Despite the hurried city life, a new study released on Wednesday said that urban Aussies prefer freshly brewed coffee while their rural counterparts favour instant coffee.

One reason, according to Norman Morris, industry communications director at Roy Morgan Research which released the study, is that most of city dwellers who like fresh brew work as professionals and managers or come from a high socio-economic background. That would indicate a link to the higher price of a fresh cup of coffee to urban dwellers' morning drink preference.

While the average Australian population age is quite young at 14, Aussies often do not develop a liking for coffee until they reach about 35, the report said. However, instant coffee buyers and drinkers are much older with an average age of 65. They also often belong to the lower socio-economic group.

As a result of the changing consumer preference and impact of purchasing power, from 2006 to 2011, Australians who bought instant coffee in an average four-week period went down to 43 per cent from 47 per cent. For the same period, the number of fresh coffee buyers grew to 26 per cent from 24 per cent.

Victorians are the most avid fresh coffee drinkers. About 58 per cent of them visited a café for coffee or tea within a three-month period, which supports Victoria's reputation as Australia's coffee capital.

Victoria was followed by New South Wales (55 per cent), Western Australia (53 per cent), Queensland (52 per cent), Tasmania (51 per cent) and South Australia (49 per cent).

Mr Morris observed that another option for fresh coffee lovers is the coffee campaigns of McCafe, Donut King and 7-11 stores.

"It'll be interesting to see whether they too detract from instant coffee purchase or whether they draw consumers away from the more premium options," Mr Morris said.