One of my June Java Journal posts covered how well Milwaukee is faring compared to the rest of the country in keeping up with coffee’s “third wave,” defined by Craft Beverage Jobs as, “the current movement within specialty coffee that appreciates coffee as an artisan or craft beverage. Coffee, in all of its processes, from the origin of the harvested bean to the roasting and brewing process, is treated with the same reverence as fine wine and craft beer.” The general consensus from roasters I spoke with is that Milwaukee’s innovative craft roasters and independent coffee houses are on par or better than the coffee scene in other cities.
That euphoric balloon was popped when WalletHub’s September report “Best Coffee Cities in America” rated Milwaukee as 69th overall among the 100 best coffee cities in America. I thought that for sure we’d be among the top 50. What gives?
Like any kind of list, it’s important to look at the details. WalletHub started with the 100 most populated cities across the U.S. and determined the best cities for coffee lovers using 14 key metrics: average price per pack of coffee; average price of a cappuccino; average spending on coffee per household; share of adult coffee drinkers; share of households that own coffee makers; affordable coffee shops, coffee houses & cafés rated 4.5-plus stars per capita; coffee shops, coffee houses & cafés per capita; coffee and tea manufacturers per capita; coffee shops with free wi-fi per capita; donut shops per capita; Google search traffic for the term “coffee”; “Coffee Lovers” Meetups per capita; presence of coffee-centric events or “U.S. coffee championships;” and average ranking of coffee shops on the Daily Meal’s ‘50 Best Coffee Shops’ list.
Of course, cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and the like are within the top five of most of the categories, such as highest average spending of coffee per households; and most coffee shops, coffee houses and cafes per capita. The kind folks at WalletHub sent me the full data set for Milwaukee. Our coffee scene ranked in the top 50 in categories including average price per pack of coffee, $4.46, which put us 43rd on the list; share of adult coffee drinkers, 12%, which ranked us 49th; Google search for the term “coffee,” which put us at 41; and Milwaukee’s best ranking came in the highest presence of coffee centric events or presence of “U.S. coffee championships” category—we’re 17th.
Milwaukee also ranked 55 out of 100 in the number of coffee shops, coffee houses and cafés per capita category, and 59th in the affordable coffee shops, coffee houses and cafés rated 4.5-plus stars category. I was surprised that we’re only 88th in the coffee and tea manufacturers per capita category.
I’m a listicle nerd, so after reviewing the WalletHub report; I set off to find other ‘best coffee cities’ lists to see where Milwaukee ranked. The WalletHub report is the most comprehensive as far as statistics go, and it’s the most recent report available. But in 2015, Real Simple magazine reported the findings of a Food & Wine survey rating America’s Favorite Food Cities, and Milwaukee made the “Top 10 Coffee Scenes,” right alongside Seattle, San Francisco and New York.
Other Top 10 best coffee cities lists in respected outlets like Travel & Leisure, Conde Naste Traveler, and BuzzFeed also listed the typical coffee-centric cities—New York, Portland, etc, etc. But a Food & Wine article ranked our very own Colectivo Coffee as number four in their “The 11 Best Indie Coffee Shops In America” article.
WalletHub puts out the best coffee cities report every year, and I think Milwaukee’s ranking will climb as our coffee scene continues to grow, with newer roasters like Pilcrow Coffee, and cafés including LaFinca Coffeehouse, Full of Beans Café, and others emerge, adding to Milwaukee’s rich tapestry of coffee culture.
