Proud Mary is a coffee shop and cafe that originated in Melbourne, Australia in 2009. Its founders, Nolan and Shari Hirte, exhibited success in Australia to a degree in which they could broaden their reach to the United States, and in 2017, they did just that with the opening of their first cafe outside of Australia. Get the scoop on why people think Sumatra beans are super unique here!
Locations in Australia & The US
The location sits in Portland, Oregon, but it does business with its roasting trade throughout the world. Proud Mary works directly with its bean suppliers, opting to avoid the fair trade sourcing contracts. In doing so, they list the benefit of being able to have direct influence on the quality of the beans.
Uses Beans From All Over the World
Part of Proud Mary’s ethos is to work on the long term with partners, giving them the chance to improve, and directly teaching them the means to do so. As a result, Proud Mary serves a wealth of roasts using beans from all around the world, including countries such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, and more.
Get Beans Delivered Monthly to Your Home
You can find the staggering list on their website, and also purchase packages of the beans individually or as a bi-weekly subscription service. Everything about Proud Mary screams “direct.” Beyond directly working with farmers, many components of the store are direct in some form.
Immediately upon walking in, you will see a design both conceptualized by Nolan Hirte, and even made by him and his parents. Many items within, from the walnut stools with real leather cushions to the oak window frames, were handcrafted within the family.
Brewing, Crafting & Baking Done in the Open
Proud Mary is large and luxurious inside, also featuring walls of marble and maple, a skylight, and a giant, brick based bar. Behind the bar is where all work takes place. Brewing and crafting beverages or baking fresh food, all of it is done directly in front of the customers.
Proud Mary serves an extensive number of items. First and foremost, the coffee comes in a wealth of variants, using all of the available blends and roasts. Of course, there is the standard drip coffee, but also varieties of straight espresso and espresso-based beverages, and both pour over and deluxe pour over categories.
Serving Australian Dishes until 3pm
Rounding out the liquid side of things, Proud Mary serves teas, specialty teas, coconut and soda water, kombucha, juices, smoothies, and alcoholic offerings. True to what is Australian cafe tradition, Proud Mary keeps its kitchen open until 3:00 p.m., and serves healthy, natural Australian dishes.
Some of these many salivations include toasts with eggs or avocado, chia pudding, omelets, brioches, pavlova, a smoked pork belly satay sandwich, salads, grain bowls, and meat pies. The eats also extend to baked goods such as cookies and cakes.
Proud Mary has many things to be proud about. Be it their Australian heritage, the extravagant homemade building design, the vast amount of quality and eccentric foods and drinks they serve, or even the way they go about procuring the ingredients and making it all, Proud Mary can live up to their name.
If you want to experience a taste or view of Australia, you can find Proud Mary’s only United States
Address
2012 NE Alberta Street, Portland, Oregon, 97211.
