Proud Mary, Melbourne

Coffee is about showing your pride.

Hidden in the somewhat shabby back streets of Collingwood is perhaps the crown jewel of the city’s café scene, Proud Mary. The warehouse-style café was opened in 2009 by Nolan Hirte who has assembled a crew of dedicated baristas, usually skinny, tattooed and bearded (the men, that is), to pump out great coffee non-stop.

The warm red brick walls, communal tables and high stools are matched by a colourful crowd of customers. There’s a vibrant vibe here: these juice junkies eagerly await their orders from the bar that is stocked with all manner of brewing equipment – pour-over, syphon, French press, Aeropress, and even a Clover coffee machine.

With their gigantic six-group custom-made Synesso espresso machine, complete with a special steam wand operated via a foot pedal, it’s no wonder some of Melbourne’s award-winning baristas such as John Vroom and Kris Wood were trained here.

We enjoy a cup each of Ethiopia Sidamo Guji and El Salvador San Joaquin. The Eastern African brew has fruity notes of apricot and passion fruit whereas the Central American coffee is subtler with a light hazelnut flavour.

It’s obvious the crew at Proud Mary take real pride in making and serving great cups of coffee — and how fortunate are we, this means every cup is a real pleasure.

於2009年開業的Proud Mary，是墨爾本另一家著名的咖啡館。
雖然它隱藏在Collingwood後街小巷中，但慕名而來的人卻絡繹不絕。
紅磚牆、公用長桌配上高腳椅；倉庫式的風格，原始而粗獷。
再加上留著鬍子的咖啡師和那瘦長身上的紋身，
一家非常的有個性的咖啡館。
這裡的咖啡器材繁多；除了有特製的六組裝Synesso意式咖啡機外，
還有手沖咖啡所用的虹吸壺French press和Aeropress。
而John Vroom 和Kris Wood這些獲獎的咖啡師都曾在這接受訓。

頂著光環的Proud Mary沒讓我們失望。
東非的衣索比亞西達摩谷吉（Ethiopia Sidamo Guji）的豆子散發百香果和杏桃的誘人果香，
而中美洲的薩爾瓦多聖約克（El Salvador San Joaquin）則帶來了淡淡的榛果味道。
兩杯咖啡不分軒輊，讓人難以取捨。
記得當天的天氣晴朗微涼；
我們花了四十分鐘左右的時間，慢慢的從市中心步行到Proud Mary這。
雖然距離有點遠，不過這里的咖啡每一杯都是一種享受，
所以還好我們來了，不然就錯過了這家美好的咖啡館。