Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops
If you are an avid coffee drinker, you should consider visiting a coffee shop. These shops offer a broad assortment of whole beans from all over the world. They also sell unique kitchenware and trinkets.
Some of these shops offer subscriptions to their coffee beans. Some shops offer coffee beans in bulk.
Porto Rico Importing Co.
Veteran coffee seller specializing in international brews and a variety of loose teas
As you enter this old-fashioned West Village shop, the smell of fresh roasted beans fills your nose. Unopened bags of dark brown beans line the shelves, along with sugar jars, coffee-making equipment as well as tea accessories.
Porto Rico, originally opened in 1907 by Italian immigrant Patsy Albonese. Greenwich Village at the time was experiencing an influx of Italian immigrants, who had opened businesses to satisfy their food requirements. Albanese named her shop after the popular Puerto Rican coffee she imported (and sold) - - a drink that was that was so popular at the time that even the Pope drank it.
Today, Porto Rico sells 130 varieties of beans from around the world at three locations in New York City including their Bleecker Street location, Essex Market and online. The company roasts its own beans and provides wholesale distribution for 350 restaurants in NYC, Brooklyn and Brooklyn.
Peter Longo, the current president and owner of the business was raised over his family's bakery located on Bleecker Street where his father was the owner of Porto Rico. He continues to run the shop in the same manner as his father and grandfather.
Sey Coffee
Sey Coffee, a coffee roaster and shop, is located along Grattan Street, in Morgantown. This neighborhood, located in Brooklyn's Bushwick district is situated on Grattan Street. Co-founders Tobin Polk and Lance Schnorenberg, both 33, started roasting in a fourth-floor loft located across the street from their new location in 2011 under the name Lofted Coffee (with local clients including Greenpoint's Budin and Soho cart service Peddler).
Sey's preference for micro-lots or even whole harvests from single farmers has been praised by the most discerning New York City coffee aficionados. Last year they made a 6-bag micro-lot purchase of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai 785 from Brazil's Espirito Santo region. The beans were picked at their peak of ripeness and floated to remove any imperfections. They were then dried on the farm following a 36-hour dry fermentation. The result is a cup with hints of berry, lemongrass, and melon.
Sey's dedication extends beyond its shop to improve the overall health of staff and farmers, as well as customers. It utilizes composts and biodegradable plastics to keep waste from the landfills. This helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also nourish the soil. It also removes gratuities. This allows baristas to concentrate on their work and support their livelihoods.
La Cabra
La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee company, was founded in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. It began with a tiny shop and a dedicated staff. Their honesty and ingenuity to delivering an extraordinary coffee experience has earned them a following not only in their hometown, but globally.
La Carba follows a strict procedure to identify their ideal beans. They search through hundreds of varieties each year in order to find beans that fit their ideals. They then roast them very lightly, dialing in their desired flavor profile. This results in clearer and more vibrant taste.
The East Village store, which was opened in October of last year it has been praised for its excellent pour overs, as well as the baked goods, which are overseen by Jared Sexton. bulk coffee beans worked at Bien Cuit, Dominique Ansel, and other coffee establishments.
The shop utilizes a La Marzocco Modbar and the cups plates and bowls are crafted by Wurtz ceramics, a father-and son studio located in Horsens. In a recent Q&A interview with Atlanta Coffee Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves around 250 different varieties of coffee each year, and usually has seven or eight different varieties available at any given time.
The Roasting Plant Coffee
The Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit coffee retailer that roasts on site and brews on demand, with each cup of coffee being roasted and brewed according to your requirements in less than a minute. It scour countries far and across the globe for the highest-quality specialty beans that are directly sourced, offering customers choice and high-quality.
Their onsite roaster uses fluid bed technology, which is quite different from the drum-type machines that are commonly used in the majority of UK coffee shops. The beans are blown through an enclosed box that is heated and has high-speed air, which is circulated. This keeps the beans in suspension and allows for a constant roasting speed.
I tried the Sumatran coffee and it was very rich with an enveloping mouthfeel, dark chocolate from the fragrance was present and the coffee started to cool as you sip the coffee. The subtle scents of citrus fruit were evident.
The coffee is whisked to the store's Eversys super-automatic brewing equipment and you can have your coffee brewed to your specifications in under a minute. Customers can select from nine single origin selections and a range of blends.
Parlor Coffee
It was founded in 2012 in the back of a barbershop with a single-group espresso machine, Parlor Coffee has become an energizing roastery whose coffees can be found in top restaurants, cafes and home brewers across the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to procuring the highest-quality beans, which have been through a lengthy journey before they reach its roasters.
The owners, who self-described as "passionate about coffee and believe that great coffee should be accessible to all," have created a space that is down-to earth and filled with chalkboards. There are compost bins and up-cycled products, and a minimalist interior.
They roast their own blends (there were six at the time I was there) and single-origins. But they also have cuppings on Sundays, which are open to the general public. Imagine it as a tasting room for breweries. You can smell and taste the beans, ranging from chocolaty to earthy (one was very tomato-like!). They're off the beaten track, but well worth a trip.