SEIZE THE DIA

Buenos DIAs, coffee lovers! And welcome to our familia! We’re DIA Café—a Greendale landmark for Milwaukee coffee locals who seek a bold, new flavor in their everyday cup.

DIA Café = Coffee Comunidad

Our familia is deeply committed to soul-filling coffee rituals and the community that builds around a hot cup. Whether you just bought your first bag of La Chula or you ask for that double-shot mocha latte with oat milk and vegan whipped cream on the daily at your local café, we want to share our favorite parts of our unique Milwaukee coffee culture with you. Here’s the secret behind it all: 

Coffee + Creativity + Cafés = Community.

Milwaukee’s cafés invite you to join in—an art-filled living room for the whole comunidad. This insider guide is your key to our city’s creative soul. You’ll discover how coffee powers it all, meet the artists whose work adorns the walls, and savor the Latin American traditions that infuse Milwaukee’s favorite cups with warmth and sabor. Step inside. Here, everyone is welcome.

DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF BOLD COFFEE

Milwaukee's coffee culture features a rich tapestry of vibrant, unique cafés all across the city, and behind every unforgettable Milwaukee cup is a story that starts far from the city’s chilly sidewalks. No matter where you’re sipping your cuppa, the first step is making sure that coffee moves beyond ordinary. 

DIA Café’s beans begin their journey on volcanic soil, tended by families who pour corazón into every harvest. That’s how bold flavor is born: through respect, connection, and a little Latin magic.

Start with volcanic soil and honest hands

Great coffee doesn’t come from shortcuts. At DIA Café, we source beans directly from Latin American farms rooted in volcanic earth. While the US can claim coffee farms in Southern California and Kona, Hawaii, it’s the young, rich soil enriched by centuries of volcanic ash cycles in Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru that supercharges coffee beans to grow smaller and denser—which in turn burst with more flavor when roasted and ground.

This volcanic soil gives our beans a complexity you taste from the first sip: notes of chocolate, citrus, sometimes a hint of smoke, always something that grabs you. Farmers share their traditions with pride—and these are families we know and honor. Fair prices support local communities and build lasting relationships of trust and partnership. 

For us, transparency isn’t a trend; it’s a promise. Every bag tells a story, stamped with the name of its origin and the artist whose vision brings it to life. When you choose DIA, you become part of a cycle that honors hard work and heritage on both sides of the equator.

Roast with pasión, right here at home

Once coffee makes it from south of the equator all the way to Milwaukee, it’s shipped out to roasteries in town. We take pride in keeping it local because small-batch means every roast gets the attention it deserves—a mark of care you can absolutely taste. These roasters are looking for one of three roasts, though plenty of adventurous roasteries tinker with the time and temperature to create unique roasts all their own:

Light roast

Five minutes in a caliente oven, past what’s called the “first crack” around 400°F, light roast coffee tastes fruity and floral—as close to the bean without just biting down on one right off the plant.

Medium roast

A few minutes longer in the roaster, not quite to the “second crack,” right around 415°F, a smoky medium roast introduces acidity and smoke to those fruit flavors. The perfect middle ground if you’re trying your first cup and want the whole bouquet of flavor.

Dark roast

Several minutes beyond medium roast, the beans take on a darker tone at the “second crack” around 450°F. These beans take a trip to la infierno and come back with a deep, roasted depth. Plenty of smoke for the daring.

(Not sure which roast you prefer? Be sure to take our Flavor Quiz to decide which to try next!) 

Once roasted, beans get packaged in gorgeous, creative packaging to await later grinding, and even THAT has its own secret tricks. Extra-fine grounds resemble flour and make for great Turkish coffees; a medium grind works perfectly for pour-overs and drips; and the extra coarse end of the spectrum is the domain of cold brew coffee.

Taste the difference with every sip

Milwaukee knows the value of boldness. Our city’s taste runs toward the flavorful, the authentic, the proudly different. DIA Café’s signature blends reflect that spirit, blending beans and roasting styles until each batch delivers an experience that’s unmistakably ours.

Whether you like your coffee smooth and mellow, dark and stormy, or dancing with spice, we have a blend that fits. Our menu is a canvas, with options for every mood and palate. Many customers get hooked on Mucho Macho—a blend as fierce as its name, crafted for those who want their mornings to start con ganas.

