Proud Mary Coffee

Collingwood since 2009, and a roasting programme to match

Proud Mary's Melbourne room is the original Collingwood business, established in 2009 and still the branch most tied to the brand's origin story. It anchors an Australian specialty coffee company that later expanded into the United States, and the concept reaches beyond an espresso stop: coffee subscriptions, retail coffee, brewing equipment, tea and chocolate, gifting, and the café itself all run off the same programme. The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops ranked Proud Mary Coffee Melbourne fourth in 2025, calling it a pioneer of the Australian coffee scene and singling out its coffee programme, producer relationships, seasonal food and warm, stylish room.

Origin-driven roasting on the shelf and behind the bar

The coffee range shows the detail behind the counter. Releases have included Panama Los Lajones Bambu Geisha Washed, Brazil Dois Irmaos Catuai Natural, Colombia Area 18 Castillo Natural, El Salvador La Siberia Red Bourbon Washed, Honduras Nahun Fernandez Parainema Honey and Nicaragua Buenos Aires Maracaturra Washed. Each is presented by country, producer or project, cultivar and process, and the shelf carries blends, single origins, decaf, subscriptions and specialty releases alongside them. Tea matters here as well, with high-end and single-estate teas making up a genuine programme rather than a courtesy list. Food is part of the draw too: all-day breakfast, lunch, cakes, pastries, fresh juice, smoothies and house-made pastries, with kitchen dishes running to dandan noodles and pancakes with lemon curd and eucalyptus.

How to frame the visit

Treat it as a daytime Collingwood café where coffee, food and design share the billing rather than as a formal dining room. The room is stylish and inviting, rustic yet modern, with friendly service and an atmosphere suited to a slow catch-up. Table service is part of the Melbourne model, which fits the breadth of the offer: breakfast, lunch, cakes, pastries, juices, smoothies, house-roasted coffee and tea. Coffee drinkers get the most out of a visit by comparing processes rather than ordering one flat white, since washed, natural and honey lots from Panama, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua are frequently on at the same time. Non-coffee drinkers have the high-end and single-estate teas, fresh juices, smoothies and the chocolate side of the business. The reputation rests on a long run rather than one accolade, and it starts in Collingwood in 2009.