last 90 days.

Cafes we follow in each suburb, updated 15 Nov 2026.

How does The Froth decide what is trending?

We count how many Melbourne cafes post about a drink, how often customers review it, how many menus list it and how much Melbourne searches for it, against the months before. Fixed rules then give each one a stage: emerging, rising, peaking, mainstream or fading.

Updated 15 Nov 2026 · How we count

What's catching on in Melbourne cafes

Mont Blanc coffee

Trendiest suburbsiTrendiest suburbsSuburbs with 12 or more cafes we follow that posted in the last 90 days (15 in Melbourne), in order of the share of those cafes that posted a rising trend. Smaller suburbs are left out of the order: in a suburb of a few cafes, one or two posts move it a long way.

Trendiest suburbs
Trendiest suburbs
Suburbs with 12 or more cafes we follow that posted in the last 90 days (15 in Melbourne), in order of the share of those cafes that posted a rising trend. Smaller suburbs are left out of the order: in a suburb of a few cafes, one or two posts move it a long way.