But the real difference is in the details: freshly ground beans, eco-friendly packaging with hand-painted art, and a staff who remembers your order. Every visit is a chance to discover something new, whether it’s a flavor note or a neighbor’s story.

So what makes the best coffee?

Horticulturists could spend dissertations debating which soil in which countries grows the best beans. Mathematicians could make their whole careers out of what grind, water temperature, and brew time create the best cup. 

But you wanna know la neta?

You make the best coffee. 

Seriously! You—and other Milwaukee coffee lovers like you—are what makes the best coffee. People make incredible coffee, and coffee in turn inspires people to awaken and share their own creative greatness. Through innovation, inspiration, and iteration, coffee is the engine of its own positive feedback loop that emboldens everyone.

EXPLORE ART IN EVERY CUP

There’s no doubt coffee awakens creativity—often the kind of focused paint-spilling that makes soul-filling murals on a building and inspires anyone walking past it. Coffee and art are Milwaukee’s twin muses, and DIA Café’s philosophy is that our coffee art should be as varied and bombastic as the coffee flavors themselves. Throughout Milwaukee, you’ll find plenty of cafés that believe the same with their own artistic spin.

Wander Milwaukee’s coffee art scene

With individual personalities and palettes, Milwaukee’s cafés are a vibrant art scene. 

• Café Corazón’s walls bring bright colors, from bold painting to papel picado banners. 
• Bay View hosts regular gallery nights featuring work from students, street artists, and self-taught visionaries. 
• Brew-Jas Coffee House dedicates wall space to local artists, celebrating heritage and creativity with every hand-painted piece. 
• Cafés like Likewise near the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design double as unofficial studios, their tables regularly hosting sketchbooks and design blueprints. 
• Events like Gallery Night MKE and MKE Studio Tour even often include stops at local coffee shops, further blending the relationship between art and coffee within Milwaukee. 

Art here isn’t background noise; it’s an invitation to linger, spark conversation, and discover the next Milwaukee talent. For many locals, the café wall is where they first see their art hung for the world to enjoy—sometimes even right next to artists who have already made a name for themselves. Here are a few of the artists who take creation to a whole other level:

Fred Stonehouse

Stonehouse’s pieces positively drip with themes of death, connection, and our memories of ancestors long past—which made him the perfect choice for reinterpreting Colectivo’s Co-Optiva coffee bags for its limited run.

Jessie Meyer

Outside the coffee bag art scene, cafés have artists create awe-inspiring pieces for their storefronts. Jessie Meyer sculpted a metal bonfire outside Fiddleheads Coffee. He meant to inspire coffee lovers with the ancient concepts of nourishment, safety, memorial, and other themes of community gathering when around warmth—be it fire or coffee.

Michael Cerda: DIA Café’s Artist Interview

DIA Café’s roster of incredible creators ranges from locals to international creators living in the very countries where we source our beans. One Milwaukee local sign artist is the amazing Michael Cerda who made the font and art for our Buena Suerte coffee bags. Here’s a brief snippet of our interview with him after our incredible collaboration:

DIA: Where did you start making art?

Cerda: It all starts with my immigrant parents. Both of them came from Mexico and moved to Milwaukee. I was born and raised in Milwaukee, drawing since I was a kid. 

DIA: How did you become a professional artist?

Cerda: I went to a technical college, which gave me an associate degree in Design. I decided to go freelance. If I wasn’t painting, I was making beats or designing. I later found sign painting. A lot of businesses here have hand-painted signs and learning about that stuff made me really interested in it. For the past seven years, I’ve been pursuing sign painting full time or part time alongside my music work.

DIA: What does community mean to you?

Cerda: The experience of interacting with people that are interested in my work is really cool too, along with the sign painting. I often do onsite visits with clients when they open their new business. Being able to meet these people and tap in with my community is really cool. I’m not just painting their sign, they’re trusting me with a huge element of their business. That’s the sign you see on the front windows, on the door, on the wall. It’s going to make an impression on the customers and community.

DIA: Why work with DIA Café?

Cerda: They just got an amazing brand, you know? They’ve got a really awesome mission that, you know, aligned with some of my background. It felt really refreshing to see their style.

DIA: What would you say to other artists?

Cerda: Constantly do the work. Even when you aren’t getting paid, practicing and becoming incredible and a master in your area, putting in those hours is really going to pay off. 

