The Business Journal reported yesterday that next week local coffee chain Alterra Coffee Roasters will open a new location in Madison that will sell beer. According to the article, this is the first Alterra location outside of the Milwaukee area, in addition to its first beer-serving location.
In an interview with “Wisconsin Foodie,” George Bregar, its Director of Coffee, announced that the company would be working with One Barrel Brewing Co. to create the beers it plans to sell in the Madison cafe. (Alterra is an “underwriter” of “Wisconsin Foodie.”) And “If all goes well,” he said, “we plan on introducing this in our Milwaukee locations.”
Offering alcohol at what were traditionally coffee shops follows in the footsteps of national chain Starbucks, who last year announced that it would expand its number of cafes serving alcoholic beverages from only Seattle and Portland, Ore. to Chicago, Atlanta and southern California. Starbucks had first introduced alcoholic beverages in Seattle and Portland in 2010.
To read more about Milwaukee’s local coffee scene, check out Matt Hrodey’s “Coffee Wars.”
