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Ryan Castelaz

@ryan.castelaz

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🏆@beardfoundation/@iacppix Finalist
☕️🍵 @discourse.coffee @beourguest.coffee
🍸 @agency.mke
✍️ @rizzolibooks The New Art of Coffee
🕺 @fox6now Resident

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So glad to finally announce that we will be screening our documentary Discourse, the New Art of Coffee, on OCTOBER 30th at the Argo in Whitefish Bay! Tickets are going to be available through the link in our bio, it is a free event, so get tickets soon!

I also want to say a quick thanks to @theargo for hosting us! I can’t wait for you all to come see what we have been working on! We have some more little surprises coming up so stay tuned!

#discoursecoffeemke #thenewartofcoffee #milwaukee taken in THE ARGO by @ryan.castelaz

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8 days ago

LINK IN BIO

Absolutely surreal that our work @discourse.coffee and @agency.mke was just featured in the @latimes !!! Milwaukee is on the come up in a real way (iykyk), and to be able to play even a small role in that is such an incredible honor. Forever grateful to my incredible partners, and our ridiculously talented and hardworking teams. This is OUR victory, and a massive victory for the @cityofmilwaukee as a whole!

Also, a HUGE shout out is in order for Disco alum @cinnamon.post.crunch, who is currently running the coffee program at the incredible @sallys_stay_awhile in Nashville, also mentioned here. You make me so damn proud, Tess!

To @amberyv, thank you for the shout out!!! You have become a dear friend, and I am forever grateful for your belief in me and your support of our work. ❤️ by @ryan.castelaz

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20 days ago

Milwaukee | COFFEE The Universal Language Season 2⁣
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Episode 5 Is Live & Now Streaming!⁣
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Find the YouTube episode link in the @WeAre.ND bio.⁣
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#COFFEETheUniversalLanguage #CTULProject #Milwaukee by @ryan.castelaz

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a month ago

Tomorrow’s the day! EP.5 Milwaukee ⁣
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Tune in at 10AM PST for the YouTube premiere of our Milwaukee episode of COFFEE The Universal Language - Season 2!⁣
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Link in bio. Subscribe, Be Notified, Join Us for the watch party. ⁣
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#COFFEETheUniversalLanguage #Season2 #CTULProject #Milwaukee by @ryan.castelaz

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a month ago

DISCOURSE- The New Art Of Coffee.

After over a year of planning, filming, and editing, I am absolutely thrilled to introduce you all to the project I have been working on with the one and only @ryan.castelaz

If you know Ryan, you know there is an energy about him that is seriously captivating. If you’re not careful, you can accidentally turn a 5 minute chat into a two hour long conversation, or a 5 minute micro doc into a feature length piece that follows details Ryan’s journey from singing Opera in Italy to becoming Milwaukee’s most famous coffee connoisseur and opening three @discourse.coffee locations.

Ryan graciously let myself and my crew into his incredibly busy life to capture a bit of what I felt was the most unique and delicious coffee experience I could find anywhere in the Midwest. I am so grateful for the opportunity and his willingness to let me bug him so much over the past year, I know it’s not always convenient to have lights and cameras pointed in your face while you work… but I think it was worth it.

I produced this largely on my own, learning new cameras, breaking audio equipment, solving technical issues, and editing 20 cuts of just this trailer… I’ve learned a lot. But I couldn’t have done it by myself.

I had a lot of help over the last year and some change on this as well.
@iam.ferno.lo on camera and some crispy audio 🔥
@lights_camera_jackson showing me some Davinci Magic
@georgemikovec for putting me up when I’m in the Chi
@jcarlorosillo
@gabrielmontanezfilms
@jake_haus
@yodiekio
@canigetsharps

Special thanks to @lofredrich @suspicious_coupon, @stevecastelaz and Alison Schommer for sitting down to talk with me about what makes discourse tick.

And even more people. If you helped on this project just know I’m forever grateful to you.

And finally thank you to Ryan and the whole staff at @discourse.coffee for letting me into your world. It’s been an absolute pleasure learning about the wild world of coffee.

