Actor and wrestling superstar John Cena has praised Melbourne’s coffee culture once again, this time in an interview with Bon Appétit, where he revealed his love for the humble flat white and how he uses the beverage as a barometer to determine where a venue’s priorities lie.
Cena stated the people of Melbourne are “a coffee first people” after being presented with a flat white from Condé Nast Café, which he said he could tell was a United States flat white because it was “too big with too much milk, and the milk’s not steamed”.
“The best flat whites I’ve had are in Australia – Melbourne, Australia. They are a coffee first people,” he says.
“The reason I love a flat white is because coffee is a universal language throughout the world, so I will judge a place on its flat white.
“Some people misinterpret flat whites, but that’s how I can be like ‘this place isn’t a real coffee shop, or it isn’t coffee first’ … everyone has a different interpretation of a flat white, which is why I order a flat white instead of a latte, because I want to see what I’m served.”
It’s not the first time Cena has praised Melbourne’s coffee. When filming Ricky Stanicky in Melbourne in 2023, he was frequently spotted at Degraves Espresso.
Fellow actor Ryan Gosling has also previously expressed his love for Australia’s café scene when he labelled the coffee as “on a whole other level” in 2024. He also labelled Australian breakfasts as “the best in the world”.
