Discourse owner's book 'New Art of Coffee' is for baristas, coffee lovers who want to up their drink-making game

Ryan Castelaz tells stories through the coffee drinks he makes. Now, what goes into those drinks and the meanings behind them can be found in his new, carefully crafted book.

When Castelaz was creating "The New Art of Coffee: From Morning Cup to Caffeine Cocktail," published by Rizzoli New York, he didn't want it to be just your average coffee table book.

Castelaz, the owner of Milwaukee's Discourse: A Coffee Workshop, strived to make it a usable manual for "everybody" who wants to get more creative with coffee, from baristas who base their lives around it to home enthusiasts, he said. And, to inspire adults to put "play" back into their lives.

"The New Art of Coffee," which dropped this month, was three years in the making. It serves up coffee theory and history, techniques and methodologies the Discourse crew uses, and 40 recipes organized by mood, prep time and complexity of drinks. It's written colloquially, almost as if Castelaz and the reader are chatting over a cup of joe.

"I want people to bring it out, use it in the kitchen, and I want them to actually make these drinks," Castelaz said. "I think so often, we buy these recipe books and they end up kind of just sitting. Not necessarily being used — being loved — but not necessarily being used. So we wanted to do everything that we could to make it as usable as possible."

A look at Discourse's journey, from Door County to Brew City

Castelaz debuted Discourse in Sister Bay in 2017. Fast-forward to the summer of 2021, Castelaz started doing pop-ups in Milwaukee and relocated his business there.

In the winter of 2022, Discourse opened in the Crossroads Collective food hall on the east side. It was followed by a second location, inside the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive. Discourse opened its flagship cafe downtown, at 1020 N. Broadway, in September 2022.

"When we opened downtown in September, it was like a crazy, unbelievable breath of fresh air," Castelaz said. "This breath of like, 'OK, people do want this. This city is the right place for us to be.' And it's really been amazing."

In December, Discourse announced it would close its Crossroads Collective stall and replace it with The Counter Day Bar, serving no- or low-proof drinks.

How 'The New Art of Coffee' came together and was picked up by a major publisher

Around 2019, Castelaz first started thinking about creating a manual for baristas who wanted to "bring their coffee game to the next level."

When Castelaz first got into the industry, he said, he looked to an enormous array of resources, from cookbooks to cocktail books, to piece together an education for how to be creative in the coffee space.

He floated his idea around, including to Erika Kubick, the author of "Cheese Sex Death: A Bible for the Cheese Obsessed." Kubick referred him to Indelible Editions — which does book packaging, editing and design — and said her book wouldn't have happened without them, Castelaz said.

"I was like 'Yeah, I'll open any door,' " he said. "I'll try anything."

He signed with Indelible Editions in 2020.

For six months, Castelaz and Indelible Editions worked on a proposal for the book, which would end up being pitched to more than 20 publishers.

"That waiting period is maybe the hardest part," Castelaz laughed. "You just don't know if anybody is going to buy your book."

The team ended up receiving three offers, including one from Rizzoli, which Castelaz went with.

"We really trusted their ability to be able to translate this vision to the world in a way that was accurate to our original intentions," Castelaz said.

In the winter of 2021, Castelaz said, he hunkered down and spent months writing the manuscript. He said he typically writes the way he talks, with a lot of "flowery" prose. Through the editing, rewriting and revising process, "this harsh rock get chiseled into a really beautiful piece of work," he said.

"There's a lot of voice that still comes through in the book," he said. "But it's certainly a more succinct version of the way that I typically write and speak ... It was an incredible process."

A glimpse at the three parts the book is broken down into

Part One: The Coffee Bar

Part One: The Coffee Bar is a "ground setting" for the rest of the book. It gives a look at coffee theory and history, including the waves of the American Coffee Movement.

"I felt that in a book based around coffee, it was really important to include at least a small bit of information on coffee itself: Where does it come from? How do we look at it? How do we work with it? How do we brew with it?" Castelaz said. "So that if people wanted to use this book as a one-stop shop for everything coffee drink-making, they could."

It also shows the tools that "aid in our drink-making at the workshop," Castelaz wrote — from the jigger, "the most essential tool in the arsenal of the drink maker," to tweezers for placing fine garnishes atop the drinks.

Part Two: Coffee Awakened

Part Two: Coffee Awakened explores bringing "play" back into the adult life through coffee. It shows what all goes into the drinks Castelaz and his team make, as well as the intentions, philosophies, methodologies and techniques behind them.

"The goal for this book has really never been to be a pure recipe book," Castelaz said. "It's to inspire and empower people to play. To play in drink, to play in food, to play in whatever medium they choose."

According to the book, Discourse's mantra is: Create, connect and conserve.

From the idea and ingredients to the prep and presentation, this section highlights the elements of Discourse's drinks. It also provides ways to "utilize ingredients that would likely otherwise be thrown away," and tips for using local ingredients and foraging.

Part Three: Recipes

"We drink from an emotional standpoint," Castelaz said. "When we drink water, we drink 'cause we're thirsty. When we drink just about anything else, we're drinking with intention. There's a reason why we've chosen what we've chosen. A lot of times, those reasons are underlying subconscious emotional responses that motivate our drink of choice."

Tapping into that, the recipes in the book are organized by these moods: Comforting, celebratory, rejuvenating and adventurous. Toward the beginning of Part Three, there's a page dedicated to each mood with a chart, which orders the drinks according to their build complexity and prep time.

