Discourse

First Impressions

Discourse is one of those hidden gems, producing next-generation experiences that blow your mind and your taste buds! This is where you’ll find cherry tomatoes, pork fat or lava salt in your latte! The Discourse location shown below is hidden under the German-English Academy Building on the MSOE campus. They have a few other locations, that offer their own creative vibe and are definitely worth checking out!

First Impressions
Atmosphere & Experience
World of Coffee
Austin’s Choice
Additional Information

Atmosphere & Experience

This location’s interior is highly intimate and gives off the new-startup-in-a-basement kind of vibe. Low ceilings with exposed pipes, brick walls and soft lighting. I love it! In the few times I’ve visited here, It’s been hard to find seating as it is tiny and very popular, but don’t let that stop you from trying out their beverage experiences!

World of Coffee

Discourse Coffee was founded by Ryan Castelaz, who designed his cafe experience around the Fourth Wave movement, where drinks are a medium for creativity, emotion and storytelling.

To help my readers understand this better, I’ll break down the waves.

In the First Wave (1800-1970s), coffee became a household staple thanks to brands like Folgers and Maxwell House. The focus was on making coffee cheap, fast, and widely available. Think instant coffee.

Starting in around the 1970s, the Second Wave started coming into play. Companies like Starbucks introduced Americans to espresso drinks, café ambiance, and the idea that coffee could be more than just a means to keep stimulated. This wave emphasized flavor, origin, and the experience of drinking coffee in a cozy, social setting.

In the 1990s, coffee took on a new identity as a craft beverage. Roasters focused on single-origin beans, ethical sourcing, and more intentional brewing methods. Coffee started to be treated like wine in its detail, farm & roast sources and the story behind it.

This is what brings us to the Fourth Wave. This believes coffee is an expression of art and emotion. Much like traditional artists, Cafes like Discourse use coffee as a medium for the creative soul, blending unexpected ingredients into unique and expressive beverages. My favorite beverages live in the Fourth Wave. Trying new foods and combinations has always been a weird pastime of mine, and it’s deeply satisfying to find a combination that works well!

Austin’s Choice

I know it’s weird and a little crazy, but hear me out…the Motorhead is a work of art. The drink is composed of espresso, milk, pork fat, apple caramel, root beer bitters, gapple powder and smoked salt. It is a sweet and salty combination that can’t be adequately described on paper. The texture is unique due to how the pork fat layers with the rest of the drink. It doesn’t mix well like traditional ingredients. The result is a layer of buttery texture that stays with you through the entire experience. Utterly superb.

Now I know not everyone is as bold as I am for trying new things, so for those of you unwilling to dip your toes into greatness…I’d recommend the Channel Orange. This drink has a more tame profile that combines espresso, milk, orange-vanilla syrup, black strap bitters and is topped with orange powder and a line of black lava salt.