Michael Cerda’s work can be found on his website. Check out the rest of our killer coffee bag designs on our website. 

And beyond the art that’s displayed in cafés and on coffee bags throughout the city, there’s also the creative environment nurtured within café culture itself. 

Celebrate Milwaukee’s musicians, makers, and storytellers

Art comes in many forms, and Milwaukee’s coffee culture celebrates it all. You’ll hear music flow throughout all the city’s cafés. Anodyne’s Walker’s Point location transforms into a stage on weekends, spotlighting up-and-coming bands and jazz collectives. Discourse Coffee pulses with live DJ sets, the air electric with creativity on display.

Many shops feature open mic nights, spoken word, and even pop-up theater. This collision of creativity means your morning coffee might come with a side of indie folk or a poetry set. Milwaukee’s cafés often act as launchpads for emerging talent, giving musicians and writers a platform to test out new material or build an audience one cappuccino at a time.

Makers and entrepreneurs also find a home here. Fruition MKE combines café culture with a full makerspace, sewing and woodworking stations available right next to your espresso. The result of all this coffee and art crossover is a community where creativity isn’t confined to galleries or concert venues. Instead, it bubbles up everywhere, fueled by caffeine and camaraderie.

CAFÉS AS A CREATIVE HAVEN

Ask any Milwaukeean where the real conversations happen, and you’ll hear about their favorite café—their “third place,” the hangout that’s neither home nor work but something in between. Perfumed in the rich, roasted scents of flavorful coffee blends, dripping with the art of local creators, and set to the soundtrack of people connecting, you have a place to exist, create, and take your life to a bold new level. Studies have even found that the ambient noise of a café boosts your creative output. 

These third places are the city’s unofficial town squares, the backdrops for major life updates and quiet morning rituals alike. For example, inside Stone Creek’s airy Factory Roastery, commuters gather to caffeinate before catching the train, blending urban hustle with a homey feel. At Colectivo Lakefront, friends sprawl across sunlit patios, the clink of cups mixing with laughter and lakeshore breezes. Kinship Café, rooted in community development, hosts workforce training programs while serving rich, locally roasted coffee—a reminder that every cup can spark opportunity.

These third places aren’t exclusive; they’re radically welcoming. Everyone is invited, whether you’re here for a five-minute fuel-up or a three-hour creative jam session. That openness builds the invisible threads that tie Milwaukee together with it’s midwestern friendliness on full display. 

Coffee acts as one of the best social lubricants in the city. Cafés with rich coffee and friendly baristas combine to provide the ultimate environment for the creative who’s ready to crush their projects and conquer the day. 

So which cafè will fit your vibe best?

Best cafés for creatives in Milwaukee

Milwaukee is a city that loves to celebrate and in that spirit, we wanted to celebrate some of our most beloved cafés across the city:

Valentine Coffee Roasters
Locale: Third Ward Vibe: Globally-sourced flavors who are absolute experts at the medium roast game. Coffee: Bali Blue MoonBering Sea Blend

Likewise Coffee
Locale: Third Ward Vibe: Clean, classic café with drips, pour-overs, and cold brews. Coffee and OffersWonderstate CoffeeLa Marzocco LineaPour-over bar with unique servings.

Hawthorne Coffee Roasters
Locale: Near MKE Vibe: Family-owned, handcrafted look that makes coffee drinking classy. Coffee and Offers: Costa Rica La VidaGuatemala Quetzal“Barrel conditioned” coffee program

La Finca
Locale: Near MKE Vibe: Women-owned with Mexican family roots with delicious food to pair. CoffeeMazapan LatteSalted Vanilla Espresso

Anodyne Coffee
Locale: Walker’s Point Vibe: Cream of the crop roasts with a small-batch focus on single-origin coffees. Coffee: Colombia Elkin GuzmanEthiopia Yirgacheffe

Azal Coffee
Locale: Walker’s Point Vibe: Eager coffee roasters to show off unique, Yemeni flavors. CoffeeMufawarSana’ani

DIA Café
Locale: Southridge Mall Vibe: The very best in comfortable, creative café experiences for all of Milwaukee (though we might be biased~). Coffee and OffersFree Coffee w/Bag PurchaseMonthly SubscriptionSee Below For More!

