Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is more than just the home of Miller Coors, the Brewers, and the Bucks — it’s also a hotbed for innovative dining, with dozens of acclaimed restaurants and chefs. And it’s a great place for coffee, with plenty of cafes and multiple homegrown roasters offering up their own blends and beans. As a Wisconsin-based company, we’ve spent quite a bit of time in Cream City, looking for the best apartments near UWM for rent in Milwaukee. Here’s where you’ll find us when we work remotely.
Anodyne
Anodyne is probably Milwaukee’s most widely exported roaster, shipping its beans — sourced from Myanmar, Ethiopia, Burundi, and many other far-flung locales — across the Midwest and beyond. To ensure high quality and consistency, they roast in small batches in Walker’s Point. You can grab a cup there or in their stall at Milwaukee Public Market, but our favorite location is in Bay View, where in addition to coffee and light snacks you can order pizza from a wood-fired oven.
Valentine
This cozy shop on West Vliet is a coffee nerd’s paradise: dozens of blends and single-origin beans, roasted in-house and brewed by some of the city’s most knowledgeable baristas. It could be intimidating, but it’s not — the vibe is friendly and relaxed, with none of the snobbishness plaguing so many shops like this one. Don’t know the difference between a cappuccino and a cortado? No problem. The staff is friendly and informative, eager to impart their knowledge and expertise. Plus, there are coffee cocktails that make ingenious use of the house joe.
Colectivo
It would be difficult to write about coffee in Milwaukee without mentioning homegrown success story Colectivo, which began as Alterra in 1993 and has grown to include 13 locations in the Milwaukee area alone. (We’re also quite fond of our three cafes in Madison.) With a steady rotation of house-roasted, crowd-pleasing blends — the best of which are often from Brazil and Central America — delicious food, and quirky, colorful interior design, all of the Colectivo cafes are worth a visit. But we’re particularly fond of the Lakefront location, which boasts impressive views of Lake Michigan and an open, spacious interior.
Stone Creek Cafe
Like Colectivo, Stone Creek is a local, Milwaukee-based chain, with 11 locations in the area (and shops in Chicago and Madison as well). And like Colectivo, their coffee is consistently excellent. We like the Factory location just off the Menomonee River. It’s bright and open, and best of all, it’s where the coffee is processed and roasted. Tours are available, so you can watch how the coffee gets from its natural state to your cup.
