There is definitely a coffee culture in Australia and they take it very seriously.
I would say that their coffees are definitely some of the best I’ve tasted: certainly not of the flavoured milk variety I’ve often had in the UK, or coffee with nasty sweet flavourings …
Even the church we visited in North Ryde had their own espresso type machine and served seriously good flat whites. It puts some of the misguided attempts at coffee in the UK to shame…
Just read an article in the newspaper here which tested the temperature of several coffee outlets. Apparently steaming the milk above 68C robs the milk of its velvety sweetness – compromising the full taste of the coffee beans.