NFL star praises Australian coffee scene – BeanScene

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has praised Australia’s coffee ahead of his NFL team’s historic game in Melbourne.

On 11 September local time, the 49ers will play the Los Angeles Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), marking the first regular-season NFL game ever hosted in the country.

The 49ers have been training in Melbourne in the run-up to the clash, soaking in the Aussie culture. In a pre-match press conference about his experience so far, star player Christian revealed he’d been enjoying the city’s coffee culture and was surprised more people don’t talk about it.

The Rams will be arriving in Melbourne the day before the game.

“The coffee’s unbelievable. I don’t know why nobody talked about that as much as they should have beforehand,” said Christian.

“Coffee’s been great, food’s awesome. The people are really nice. I mean, yeah, it’s been a really cool experience for all of us.”

The NFL star isn’t the first American celebrity to be surprised by the quality of Australian coffee.

In August 2025, actor and wrestling superstar John Cena praised Melbourne’s coffee scene in an interview with Bon Appétit. John revealed his love for the flat white and how he uses the beverage as a barometer to determine where a venue’s priorities lie.

Fellow actor Ryan Gosling has also expressed his love for Australia’s café scene when he labelled the coffee as “on a whole other level” in 2024. He also described Australian breakfasts as “the best in the world”.