Melburnians have long suspected they Iive in a city made up of serious coffee drinkers with the most talented baristas.

However, the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research reveal that Australia’s coffee habits are a little more multi-faceted.

Melbourne does lead the country, research shows – but only just. Sydneysiders are more likely to buy fresh coffee, and are the least likely to buy instant coffee. So they might argue their tastes are more refined.

In the past decade, coffee consumption by Australian adults has declined slowly but steadily, but cafe visitation and ownership of coffee-making machines is on the rise.

• Final approval for Gloria Jean’s takeover
• Gloria Jeans franchise underpaid staff
• ‘Cigarette-like’ coffee pods choke planet with junk

In an average three months, 63.3 per cent of Melburnians pay at least one visit to a café for coffee or tea, ahead of Hobart residents with 62.7 per cent and Sydneysiders with 61 per cent.

So many Australians count on their barista for their caffeine fix. Photo: Shutterstock

Melbourne residents are also the most frequent café visitors, with 11.5 per cent going 16 or more times in any given three-month period – although Sydney residents give them a run for their money with 11.3 per cent.

Incidentally, Perth – home to some of Australia’s priciest café coffees – has the highest rate of coffee-maker ownership with 39 per cent of households owning one.

Angela Smith, Roy Morgan Research group account director, says Melbourne has long declared itself the coffee capital, and in some respects this is justified.

“With a higher café visitation rate than any other capital city, Melburnians take their coffee very seriously,” Ms Smith says.

“Perhaps because so many of them count on their barista for their caffeine fix, Melbourne residents don’t need to buy as much fresh coffee for home/work consumption – which is where Sydneysiders lead the country.”

Photo: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia)

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows coffee was consumed by nearly half the Australian population.

The statistics also revealed the older you get, the more likely you are to drink coffee, with one in three people aged 19 to 30 years drinking coffee, and two in three of the population aged 51 to 70 years also enjoying a cup.

Ms Smith says although a much higher proportion of Aussies still buy instant coffee than fresh, its popularity has been declining for several years.

She says all is not lost, with instant coffee such as Moccona and Robert Timms brands are bucking this downward trend, with higher purchase rates in 2014 than in 2010.

Meanwhile, Lavazza maintains top spot among the fresh coffee brands.