The Brew @s Network
Locale: Marquette Campuses Vibe: College-wide, student-accessible hangs for quick, delicious cups. CoffeeVaries by Location

Escuela Verde
Locale: West Milwaukee Vibe: Student crew gives opportunities to learn business essentials. CoffeeCafé con hieloLatte Del Barrio

BizStarts Community Market Coffee Shop
Locale: Downtown Vibe: Multi-entrepreneur watering hole with coffee, coffee products, etc. CoffeeBronzeville BrewSilver City Sipper

What really makes the greatest, creativest spot??

Your favorite third place will be based on a number of factors, with location and convenience ranking high. But as creatives ourselves who talk to lots of other creatives, here are a few of the deciding factors we hear time and again…

• Vibrant to the eye—a place of art, creativity, and inspiration.
• Bustling, but not too busy—a corner you can settle into with plenty of activity.
• Local, with a nod to the international—a business that values you and their relationship to direct trade farmers.
• Great coffee!—a direct trade, expertly-roasted cup of the exact coffee to suit your flavor preferences. 

If all else fails and you’re working from home with no way to the café, it’s easy to get DIA’s high-quality, small-batch coffee delivered right to your door.

MEET THE DIA CAFÉ FAMILIA

DIA Café is the daytime half of DIA y NOCHE in Greendale—a boisterous blend of Latino culture in the form of café and restaurant. We serve up the energy-boosting roasts to start your day and Noche fills your plate with enchiladas, mofonguitos, and cubanos to help fuel your cravings. If you’re looking for a DIA y NOCHE-approved pairing, ask for a café de olla with our family recipe tamales.

Importing Latin flair and bold flavor

DIA Café is an ethically sourced, direct trade importer of coffee. We bring the rich history of Latino culture that infuses our designs and drives our love for community.

Through direct trade, we keep in close communication with our international farmers and co-ops to ensure safe practices, high wages, and supported communities.

From there, we prioritize la familia in our store and with our coffee. We celebrate community with local, Latin-flavored events to show all of Milwaukee what South America has to offer, on top of coffee.

Don’t forget to ask for El Jefe!

When you come into DIA Café, you’ll have plenty of delicious coffee options, both for single-serve, in-house brews or take-home bags. In fact, you can combine the two! Buy a bag of any flavor of DIA coffee and get a free cup of coffee on the house.

And if you’re feeling adventurous, be sure to ask for “El Jefe” or to see Lucy’s Secret Menu. You won’t regret it!

Mucho Macho and so Mucho More!

Coffee shouldn’t just energize you, it should transport you. At DIA Café, we put in the time and effort to make sure it does. Here’s just one of our six unique offerings: MUCHO MACHO. 

Mucho Macho brings a daring mix of flavors to help boost your metabolism, brain, and mood. The sunshine zest of a peeled orange on first taste subtly melts into a pure cacao velvet before finishing off with the lingering trails of smoke in your last sips.

This isn’t just a fusion of flavors, it’s an invitation to adventure, be bolder, and unleash your confidence. Mucho Macho is a deep dark roast with a smoky depth that will make any coffee connoisseur swoon. 

Mucho Macho pairings

• Lemon cookies are a great, citrusy pairing to keep the palate refreshed
• Roasted nuts help amplify Mucho Macho’s rich chocolate notes
• Smoked salmon on a bagel brings a savory, umami balance

Learn more about this bold roast on the Mucho Macho store page.

Other DIA offerings

• Babalu - nutty, chocolatey, and smokey
• Buena Suerte - earthy, smooth decaf
• La Chula - melon, allspice, and dark chocolate
• Suavecito - cocoa, date, and molasses
• Wepa - dark chocolate, chicory, and smoke

Seize the DIA

Remember if you buy a bag of our Mucho Macho roast (or any of our other flavors), you’ll also get a free cup of coffee in-house. However, if you’re a coffee lover like us and want a regular drip of your favorite flavors, sign up for a coffee subscription with us. 

The DIA Café coffee subscription is an easy-to-manage, monthly plan with plenty of benefits:

• Get regular deliveries of DIA coffee to your home 
• Swap flavors any time you like 
• Learn about new products the moment they launch
• Gain access to exclusive promotions
• Save up to 30% on your coffee costs when you choose a 1-year plan.

Now that we’ve talked up the coffee, let’s take a peek at the minds behind the café.

Meet the Makers

Some people fall slowly. Others, all at once. For Mike Drilling, his love affair with Latin American culture and coffee happened fast.

