Service: Behind the bean scene with Fleur Studd from Market Lane

Fleur Studd is the most influential woman in Melbourne coffee, but she doesn't see it that way. In 2008 she spotted a gap in the market and began importing specialty green beans under Melbourne Coffee Merchants. The first Market Lane cafe followed in 2009, with another three opening since. But ask Fleur who's responsible for the Melbourne coffee boom and she'll point you to the producers, every time.

First thing's first: what exactly is specialty coffee? In technical terms specialty coffee is anything that scores 80 or more out of 100 on a cupping score sheet.

So is it a problem that cafes print "specialty coffee" on menus, regardless of what they're serving?

It can be dangerous in that it's confusing for the consumer, but you can look for things that indicate that a roaster cares about their coffee… it should be traceable, you should know when the coffee was harvested, you should know the variety.

Market Lane doesn't serve skinny, soy or – heaven forbid – almond milk. Why?

I think they can mask the things that make coffee special. All the hard work that has been put into making that coffee taste beautiful is lost with those milks.

How does specialty coffee influence its producers?

Out of all the origins we source, I get most exited about Rwanda. When you go there you really see the impact coffee is having on the communities. Especially post-genocide; their economy was completely decimated and specialty coffee has played a big role in regeneration.

These days coffee is on par with "wine wankery". How do you avoid being too exclusive?

We communicate in a way that's accessible. There's information available if people want it, but it's okay just to come in and enjoy a coffee. For us, if a customer says, "You've got the Santa Clara back in stock, I loved that coffee last year," then we've done our job because they've built a relationship with that coffee. It's not about Market Lane; it's about Ricardo Zelaya who produces Santa Clara.

Let's pretend you're a coffee clairvoyant. What's to come in 2015?

As an industry we're still so young and learning so much. I think we'll see coffee quality continue to improve.

There's room for improvement? Definitely. That's what's so exciting and what keeps us hungry. There are always better quality beans you can roast and serve better. I think 2015 will be a year of refining what we do.