The full documentary will be screening locally in Milwaukee in October! Finally dates haven’t been selected, but If you are at all interested in going, keep an eye out for tickets and more information very soon! taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by @ryan.castelaz

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a month ago

COFFEE The Universal Language - S2 Milwaukee⁣
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Shaping unique and engaging experiences... Ryan Castelaz Discourse Coffee. ⁣
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Join us tonight, August 7th in Milwaukee for a special prerelease screening. For more info. Link in the @weare.nd bio.⁣
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#COFFEETheUniversalLanguage #Season2⁣
#CTULProject #DocumentarySeries #Milwaukee taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by @ryan.castelaz

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2 months ago

COFFEE The Universal Language - Milwaukee⁣
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Milwaukee is a city built on resilience, creativity, and community, and its coffee scene reflects every bit of it.⁣
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In the Milwaukee episode of COFFEE The Universal Language, we follow Ryan Castelaz of Discourse Coffee as he challenges the way we think about hospitality and inspires drink makers around the world through creativity and innovation.⁣
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We also visit Likewise, Tulip Cafe, and Canary Coffee Bar, each bringing its own unique story and proving that great coffee is about so much more than what’s in the cup, it’s about the people who create spaces where everyone belongs.⁣
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Join us for the Milwaukee Pre-Release Screening on Friday, August 7th, 2026, and be among the first to experience the episode before its official release on KLCS/PBS, and streaming platforms.⁣
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Screening info and how to purchase tickets can be found on the @WeAre.ND Instagram bio.⁣
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#COFFEETheUniversalLanguage #CTULProject #Milwaukee #DocumentarySeries taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by @ryan.castelaz

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3 months ago

Legend:004 - Ryan Castelaz

Stemming from Wisconsin’s Door County, Ryan Castelaz is the force of flavor behind the James Beard Award-nominated Agency Cocktail Lounge and the ever-surprising Discourse Coffee Workshop.

This mini-doc explores Ryan’s culinary roots, the mysterious 4th wave of coffee, and his enthusiasm for telling stories through the craft of beverage and hospitality.

The Legend Album is about collaboration, so tag your favorite chefs, foodies, roasteries, baristas, and beverage aficionados to further unite our communities.

Be sure to follow @thelegendalbum and share our content to connect with more of the amazing artists and entrepreneurs defining Milwaukee culture. New editorial work and minidocs, every week.

Subject: @ryan.castelaz Producer: @triplebigllc Director: @themichaelpix A Cam: @gabrielmontanezfilms B Cam: @jamison.borden
C Cam: @nazz.irl
 Edited by: @jamison.borden

All Legend Album photography for BTS and editorial work is captured on a Fujifilm X-T5 using a variety of lenses, primarily by Fujifilm and Zeiss, with lighting support from Neewer (camera flash) and Amaran (Ray 660c)
@fujifilmx_us @zeisscameralenses @neewer @amarancreators taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by @ryan.castelaz

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4 months ago

We walked into @coffeefestshow with pretty low expectations. Not because we didn’t think it would be valuable, we just had no idea what to expect.

Then we met @ryan.castelaz

He talked with us like we belonged there. No ego. No pitch. Just genuine conversation, ideas, questions, and a passion for coffee that was impossible not to get excited about.

We left with more confidence, a different perspective, and a reminder that sometimes the biggest limitation isn’t your business, it’s how small you’ve convinced yourself to think.

So if this somehow finds its way to you, Ryan, thank you.

You made two dreamers feel like maybe we’re not as crazy as everyone thinks we are.

And that’s worth more than you know.

#coffeefest #specialtycoffee #coffeechaoscommunity #craftnotcorporate #lateruncoffee taken in Late Run Coffee by @ryan.castelaz

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4 months ago

Ryan Castelaz - Part 3/3

Ryan refers to himself, fairly, as a kind of Willy Wonka.

I would add a little Mad Hatter, if the Hatter had Michelin-Star-worthy discipline.

The public perception, by his own admission, probably splits in two directions: either he’s an obsessive technician people might mistake for pretentious, or he’s an enthusiastic beverage wizard inviting everyone into his factory. The truth is more useful than either caricature.

At his core, Ryan’s a gentle, nature-loving, introspective extrovert. A busy eccentric. A person drawn to forests, mountains, water, architecture, and unique kinds of beauty.

Right on.

The guy makes coffee with ingredients that sound like a dare and then explains them with total sincerity, before nailing the execution with aplomb. As if togarashi-topped espresso was an obvious choice - as if that math always checked out.