The recipes that follow include an anecdote about them, the ingredients and tools needed, how to build the drink, and preparation tips.

One recipe the author highlighted from each mood section

Comforting: 'Moonwater'

"Moonwater" has been on Discourse's menu since Day 1 and is the only latte that's never left it.

"It's incredibly simple to make, and it's absolutely incredibly delicious," Castelaz said. "It's been a secret weapon for us for many, many years. And now, that secret is finally being revealed."

In the book, Castelaz describes the drink as a "symphonic combination of Ceylon cinnamon, Applewood-smoked sea salt, and Tellicherry black pepper playing across a backdrop of softly sweet honey and rich espresso."

Celebratory: 'Beetnik'

"Beetnik" is the drink you see on the book's cover.

It travels through "peaks and valleys of candied pistachio milk, spicy Controne honey, and bittersweet orange with delicious detours of white pine, apple, and beet," Castelaz wrote.

"You get this really gorgeous juxtaposition of this bright orange peel on the aromatic with these gorgeous edible flowers and this incredible dark red, rich apple beet powder," Castelaz said.

"Beetnik" was one of the drinks Castelaz came up with when he was contributing to the coffee program at the former high-end Spiaggia and Café Spiaggiain in Chicago several years ago.

"I wanted to make coffee drinks that would fit that level of elegance," he said.

Rejuvenating: 'Burnt Lemonade'

"It's a really, really, really fun coffee drink that a lot of people have never had anything like," Castelaz said. "It's really quirky for people. When you taste it, it draws you back and makes you think because it's like, 'Wow, this is wild. This is coffee-based?' "

The beverage is a "beautiful mixture" of herbal, bright, lemon-y, refreshing flavors with a bold, citrus-y and cherry-forward slow-drip coffee, he said.

"It's something you want to drink like 50 of every day," he said.

Adventurous: 'Matrix Reference'

"Matrix Reference" was created for a classic-film-inspired menu back in Discourse's Door County days.

"I'm in love with this drink," Castelaz said.

The drinks utilizes miracle berry, which temporarily rewires taste buds to taste sour as sweet through miraculin, Castelaz explained. This ingredient can come in little red tablets, which reminded the Discourse staff of "the little red pill that changes everything for Neo in the classic 1999 film 'The Matrix,' " Castelaz wrote.

"It's one of the more complicated, if not the most complicated drink in the book," he said.

It includes slow-drip coffee, Aronia syrup, butterfly pea blossom extract, acid phosphate, malic acid, preserved lemon and sumac soda.

The concoction is split into two glasses, which are placed on top of each other. Then those are stacked on a third glass that contains sour fruits and candies.

The person drinks the first glass, then takes the miracle berry tablet. Then they drink the second glass and also eat the fruits and candies.

"When you drink them, they are completely different on the palette," Castelaz said. "The one is tart and tannic, and the other is perfectly balanced. It is an absolutely mind-bending experience, trying to counteract that what your eyes are seeing and your mouth is tasting that don't align."

These two drinks featured in the book can always be ordered at Discourse

"Moonwater" and "Burnt Lemonade" are always on Discourse's menu.

The photos, illustrations in 'The New Art of Coffee'

The book's photography was done by local photographer Kevin Miyazaki at Castelaz's apartment. Miyazaki brought the equipment, Castelaz provided the props and the two worked together on styling.

Out of the about 4,000 photos Miyazaki took during a nine-day shoot, around 100 were selected for the book, Castelaz said.

Olivia Molter, Castelaz's business partner and Discourse's director of design, did the book's illustrations.

"Olivia is an insanely good graphic designer," Castelaz said. "When it came to this idea of we have to get illustration done for this book, somebody has to illustrate it, it was kind of a no-brainer."

While Sean Liu, Castelaz's other business partner and Discourse's director of operations, wasn't directly involved in the production of the book, he "held everything together" so that Castelaz could be.

"I am beyond blessed with the individuals we have on our team," Castelaz said. "I truly believe we have some of the best coffee people ever. I'm so incredibly grateful for the people that we have running these cafes. It's really enabled me to be able to think of high-level things, like the book and where we're going next as a company and our strategic path. It's allowed us to grow in the way that we have."

Who Castelaz dedicated the book to

After Castelaz's grandfather — who was "everything" to him — passed away, Castelaz wanted to do something in his honor.

"The book felt like a very fitting thing to dedicate to him," Castelaz said. "He had taught me so much and the book simply would never have happened without his guidance."

Harvey Castelaz supported Ryan and his Discourse dream from the very beginning, and helped get it open.

"He was always an encouragement, always the strength," Castelaz said. "He taught me the importance of humility, and was one of my greatest mentors in life in just how to be human in a way that is kind and thoughtful and rife with humility and love and appreciation for those around you."

Where to purchase 'The New Art of Coffee'

"The New Art of Coffee," priced at $30, is available at Boswell Book Company, 2559 N. Downer Ave., Barnes & Noble and Amazon, among other retailers. Castelaz plans to offer signed copies at Discourse's locations as well.

"To finally open that book after all of that time and intention from literally a village of people ... was insane," Castelaz said. "It's surreal in every sense of the word — to see it in physical form and to have it out in the world. I grinned from ear-to-ear."

Discourse's downtown, Milwaukee Art Museum hours

Discourse's flagship location is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Be on the lookout for expanded summer hours, Castelaz said. Check the business' Instagram for updates.

Discourse at the art museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday through Wednesday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Discourse Coffee owner Ryan Castelaz releases 'New Art of Coffee' book