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The Best Coffee Shops in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee has an excellent coffee scene, as you’ll find out in this guide
Milwaukee has an excellent coffee scene, as you’ll find out in this guide | © Clem Onojeghuo / Unsplash

Wisconsin’s largest city often goes by the nickname Brew City. While usually referring to the great beer selection available, this name also touches upon the variety of top-notch coffee shops waiting on Lake Michigan’s western shore. Whether you’re looking for a dawn pick-me-up or a top brunch spot, check out the following list of top cafes in Milwaukee.

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Colectivo Lakefront

Fresh coffee

This coffee shop brings all the familiarity of the Colectivo brand to a classic location. It has many delicious coffee and tea drinks available, including a fine quality espresso and freshly brewed coffee. All of its coffee beans are prepared right in Milwaukee, so everything has a local taste. Colectivo Lakefront offers a distinct venue for coffee drinkers; the shop resides in the 1888 Milwaukee River Flushing Station and hosts many events, such as the Florentine Opera and Musica del Lago outdoor music series during the summer.

Valentine Coffee Roasters

Coffee beans

Valentine Coffee Roasters believes that coffee beans are like fruit – unique to their time and origin. With such a sentiment, this shop imports coffee beans from all over the world, including Asia, the Pacific, Central America, South America and Africa, and roasts them in small batches. In its chic tasting room, you can try different espresso shots or learn more about the various roasts.

Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co

Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co is a small-batch roaster striving to prepare quality and consistent results with each cup of coffee. Inside, the wooden floors and sparsely decorated walls bring a sense of rustic Wisconsin to the coffeehouse. You can chill at the bar while enjoying organic coffees from Ethiopia, Brazil and Mexico, to name a few. It’s also an environmentally friendly coffee provider, using energy-efficient roasters.

Stone Creek Coffee

Stone Creek Coffee brings beans from the farm straight to the cup, consciously participating in the process of creating a delicious product. It offers a spacious and naturally lit spot to enjoy its fantastic brews, and you can also learn more about the coffee-making process here. It runs public classes ranging from how to create latte art to the best home-brewing methods. It even has a team of technicians who help local cafe owners fix their coffee machines when they break.

Story Hill BKC

Brunch

If you want a top Milwaukee brunch spot with excellent coffee, then head to Story Hill BKC. It serves up the tastiest selection in town, including shakshuka (baked eggs in a tomato sauce) topped with goat’s cheese and a brunch burger with bacon, egg and jalapeño mayo. The coffee comes from nearby Valentine Coffee Roasters, with a couple of unusual concoctions to sample. Try the Mexican mocha with chocolate syrup and house-blended spices for a sweet kick. At night, it’s a popular dinner spot with an on-site bottle shop.

Rochambo Coffee and Tea House

Irish coffee is the perfect late-night drink

Looking for the best Irish coffee in town? Head to Rochambo Coffee and Tea House. You can’t miss the brightly colored exterior on East Brady Street. High-quality ingredients are at the center of its beverages; for example, the Irish coffee is made with triple-distilled Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey, house blend coffee and hand-whipped organic cream. A lot of effort has gone into its house blend, comprising three beans that are 100 percent organic. You can also grab some local honey and baked goods from Bunny’s Bites here.

Alderaan Coffee

A multi-roaster coffee bar, Alderaan Coffee invites you to taste quality coffees from around the world in its sleek interior. This shop gathers coffee from Ethiopia, Mexico and Guatemala, to name a few, and many of the beans come from roasters all around the country, including New York, Chicago and Portland. In addition to favorite coffee drinks made with artistic skill and creativity, the syrups used for lattes and other specialty drinks are all created in-house.

Dryhootch Coffeehouse

Created by a national non-profit organization that strives to create a healthy and substance-free environment for veterans, this coffee shop in Milwaukee brings a particular sense of community. The coffee here is quite delicious, but it’s the promotion of friendship, the arts and music that sets Dryhootch Coffeehouse apart. Whether convening within the comfortable indoor setting or enjoying a cup of joe in the garden, it’s a great place to come and relax.

About the author

A native of Colorado, Michelle Schmid is an avid writer, reader, and traveler. True to her mountain roots, she enjoys a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, kayaking, and rock climbing wherever she travels. A visitor of many different cities and curious about all cultures, foods, and lifestyles, Michelle is a vibrant scholar of creative writing and classical languages, which she studied during her time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She loves discovering restaurants, bookstores, gardens, and other hidden-away places that most people might overlook, while collecting sights, sounds, tastes, and sensations to fuel her collection of stories and poetry.

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