Video by Tom Compagnoni
Whether you take a latte, cappuccino, piccolo or flat white -- today is the day to celebrate your coffee of choice. October 1 is International Coffee Day and it's the perfect excuse to get your caffeine buzz on.
For those who are like, "October 1 - what!? Isn't it on September 29?" don't worry, you're not going crazy. Different countries have previously celebrated it on different dates, but this year the International Coffee Organisation is trying to establish just the one. So mark it in your diary -- today is the day! (Seriously though -- how many international days are there!? It's hard to keep up.)
But coffee being coffee, this is an important one, and to mark the occasion The Huffington Post Australia spoke to Professor Chahan Yeretzian -- who was in Australia all the way from Switzerland, courtesy of Toby's Estate -- to find out the next big trends in coffee. Turns out we can give ourselves a pat on the back because in the coffee world, Australia is right up there with the best.
"First of all I think Australia is a leading market. We come here and see trends that are happening here that we bring back. It really is quite a mature market, especially in the specialty coffee arena," Yeretzian told HuffPost Australia. "In fact the Barista World Champion is [Sasa Sestic] from Canberra."
"But in terms of trends that are happening in Europe -- we are seeing a lot of coffees brewed cold. We are seeing fusion coffee where, for example, beer and coffee meet and you have beverages somewhere in between."
Speaking of beer, turns out "fizzy coffee" is also a thing, and it's served out of beer taps.
"Something else we're seeing is carbonated coffee, which you pour out of a beer tap," Yeretzian said. "While you are dispensing it you add nitrogen to it to create foamy texture, like beer. It creates a sensation that is something like a stronger coffee taste without being stronger."
"It looks like beer but it is actually coffee coming out of a beer tap."
Coffee enthusiasts are also experimenting with brewing the coffee cold.
"Cold brew is right now the big thing. It reduces acidity and produces a smoother, softer, sweeter coffee," Yeretzian said. "It's a new way of extracting that's very exciting but, at the same time, it has a very long brewing time. It can take hours.
"I think really what we are seeing is a new way of playing around with coffee. What’s happening is what I call a culinary chef culture. People are taking this product and getting creative with it."
As is typical in so many industries, another trend in the coffee scene is what's old is becoming new again.
"We are seeing some very old type of products being reinvented recently," Yeretzian said. "Filtered coffee is something that has changed and been reinvented."
"Soluble or instant coffee -- a product that, in the specialty arena people won't consider as a good coffee -- even in this arena there are some people working to reinvent it. We are seeing people use the highest quality coffee to recreate soluble coffee, and generally revisiting things that have been done in the past."
So does that mean in the future, our instant coffee might be as fancy as an orange mocha triple Frappuccino? Mmm... probs not. But in a world where coffee-flavoured beer is an actual thing, we can only dream.