He leads with contagious enthusiasm, but there’s also a measured amount of control underneath the sparkle. Refinement under the whimsy. Mindfulness lurking just behind the curtain of surprise, yet he’s playful enough to let me photograph him in sock garters, up to his skivvies in the Lake Michigan tide, acting like the changing waterline is just another guest at his dinner party.

And he’s trusting and serious enough to make the bit feel like an artistic statement instead of a gag. And it’s so cool and so validating.

That’s the Ryan equation.
Whimsy plus rigor. Hospitality plus defiant weirdness. Kindness plus relentless motion.

Steve Jobs thought different.
Michael Jordan played ball.
Ryan does flavor.

Subject: @ryan.castelaz
Location: Seven Bridges Park
Written and photographed by: @themichaelpix

#artist #editorial #coffee #wisconsin #lakemichigan taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by @ryan.castelaz

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4 months ago

Ryan Castelaz - Part 2/3

Before I can finish loading in my camera gear, Ryan has wrapped a meeting, turned toward me, and pulled me into a deep, familiar hug.
“It’s so good to see you, brother!”

This is our first time meeting face to face - that’s just how he is.

Despite the business and busy-ness and all-but-certain exhaustion, the guy taps into a well of hospitality that so few have access to. He makes clicking with someone feel effortless. Not performative, not customer-service-y. Just open-hearted, slightly bonkers, all-in enthusiasm.

He talks about coffee and beverages the way directors talk about films. The way authors talk about books. About the way individual elements combine to shape an experience, and through that, a feeling - a story.

A drink becomes a scene. Rendered pork fat and root beer bitters become the taste of a Harley rider pulling in after a long day on the road. A ramen latte becomes a meticulous shokunin’s daydream, manifest in a cup. You take a sip, mutter “oh, fxck you” under your breath, and accept that it works better than it has any right to.

That’s not novelty for novelty’s sake.
That’s hospitality as imagination. Hospitality as invitation. Hospitality as a generous little trapdoor into somebody else’s secret world.

Ryan’s teams love him. Artists from other disciplines love him. Customers line up for an hour to drink the strange and thoughtful things he and his people create.

It’s inspiring, and it makes sense.

The man is not just serving drinks,
he’s staging small, delicious acts of emotional ambush - the good kind.

Subject: @ryan.castelaz
Location: @discourse.coffee (Fulton Market, Chicago)
Written and Photographed by: @themichaelpix taken in Fulton Market, Chicago by @ryan.castelaz

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4 months ago

Ryan Castelaz - Part 1/3

Ryan Castelaz does flavor. Persistently and unrelentingly.

He’s the Founder / CEO of The Afterglow Group, the organization behind Agency Cocktail Lounge and the three Discourse locations. Two in Milwaukee. One in Chicago. That’s already plenty to deal with.

Agency was nominated for a James Beard Award. The first bar from MKE to land that kind of recognition. Ever.

He serves as a resident mixologist for Fox 6 and the legendary Charlie Trotter’s.

For godssake, he literally wrote the book on modern java-forward beverage recipes and is giving shape to the nebulous 4th wave of coffee we, as a society, are apparently entrenched within.

Put simply: the man never stops.

But the thing about Ryan that interests me most is not the resume, stacked though it may be. It’s the way he talks about building.

His motivation has changed over time. There used to be vanity in it, he admits to me: Recognition. Being The Guy. The dude on magazine covers. Then, as the businesses grew and the weight got heavier, his center of gravity shifted. The work became about building platforms for other drink makers. Hiring people he trusts. Letting collaborators steer the ship. Creating conditions where strange, thoughtful, wildly specific ideas can actually survive contact with the public.

That’s the entrepreneur I find compelling.
Not the dude chasing scale for scale’s sake, but the eccentric operator trying to protect originality from the dull machinery of sameness.

In a world of AI slop, unpunished monopolies, and franchise fan-service business models that champion the chicken and neglect the egg, Ryan’s work feels like proof that risk is relevant. That originality still matters. That success looks best on a friendly face.

That this business of living is an experience of experiences.

And when something as simple as a sip of liquid contains genuine novelty, it deserves celebration.

Subject: @ryan.castelaz
Location: @discourse.coffee | @radiomilwaukee
Written and Photographed by: @themichaelpix

#coffee #drinks #entrepreneur #wisconsin #business taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by @ryan.castelaz

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4 months ago