During his childhood, he and his family traveled to Puerto Rico and Acapulco. When he was 12, Mike’s parents sent him and his brother to live in Mexico City one summer. Brimming with culture and color, Mike felt his time in Mexico City was transformational.

Years later, his love for Latin spirit, music, and food never diminished. When the opportunity to partner with his son-in-law, Devin Rogers, to establish DIA y Noche, it was a no-brainer.

With a background in graphic art, Devin Rogers comes from a colorful legacy, including an ancestry rooted in coffee growing. His Abuela (great-grandmother), Lydia Reyes, spent much of her life hand-picking coffee beans in the volcanic soils of Utuado, in Puerto Rico. 

The family’s roots and interest in coffee continue with Devin’s sister, Lucia, who brings expertise and creativity to coffee brewing. 

Shortly after opening their café and restaurant, their mission changed from just celebrating a love of Latino culture to suppporting Latin American communities with a farm-to-cup approach. Mike and Devin achieve this by ethically sourcing from mountain farms run by local families to supply their full-blown coffee company. With a lineup of flavors meant to honor the culture and creativity of Latin American life, DIA coffee prioritizes family and the importance of sharing moments with each other.

DIA Café is a celebration of culture and a bridge to connect people of all backgrounds and beliefs over the familiar, comforting love of coffee.

With every cup, you’re tasting someone’s story.

Seize the DIA with us.

COMMON COFFEE QUESTIONS

Is coffee healthy? Are there benefits to drinking coffee?

Yes! In moderation. Many studies confirm correlations between coffee consumption and a decreased risk of heart failure, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. Daily benefits of drinking coffee include increased focus and feeling ready for adventure.

What does farm-to-cup coffee even mean? 

Farm-to-cup coffee is how a café ethically imports from partnered farms. A coffee company has a careful hand in the entire process, making sure no step in the process suffers from exploitation.

How is coffee made more ecofriendly and sustainable?

Ecofriendly and sustainable coffee starts from a zero-waste awareness. There are opportunities to reduce greenhouse gases, avoiding non-recyclable packaging, and choose energy-efficient brewing methods through mindful decisions to provide amazing coffee and preserve our beautiful world.

What’s the difference between commercial coffee and in-house coffee?

Commercial coffee beans are grown with quantity in mind. Beans are typically a variety from different countries, making the flavor diluted and less distinctive. In-house coffee prioritizes quality and focuses on small batch, single origin flavors.

What’s the difference between light, medium, and dark roasts?

Each roast term refers to the temperature and length of time when roasting coffee. Light roasts are roasted at cooler temperatures for shorter—resulting in fruitier notes, dark roasts are roasted hotter and longer—leaving smoking chocolate behind. Medium roasts dance the careful balance to bring the best of both light and dark roasts together.

Where is DIA Café coffee sourced?

We’re proud to claim all our beans come from Latin America, including:

• Peru
• Nicaragua
• Colombia
• Guatemala
• Brazil
• Central America

Which DIA Café coffee should I start with?

All of them! But if we were to narrow it down for a great start, we’d recommend Babalu. As a medium roast with notes of nuts and chocolate, it strikes an excellent balance for a first-timer.

Why is the Milwaukee coffee scene the perfect home for DIA Café?

Milwaukee’s coffee scene sits at the corner of culture and opportunity. After a century of being a major trade hub, Milwaukee is the perfect hot spot for new trends, bold innovations, and creativity for anybody to tap into.

How can I interact with Milwaukee’s coffee culture?

Get adventurous! Milwaukee is home to dozens of local businesses looking to brighten your day with their unique brew. Try a few out and see if any fit your style. Order something off the menu you normally wouldn’t. Head to DIA Cafe and ask about Lucy’s Secret Menu!

Can you take DIA Café Coffee home?

Absolutely! Whether in-shop or through our subscription plan, you can have DIA Café coffee in your hand ASAP.

How many cups of coffee can I make with a bag of DIA Café beans?

One 12oz bag, when brewed following package instructions, can make anywhere between 17 and 21 cups of coffee. If you grab a DIA Café coffee Big Bag, weighing in at 5lbs, you can make up to 140 cups!

Who do I contact if I have a question?

Please contact us on our website for any other coffee questions your coffee lover’s heart could think to ask.