A new coffee shop has opened its doors off FM 1102 in New Braunfels, pouring specialty drinks inside a commercial complex that dates back to 1865. Pressed Coffee Co., owned by Alyssa McConnico, opened Monday at 5441 FM 1102, offering coffee, refreshers, matcha and pastries to a corner of the county that's been adding houses and rooftops by the thousands.
According to Community Impact, McConnico built her menu to cover a lot of ground for a lot of different tastes. “I try to have a little bit of everything,” she told the outlet, describing a lineup that spans espresso drinks, refreshers, matcha and more menu items still being rolled out. One standout drink already generating buzz is the Bonfire Iced Latte, made with a blend of maple, vanilla and cinnamon and topped with marshmallow cold foam. Customers can follow the shop's offerings on Instagram at pressedcoffeeco.us.
A Stagecoach Stop Turned Coffee Bar
The building McConnico chose for her cafe isn't just any strip-mall storefront. The 1.95-acre, 3,414-square-foot complex at 5441 FM 1102 was originally built in 1865 and once served as a stagecoach stop along El Camino Real, as well as a post office for the 19th-century settlement of Stringtown, according to a property listing on LoopNet. The site has been adapted for modern commercial use while retaining its historic structures, giving Pressed Coffee Co. a backdrop with roots stretching back more than a century and a half.
Pressed Coffee Co. isn't the only business on the property. The complex also houses Hill Country Tap, an outdoor neighborhood bar that opened at the address in 2022, and it previously hosted joint vendors including coffee trailer Betty Lou Coffee Co. and evening lounge The Weighted Plate in late 2024, per Community Impact. The setup has functioned as a multi-vendor gathering spot with shared outdoor seating, letting daytime coffee crowds give way to evening drink service without swapping addresses.
Following a Familiar Path From Trailer to Storefront
Betty Lou Coffee Co.'s own history at that address points to a pattern taking shape across New Braunfels. After operating at 5441 FM 1102, Betty Lou announced in April 2026 that it was moving into a permanent brick-and-mortar cafe at 1147 N. Academy Ave., a shift Hoodline previously reported. Mobile setups have frequently served as stepping stones toward permanent storefronts for the city's food and beverage vendors, and the FM 1102 property appears to keep generating new tenants even as earlier ones graduate to their own locations.
The coffee trend isn't confined to this one stretch of road, either. Nearby venue Daiquiri Depot at 311 FM 306 rebranded in February as Sip Society + Daiquiri Depot, adding a dedicated morning coffee bar, matcha drinks and locally roasted beans to capture Hill Country commuter traffic. Along the Hunter Road and FM 306 corridor, 2026 also brought projects like the 3-acre Gärten at Gruene and the Hunter Road Country Club paired with Dos Gatos Kolache Bakery, part of a broader surge of outdoor beverage venues favoring multi-concept, day-to-night spaces.
A Corridor Reshaped by Rapid Growth
The demand fueling all this construction traces back to numbers that would make most city planners nervous. New Braunfels' population grew from 90,403 at the 2020 Census to an estimated 122,492 by 2025, a 35.5% surge over five years along the Interstate 35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin. Comal County as a whole reached an estimated 209,200 residents in 2025 after expanding by 27.8% since 2020, ranking it among the top five fastest-growing counties with 100,000 or more residents nationwide, according to data cited by USAFacts.
That growth hasn't gone unnoticed by city hall. New Braunfels officials approved voter-funded transportation bond projects including roadway and intersection improvements along Conrads Lane between Goodwin Lane and FM 1102, adding turn lanes, traffic signal upgrades and drainage infrastructure to accommodate corridor growth. Planning commissioners also considered rezoning proposals in April 2025 along FM 1102 and Hunter Road to shift 35 acres from light industrial and single-family zoning toward low-density multifamily residential development, a sign that the neighborhood around Pressed Coffee Co.'s new cafe is set to keep filling in with new neighbors.
Zoomed out further, the numbers get even bigger. The San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan area added more than 48,000 residents between 2022 and 2023, placing it among the top 10 metro areas nationwide for net numerical population growth, per the U.S. Census Bureau. For McConnico and other independent operators betting on this stretch of Hill Country, that kind of suburban expansion is exactly the customer base a new specialty coffee shop needs to find its footing.
