Written by Jordan Michelman.
One of the biggest compliments you can pay a cafe is your repeated patronage. But when those visits come as an out-of-town guest, well, I’m not sure there’s a greater sign of respect in the world of coffee. The cafes you look forward to visiting when you’re in town, the sorts of places you build your itinerary around—these are the cafes that stick with you across the years, the places you think of fondly on humdrum home-bound days, dreaming of future travel.
I have a cafe like this in Amsterdam (Back to Black), a place like this in LA (Document), and a place like this in New York City (Everyman Espresso), but one of my very favorite such travel-destination coffee bars is a little spot called Fleet Coffee in East Austin. It’s a tiny space, and most days just serves from the cafe door; you sit outside in the roasting Texas sun with your drinks (you should order multiple drinks), and you contemplate the next move, which involves tacos. I love coming here; I’ve come here every single time I’ve set foot in the city of Austin, and I will continue to do so for as long as it is allowed.
On a recent trip to Austin, Fleet was as good as ever. This interview series gave us a chance to learn a little more about what makes Fleet so special in conversation with founder Patrick Pierce and to share this great cafe with a wider audience. You simply gotta visit.
For folks with the misfortune not to travel to Texas recently, can you tell us a little bit about what you do at Fleet — how do you describe your company to someone unfamiliar?
Fleet Coffee is all of my twenty years of experience distilled down into an approachable experience for our customers. All of our coffees, teas, housemade syrups, and milks have been heavily vetted and tasted to make sure they are the best we can offer. The hope is we can meet any type of customer at their level and give them an awesome experience, whether you only drink espressos and pour-overs or if you want an extra-sweetened latte or anywhere in between.
Across multiple locations now, do you streamline the equipment you use? Or is the gear set-up at each location a little different?
We have streamlined the equipment across all of our locations. La Marzocco Linea PB ABR paired with Mahlkonig E65S GBW and a Puqpress.
Why do you choose to work with La Marzocco gear?
La Marzocco has proven time and time again to be the easiest to maintain, and we rarely have issues with our machines. They have so much history in the industry that most techs grew up working on these machines.
Every time I visit Fleet, I’m impressed by the playful signature drinks — tell me more about how your team works to develop those beverages.
Having a background in the barista competition world, I have always used signature beverages as a way for customers to segue into a funner and sometimes weirder coffee experience that typically only barista competition judges are privy to. We always have The Ritual, currently Oreo-infused cortado, which is for the folks with a sweet tooth. The E.T. is back on the menu for summer, which is espresso, grapefruit juice, and simple syrup shaken and poured over tonic water. This is our bright and refreshing coffee-focused version of one of my favorite summer cocktails, a gin and tonic. Lastly, we are riding the matcha wave and serve a matcha-mosa, which is matcha from Spirit Tea, floated on top of orange juice, bitters, and sparkling water.
From your Webberville Road location, there are two pretty significant food destinations within a couple blocks — Veracruz All Natural and Joe’s Bakery — what’s your go-to?
I am obsessed with Joe’s Bakery and regularly get the Migas Con Todo plate. It’s one of my favorite breakfast dishes in Austin.
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