There was a time when “speciality drink” meant a scalding-hot skinny half-strength latte served in a tempered-glass tumbler. Not to drink-shame, but in 2025, the term is more often deployed in the context of a cafe’s liquid calling card: its signature sipper. The rules are simple: it must have the star power to pull a crowd, and it must be ready to serve.

What follows is a list of Melbourne’s best venues for matcha and specialty drinks. It’s part of Good Food’s Essential Melbourne Cafes and Bakeries of 2025. Presented by T2, the guide celebrates the people and places that shape our excellent cafe and bakery scenes and includes more than 100 venues reviewed anonymously across 10 categories, including icons, those best for food, tea and coffee, and where to get the city’s best sweets, sandwiches and baked goods. (These reviews also live on theGood Food app, and are discoverable on the map.)

We’ll see you at these venues tomorrow.

Mork

This is the hot chocolate most other Melbourne cafes serve – and one sip tells you why. Prioritising depth over sweetness, all nine drinks in Mork’s core range are excellent, but you can go even further in your cacao adventures with seasonal creations. The Layered Chocolate sees the dark stuff brewed with water (not milk) and finished with snowy aerated cream flavoured by baked orange and vanilla.

Good to know: The team also bakes delicious cakes, tarts, cookies and cardamom twists.

Multiple locations, morkchocolate.com.au

Kuuki Cafe

A small suburban shopping centre is the unlikely location for this sister-run matcha haven. Ceremonial-grade green tea stars in everything from classic iced drinks to layered creations like the Dalgona Matcha (topped with whipped coffee) and the Matcha Pink Foam (topped with cherry blossom-flavoured cream). Spot matcha croissants, cupcakes and cookies in the pastry cabinet.

Good to know: Matcha is sourced from Shizuoka, one of Japan’s prime growing regions.

4/254 Hampshire Road, Sunshine, instagram.com/kuukicafe

Udom House

The laid-back lounge room look is a decoy – Udom has a killer beverage game. The Thai-leaning drink line-up includes es yen (iced coffee with condensed milk), jasmine tea lattes and nom chompoo, a pink Thai cordial swirled through milk. Snack on toast with pandan-enriched kaya (coconut jam), Thai-inspired pies and sticky rice cakes, all served on charmingly mismatched crockery.

Best for: Sinking into an armchair with a good book and a fun drink.

343 Victoria Street, West Melbourne, instagram.com/udom.house

Naau

Through an understated window hatch, staff hand over creamy, earthy matcha lattes, bright raspberry blends, and half a dozen other variations. There’s also a range of hojicha drinks, the roasted, nuttier cousin to matcha, and traditional whisks and ceramics line the front wall. An ideal spot for novices to get their first taste, and a destination for diehards seeking new green-tinged thrills.

Must order: Iced peanut cream matcha – nutty, rich and just sweet enough.

276 Russell Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/naau.coffee

Good Measure

This timber-lined cafe and vinyl bar helped pioneer Melbourne’s two-tone iced coffee trend, creating the Mont Blanc – coffee layered with a thick head of spiced cream – which warrants the crowds it draws. But playful drinks don’t end there; try the affogato-inspired matcha float with coconut sorbet, well-matched with a slice of matcha Basque cheesecake. Or go savoury with mortadella hot-honey sandos and chilli-cheese croissants.

Must order: The Mont Blanc with batch brew, aerated cream, orange zest, and nutmeg.

193 Lygon Street, Carlton, instagram.com/goodmeasuremelbourne

Cafe Tomi

A cafe that exclusively plays jazz records and creates drinks more like cocktails sounds like a gimmick, but Tomi is utterly charming. Stay awhile in the gorgeous space of chocolate-coloured timber as you sip a Cold Fashioned (butter-washed cold brew with maple and Japanese citrus) or a flat white using Klim beans. Try the salty Korean bread shio pan, and soak up owner Sean Then’s passion.

Must-order: Coco Cloud, a layering of coconut caramel, soda water and coffee-infused cream.

11 Wreckyn Street, North Melbourne, https://www.instagram.com/cafe.tomi

Matcha Kobo

Ascend two flights of stairs to this new CBD matcha haven, where shoji panels conceal a no-shoes zone with cushioned floor seating. Matcha (including a ceremonial-grade option) finds its way into everything from lattes to sweet drinks poured over house-made jams, to spritzes and even tarts. It’s sourced from Uji, a city south of Kyoto, and ground in-house in a stone mill on full display.

Good to know: Don’t come in a rush. Service isn’t speedy and there’s usually a line-up.

Level 2, 258 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/matchakobo

Machi Machi

This Taiwan-born tea store brings a playful twist to tea with its signature velvety cream cheese foam, stylish bottled smoothies and chewy hand-stewed pearls. Perfectly balanced, the mango cream smoothie with grapefruit jelly bursts with vibrant fresh fruit flavours, while the black milk tea stays effortlessly light.

Best for: A fun treat-yourself drink to grab and go.

Multiple locations, instagram.com/machimachi.australia

Industry Beans

A long-time favourite for espresso and filter, Industry earns a place on this list for its best-of-both-worlds bubble cold-brew made with coffee-soaked tapioca pearls. We should also mention the signature Fitzroy iced coffee, which smacks slightly of wattleseed, and the roaster’s cold brew negroni at its new Chadstone store. Go, you good thing.

Good to know: There are hot cross bun-flavoured brews at Easter.

Multiple locations, industrybeans.com

Good Food’s Essential Melbourne Cafes and Bakeries of 2025, presented by T2, celebrates the people and places that shape our excellent cafe and bakery scenes and includes more than 100 venues reviewed anonymously across 10 categories, including icons, those best for food, tea, coffee and matcha, and where to get the city’s best sweets, sandwiches and baked goods. Download the Good Food app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store to discover what’s near you.