Just why is coffee so expensive here? It's nothing to do with quality: Melbourne baristas can crank out better coffee, on average, a dollar cheaper.

Employment costs are a factor - Melbourne baristas earn on average $10 an hour less. But even the wage disparity doesn't explain Perth's flat white flimflam.

No, it's the Gourmet Traveller factor. The popular food glossy magazine beatifies cooks and baristas as if food and java are luxury goods, like Louis Vuitton luggage or a Brioni suit, and hails them as shaman rock stars.

WA readers buy double the capital city average of Gourmet Travellers. We love the glossy food lifestyle like no other Australians.

The knock-on effect? Every Gen-Y who shoots steam at 135PSI through ground coffee thinks the product of their genius is worth a banker's salary.

In Melbourne, as in Italy, they just make coffee. Very good coffee. And they don't confuse coffee-making with high artistic or scientific endeavour.