I think I’ve found my house coffee.

The green and yellow bag of Kindred Morning at Outpost Natural Foods. Roasted by Steven Kessler at Sugar Leaf Coffee Roasterie. Clean, balanced, the kind of light roast that works every single morning without making you think too hard about it.

Steven Kessler has been in Milwaukee coffee for 22 years. He started as a barista. Roasted for Anodyne. Spent 15 years working wholesale, building relationships with shops and restaurants around the city. The kind of career where you learn every angle of the business.

Then in March 2024, he walked away to start his own thing.

Sugar Leaf Coffee Roasterie opened in February in a Bay View warehouse. No cafe. No retail space. Just Steven, a Probat L12 roaster (now backed up by a bigger Primo XR15), and a cassette collection heavy on The Smiths. It’s wholesale focused. The work he knows best.

Kindred Morning is his light roast blend for Outpost Natural Foods. It’s private label work. The kind of coffee that shows up on grocery store shelves where people actually shop. Clean and approachable. Made for starting your day without drama.

Between Kindred Morning and Sugar Leaf’s Brazil, I’ve got what I need. Both are exactly my speed. Nutty, balanced, nothing trying too hard.

This is what shop local and support local actually means. Steven roasting coffee in Bay View. Outpost putting it on their shelves. Me buying it and brewing it at home every morning at 6am in my Moccamaster.

You can find Kindred Morning at Outpost Natural Foods location. Sugar Leaf’s other coffees are available online at sugarleafcoffee.com