Some might consider a radical person to be politically charged and against the norm.
Some might even consider it a bad thing.
Others like Rhett Cisler named his coffee company Radical Coffee because he believes being radical is something everyone should be.
“The word radical for me means going against the ideas that you have already, and not in a bad way, but in a way of challenging beliefs and challenging norms,” Cisler said. “And I think it’s really important to do, especially in the world that we live in right now. We need to challenge beliefs about everything.”
Radical Coffee launched on April 22, Earth Day.
His coffee cart pours espresso, cortados, flat whites and more at the Wednesday Dane County Farmers’ Market on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in downtown Madison, as well as at public and private pop-ups around the city.
Cisler’s coffee comes from the idea of showcasing single-origin flavors, using Kin Kin coffee, a small-batch roaster in Madison. When it comes to flavors, he uses syrups made by a friend of his who owns Bouquet, a California company that sells flavors like butter caramel or vanilla fleur de sel.
He’s also figuring out how to elevate coffee drinks into another level like a cocktail.
Cisler’s branding leans into “weird.” Melting font styles on his social media page recall old horror movie VHS covers. Any Radical Coffee artwork he uses to promote his brand is designed by him, never AI.
He said it is important, even if he isn’t a graphic designer by trade, to make these things himself while many others opt for artificial intelligence.
“That’s like my main goal with my art direction, and philosophy too, is just to try out new stuff, don’t hold myself to one particular thing and always be evolving and changing,” Cisler said. “I’m a human being that changes and evolves all the time.”
Radical Coffee is a side venture where Cisler hopes to flex his creative muscles in the drinks space. He also works as the front of house manager at Reverie Baking Co. on the east side. It was there he had people asking questions about food and he noticed he loved to educate them.
At Reverie, someone asked if the business wanted to do a coffee stand at the farmers’ market. Instead of trying to do something through Reverie, Cisler decided to start his own coffee company and serve coffee at the market.
Cisler himself tries to serve what he likes, meaning single-origin coffees. On one hot Wednesday afternoon, he was combining a single-origin espresso with tonic water while explaining what flavors to expect.
“I like to taste that particular flavor from that particular region and explore that,” he said. “So each week I have a different coffee that I serve.”
Hot and cold drinks come in one size: eight ounces for hot, 12 ounces for ice. Prices range from $3.75 for an espresso, $4.75 for a flat white and up to $6 for an espresso and tonic.
“And the reason why we do that is because in a lot of cafes, when you’re paying for like a 12 ounce or 16 ounce, you’re actually getting the same amount of coffee, you’re just getting more milk, and that kind of just dilutes the coffee a little bit,” Cisler said. “And since single origins are so delicate and can be not as robust as a blend, I kind of wanted to keep it lower, so you can actually taste the coffee itself.”
Business has become stronger at each farmers’ market, but Cisler isn’t exactly sure what that means for Radical Coffee.
“I’m kind of a very going-with-the-flow kind of guy, and that’s also kind of how this started,” Cisler said.
“My plan right now is to do this season, and then if it goes well, do next season. I think a little shop would be really cool to have eventually, but yeah, no plans for now for that. Just kind of seeing if it happens.”
Cisler is happy to see regulars often at his coffee stand. He manages the operation with his mother, who is retired. Cisler, who said he has worked in the service industry “forever,” loves connecting with people, being social and building a community.
As for the coffee, he said visitors to Radical should try a regular shot of espresso.
“Especially with those single origins, it’s really fun to just taste them,” he said. “But if that’s not your thing, I really like making cortados. That’s one of my favorite drinks.
Although he is a bit of a single-origin coffee connoisseur, Cisler said he does make lattes with syrups from his food scientist friend at Bouquet.
“That’s another thing that I wanted to do with this business, is work with my friends and work with people that I know who I trust, and you know, just collaborate and make a community out of it,” Cisler said.
With friends in the food industry, one of Cisler’s goals is to break down and develop a cocktail from a particular coffee roast during a full brunch service.
He also wants to explore signature drinks for his cart by exploring styles, techniques and flavors. One such example? He took a Pain Killer cocktail and replaced the rum with espresso, slowly perfecting a ratio to make something different and see how the flavors would play off each other.
“I like to take flavors and ingredients that are just weird enough, where you’re like, ‘I don’t even know if that’s gonna be good,’ and make it good, and be like, ‘Wow, that actually works, that’s crazy,’” Cisler said. “That’s the philosophy that I have. I want to kind of challenge beliefs.”
