Eddy and Prem Pan wanted their new coffee shop to become a community gathering place with a simple, welcoming name. They called it Regulars, hoping everyone who visited would become exactly that. What they didn't anticipate was that their signature drink would create lines stretching down Little La Trobe Street, with over 600 cups selling daily just weeks after opening.
The drink causing the sensation is called Dirty -85°C, an innovative take on the "dirty coffee" concept that originated at Bear Pond Espresso in Tokyo. The technique involves pouring espresso over extremely cold milk, but Eddy—a former head roaster at St Ali and certified Q grader (coffee's equivalent of a sommelier)—has elevated it to an art form.
"It's all about precision," Eddy explains. The process is mesmerizing: glasses undergo two freezer blasts, first at -20°C to prevent thermal shock, then at -85°C. Baristas use metal tongs to retrieve the frozen vessels. When milk is poured inside, it freezes almost instantly around the edges while staying liquid in the center. A ristretto shot completes the drink, seeping into the frozen milk to create something simultaneously ice-cream-like and perfectly sippable.
The stark temperature difference between hot espresso and frozen milk produces an unexpectedly rich, syrupy flavor. Because the drink uses no ice or steamed milk, the pure flavors of vanilla-infused St David Dairy full-cream milk and Eddy's carefully developed Brazilian-Colombian bean blend shine through undiuted.
While the visual spectacle might seem designed for social media, Eddy insists that's not the point. "My real goal is to connect people," he says. "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."
The mid-century Scandinavian aesthetic is the work of Prem, a graphic designer who created a warm, inviting space. The couple sources baked goods from Tori's, owned by Prem's sister Tinee Su—keeping the operation distinctly family-focused.
Beyond the flagship dirty coffee, Regulars offers an 18-hour cold brew with redcurrant, grape and passionfruit syrup, and a Pomelo Sunrise featuring Ethiopian cold brew with pomelo syrup. All syrups, purees and foams are made in-house, while Eddy roasts the beans himself at a facility in Balwyn.
For this couple, success means watching strangers become regulars—one precisely crafted cup at a time.