Inside Proud Mary's Inventive Second Austin Cafe: Custom Gear, Australian Brekkie, and a 96-Inch Freezer

Proud Mary Coffee has never been content to follow the standard playbook. When owner Nolan Hirte brought the Australian roastery to the United States in 2017, it was a considerable leap—one that fit his willingness to gamble on new ideas.

That adventurous streak is on full display at the company's second Austin, Texas cafe, which has a claim to being its most ambitious project to date. Nearly every piece of equipment was built or modified to order, the kind of setup that delights hardware obsessives. Pandemic-related delays pushed the buildout back more than once, but the doors finally opened in September 2022.

We went behind the scenes to see how this forward-leaning cafe operates day to day.

Craftsmanship You Can Touch

Blink and you might walk right past it. The building sits on a busy South Austin street with no signage facing outward. What identifies it instead is the architecture: stone walls, an angled roofline, and tall glass windows. Head around to the back and you'll find a door fitted with a portafilter handle that Hirte made by hand.

"Nolan's a very tactical guy. It's about the touch and feel, the arts and crafts," says Jak Ryan, Proud Mary's global coffee lead, who manages the coffee program across every location—service standards, quality control, and staff training included. "Everything has intention."

Hirte's handiwork shows up throughout the space, down to the wooden tap handles and the big communal tables. Michael Hsu Architecture designed the building, which in earlier incarnations housed an upscale New American restaurant and a fried chicken restaurant. The same firm has worked on well-known Austin spots including Uchi, Easy Tiger, and Two Hands, another cafe with Australian roots.

The interior is the work of co-founder Shari Hirte, Nolan's wife. Almost every element invites a second look, whether it's the train-station clock, the vintage Japanese speakers, or the 96-inch freezer fixed to the wall.

"Proud's is always about the entertainment value," Ryan says. "Entertain first, educate second."

Much of the gear exists in a single copy, including that freezer—four Titus Nautilus grinders are attached to it—and a five-group Synesso espresso machine installed beneath the counter. One-off equipment brings its own headaches, and Ryan says Proud Mary is fortunate that technicians from Synesso and Austin's BinxCorp are only a phone call away when something needs fixing.

"We really couldn't do any of this without them," he says. "I've learned more about freezers in the last six months than I ever thought was possible."

A Cafe With Restaurant Habits

A barista greets guests at a hostess stand near the entrance. You can order takeaway, or sit down for table service—a holdover from Australian cafe culture, where an all-day breakfast menu is standard. The socially inclined can instead claim a stool at the wraparound bar.

The menu runs from green smoothies to draft cocktails to "deluxe" pour-overs priced at $10 to $14 a cup and served in clear stemless wine glasses. Ryan says everything is portioned ahead of service—smoothies in reusable containers, teas in tins, matcha and mocha pre-whisked—and arranged with speed in mind.

"The victory is in the preparation," he says. "If I have all of that done, I can spend more time interacting with you during your time with us."

At peak times, four baristas work the bar in assigned sections. The rhythm reads more like a kitchen than a cafe—organized chaos, punctuated by blunt communication and plenty of joking. Other floor staff handle table service: walking guests through the menu, sending orders to the bar and kitchen on Toast tablets, and delivering freshly ground coffee (so guests can smell it before brewing), drinks, and breakfast to seated customers.

Every detail carries the same intent: brew the best cup possible and give people something worth discussing.

The Gear, Piece by Piece

Proud Mary's equipment choices are driven by a commitment to innovation, with each decision tracing back to quality—maximizing flavor without sacrificing style.

1. The centerpiece: A 96-inch wall-mounted freezer keeps 12 brown bottles of single-origin coffee at -6 F. The three hoppers on the right hold "Showcase" espressos (single-origin coffees from a single country), while the remaining nine serve the "Deluxe" pour-over list, with cups priced $10–$15. Baristas adjust the grind setting on the front face (similar to a Mahlkönig EK43), switch on the grinder, and a volumetric doser releases beans into a custom Titus Nautilus fitted with 98mm burrs, which travels on a track like a library ladder. Each dose is checked for accuracy before brewing.
2. Brekkie or bust: Food is essential to Australian cafe culture. An open kitchen lets guests watch everything happen in front of them.
3. Tea time: The tea menu is extensive. Each tea is pre-portioned and brewed in a matching vessel: ceramic pots for traditional teas, clear containers for peppermint and lemongrass (so the fresh kitchen ingredients added to the leaves are visible), and gaiwans for high-quality Pu'erhs.
4. On tap: Proud Mary considers Cold Brew dead. In its place the roaster pours a snap-chilled single-origin coffee and draft cocktails from taps outfitted with custom wooden handles made by Nolan Hirte.
5. Brewing in V-City: For a manual brew, head to "V-City," the section of the bar holding three medium Origami drippers, Hario scales, and kettles kept at a boil. Coffee drips into vintage glass carafes that Nolan and Shari Hirte sourced.
6. All about that spro: Espresso comes from a fully custom under-counter Synesso, built largely from MVP Hydra parts, with five volumetric group heads and four steam wands spaced evenly along a curved bar. House espresso is ground on a Mazzer Robur S and brewed at a 1:2 ratio in 22g VST baskets; single-origin espressos are ground on the three right-most Titus grinders beneath the freezer and brewed at a 1:2.5 ratio in 20g VST baskets. A refractometer is used daily to assess and recalibrate the espresso.
7. Wild or mild: Two drip coffees are brewed on a Curtis G4 ThermaPro Twin using large carafes with timers. Baristas ask whether the customer wants milk and then serve the matching roast. Batch beans are pre-portioned and ground on a Mahlkönig EK43.

Proud Mary Coffee is open daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2043 South Lamar Boulevard in Austin, Texas.