Sugar Leaf Coffee Roasters Sweetens the Scene in Milwaukee

Howard Bryman | September 24, 2025

Inside the new Sugar Leaf Coffee Roasterie in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. All images courtesy of Sugar Leaf Coffee Roasterie.

A new standalone specialty coffee roaster called Sugar Leaf Coffee Roasterie is unfurling from its home base in Milwaukee, with industry veteran Steven Kessler at the helm.

Sales of coffees roasted by Kessler on a Probat L12 in a 1,300-square-foot warehouse in Bay View kicked off on March 1 to wholesale clients, regional grocers and consumers online.

Over the summer, a larger Primo XR15 roaster joined the production floor as Sugar Leaf’s primary machine, with the Probat remaining as a backup.

For Kessler, Sugar Leaf represents a first step as a founder and sole proprietor following more than 20 years at other specialty coffee companies.

After entering the industry as a barista, Kessler began roasting in 2006 during a stint in Phoenix, where he worked as both a roaster and a customer-service representative fo Espressions Coffee Roastery.

Upon moving back to Milwaukee, Kessler joined Anodyne Coffee Roasting as a roaster, then transitioned to wholesale, where he worked for more than 15 years.

“I surrounded myself with coffee and [was] around roasters for my whole time in wholesale. I spent a lot of my time actually in the production area, just talking with the roasters and cupping,” Kessler told Daily Coffee News. “Granted, when you’re practically on the drum but then not [really] on the drum, that’s different. But I kept myself pretty centered around coffee.”

Sugar Leaf now represents a full-circle career moment for Kessler with a fresh, autonomous vision for the future. With no immediate intentions to open a cafe, Kessler plans to focus sharply on wholesale roasting and relationships.

“At some point, having a flagship store connected to or close by the roastery might be a good thing for [Sugar Leaf] as well. But I’m more interested in just focusing on helping my customers be successful and working out what I can do to support them,” said Kessler. “Most of my career has been on that side. That’s where I’m comfortable.”