First Look: Regulars Sells 600 Cups of -85-Degree Coffee a Day

Eddy and Prem Pan want Regulars – the coffee shop they opened just after Christmas – to be a community hub. “We want a simple name. We want everyone to come and become our regulars,” Eddy says. Before they end up with a simple neighbourhood coffee shop, the couple might have to wait for the hype around their signature drink to die down first. 

Just weeks after opening on Little La Trobe Street, Regulars has lines down the block. The small coffee shop is currently selling upwards of 600 glasses of its take on dirty coffee – named Dirty -85°C – daily. Often credited to Bear Pond Espresso in Tokyo, dirty coffee sees espresso poured over a glass of extremely cold milk. Different takes on the drink have proliferated around Asia, especially in Bangkok. 

“It’s all about precision,” says Eddy. At Regulars, glasses undergo two freezer blasts: the first at -20 degrees Celsius to prevent thermal shock, before the second at -85 degrees Celsius. A barista uses metal tongs to remove the empty glass from the freezer; milk is poured inside and freezes almost instantly around the edges when it hits the cold glass. In the centre, the milk stays liquid, but extremely cold. The drink is then finished off with a ristretto shot (short-extracted espresso) which seeps into the frozen milk edges, creating a creamy coffee drink that is at once ice-cream-like and easy to sip. The slow diffusion of the coffee into the milk creates a compelling visual effect, while the stark temperature difference between the ristretto and the milk gives a rich syrupy flavour, Eddy says.

Because the drink doesn’t use any ice or steamed milk, it allows for the undiluted flavours of the milk and coffee to stand on their own. The team takes advantage of this, using full-cream St David Dairy milk infused with vanilla bean, and a blend of Brazilian and Colombian beans that Eddy says has nutty, chocolatey and creamy notes. “The last thing I want is to dilute the flavour I’ve worked so hard to develop,” he adds. 

Dirty -85°C may feel especially designed for social media, but that’s not the point for Eddy, who worked as head roaster at St Ali for seven years and is a certified Q grader (often likened to the coffee world’s equivalent of a sommelier certification). “My real goal is to connect people. I don’t want specialty coffee to feel like an exclusive club or something intimidating. I want to bridge the gap between the high-end coffee world and new coffee drinkers. A drink like the Dirty -85°C is the perfect bridge. It’s visual, fun, and delicious for someone just starting their coffee journey, but the technical precision behind it satisfies the experts.”

The dirty coffee has stolen the spotlight, but other Regulars specials include an 18-hour cold brew with a redcurrant, grape and passionfruit syrup; and a Pomelo Sunrise – Ethiopian cold brew with pomelo syrup. All syrups, purees and foams are house-made and Eddy roasts all the coffee beans at a site in Balwyn. You’ll also find matcha, available with pistachio syrup or strawberry-and-lingonberry syrup.

The warm, mid-century Scandinavian aesthetic is the work of Prem, a graphic designer. The couple sources baked goods from Tori’s, owned by Prem’s sister, Tinee Su. Everything except the shio pan comes from Tori’s Docklands production kitchen. Get orange blossom and yuzu madeleines, peanut butter cookies and a special version of Tori’s iconic garlic bread, made with a sweeter cream cheese filling for Regulars, to complement Eddy’s coffee blends.

Regulars
38-40 Little La Trobe Street, Melbourne
No phone

Hours:
Daily 9am–4pm

@regularsmelb