High Coffee Comes to Town

Melbourne is a city synonymous with coffee. We’re caffeine-crazy and probably half the time high on the smell of freshly roasted beans.

If you double back along Flinders Lane just to walk past Dukes, then we’ve got the perfect afternoon adventure for you.

The InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto is following in its Sydney sister hotel’s footsteps with the launch of High Coffee in its Market Lane bar.

Forget Earl Grey and English Breakfast, this caffeine-packed version of High Tea showcases Espresso di Manfredi by Piazza D’Oro coffee alongside the sweet treats.

The first sip of our espresso martini is an icy-cold caffeine hit. Sip and savour, don’t gulp this one or you’ll be bouncing off the walls and have brain freeze.

Starting off with savouries, we’re instantly won over by the salmon-filled baby bagels. So cute!

Ok maybe it’s the caffeine kicking in, but there’s cuteness all over the place.

Forget boring cucumber sandwiches, the InterContinental Melbourne has sandwiched wagyu and cucumber onto mini baguettes. There’s bite sized beef and burgundy pies, a creamy pancetta and asparagus tartlet and even an olive mini muffin.

We’ve ploughed onto sweets by the time the Cafe Freddo arrives with a palate cleansing raspberry sorbet. They’re served in matching Bodum espresso glasses, a clever move and again, it has the cute factor.

The menu matches coffee with sweets but seriously, no one is going to pick just one dessert. We stick to the Café Freddo and indulge in Raspberry pannacotta, a couveture chocolate slice, a puff of pavlova and a pistachio macaron that’s thankfully full size. We savour every mouthful.

At this point the signature Café Cornetto, Stefano’s blend with a shot of grappa, keeps us going. All the way through to bite sized scones.

The InterContinental Melbourne has done us a favour. High Coffee puts the beans on show but has the sweets to back it up.