Axil Coffee Roasters Flinders Lane

Unlike its bigger suburban brother in Hawthorn, which houses a roastery and kitchen, this satellite Axil Coffee store is a fast-paced, standing-room-only espresso bar.

Although it sits alongside many of Melbourne’s most popular restaurants at the east end of Flinders Lane, it’s found a small speciality coffee gap on the Exhibition Street corner, as the stream of takeaway coffees can attest.

The same serious approach to top-quality coffee has been applied here as at the bigger roastery. Whether extracted from the slick, custom-black Spirit espresso machine or filtered through AeroPress, pour-over or Chemex, the roasts are carefully matched to the best process and also rotate regularly.

If you opt for an espresso-based coffee, expect it to come out real quick. They’ve devised a system with a prototype Satellite Brewers steam wand (independent of the espresso machine), so that two people can steam milk fast.

If you’re not in such a hurry, munch on a pastry from Axil’s own kitchen or Noisette at the window and watch the world go by. Behind you, street artist Adnate’s striking mural of a woman keeps watch too.