Most people are familiar with a latte, a cappuccino, a short and long black, and these days the Melbourne flat white has become a globally recognised coffee order. But what of all the others?

In the evolving coffee scene that is Melbourne, it can be confusing for visitors and locals alike to keep up with the latest coffee trends and terms. Visitors can approach the cafe with confidence by brushing up on these popular orders.

A Cortado - similar to a latte, but less foamy, and less quantity, usually served in a small glass.  It consists of espresso mixed with a roughly equal amount of warm milk.

Bulletproof Coffee (or butter coffee) – one for the paleos. Coffee, with butter, and claimed to have health benefits including increased energy and focus. It will most likely be found in cafés specialising in health food. In Melbourne this includes Fitzroy’s Fitln, Flinders Lane’s Seedling and Patch café in Richmond.

Clover: Expensive machine gives spot-on, customised plunger-style coffee, preserving the characteristics.

Cold drip: A 12–24-hour drip-by-drip brewing process reduces bitterness. Drink cold.

Macchiato - sometimes called espresso macchiato, is an espresso coffee drink with a small amount of milk, usually foamed.

A Magic – a piccolo latte made with double Ristretto. Both the Piccolo and the Magic arguably originated in Melbourne, most baristas worth their weight in coffee beans will happily serve one up.

Piccolo - Somewhere in-between a cafe latte, macchiato and cortado, the piccolo is a single espresso shot topped up with milk in a 90ml glass. Bascially, more coffee, less milk.

Pourover: Finely ground coffee infused through a cone, giving you a clean drink.

Ristretto - traditionally a short shot of espresso coffee made with the normal amount of ground coffee but extracted with about half the amount of water in the same amount of time by using a finer grind. This produces a more concentrated shot of coffee per volume.

Syphon: Water goes up contraption; coffee comes down thanks to vacuum wonderment. Clean coffee that highlights subtle characteristics.

In Melbourne, it’s harder to find a bad coffee, than a good coffee.