Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops If you're an avid coffee drinker, then you should consider visiting a coffee shop. These shops offer a broad variety of beans that are whole from all across the globe. They also sell exclusive trinkets, kitchenware and other products. Some of these shops offer subscriptions to their coffee beans. Others sell the beans in bulk at their retail locations. Porto Rico Importing Co. Veteran coffee vendor specializing in international brews and a selection of loose teas When you enter this traditional West Village shop, the smell of fresh roasted beans fills your nose. Unopened bags of dark brown beans are displayed on the shelves alongside sugar jars as well as coffee-making equipment and tea accessories. In 1907, the first time it was opened, Porto Rico was founded by Italian immigrants Patsy Albanese. At the time, Greenwich Village was seeing an increasing number of Italian immigrants who had opened businesses to cater to their culinary requirements. Albanese named the shop after the famous Puerto Rican Coffee she imported and sold - a beverage that was so famous in the present, that even the Pope would drink it. https://www.coffeee.uk/categories/coffee-beans , Porto Rico sells 130 varieties of beans from around the globe at three locations in New York City including their Bleecker Street location, Essex Market and online. Porto Rico also roasts its own beans and provides wholesale distribution to 350 restaurants in NYC and Brooklyn. Peter Longo, current owner and president, was raised in the family bakery on Bleecker Street, where his father ran Porto Rico. He continues to operate the business 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 Brooklyn neighborhood, in the Bushwick district is located on Grattan Street. Co-founders Tobin Polk and Lance Schnorenberg, both 33 began roasting in a fourth-floor loft across the street from their new store in 2011 under the name Lofted Coffee (with local clients including Greenpoint's Budin and Soho cart service Peddler). Sey's commitment to buying micro-lots, or even entire harvests, from farmers who are one has earned it the respect of New York City coffee enthusiasts. In 2011, Sey purchased a six-bag micro lot of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai, a Brazilian coffee from the Espirito-Santo region. The beans were picked at the peak of ripeness, then floated to get rid of any imperfections and dried fermented for 36 hours prior to being dried on the farm. The result is a coffee with hints of berry melon and lemongrass. Sey's mission extends beyond the shop to improve the overall health of staff and growers, as well as its customers. It makes use of biodegradable plastics and composts, preventing waste from garbage and converting it into agents that reduce harmful greenhouse gases and enrich the soil. It also does away with gratuity, which puts baristas in a position to provide their livelihoods and encourage them to concentrate on their art. La Cabra La Cabra is a modern specialty coffee company founded in Aarhus, Denmark in 2012. The company began with a small shop and a dedicated team. Their open and creative approach to delivering a truly exceptional coffee experience earned them a following not only in their home town but also around the world. La Carba follows a strict method to select their best beans. They scour hundreds of varieties each year to select the beans that best meet their ideals. They roast them lightly, dialing in their desired flavor profile. This gives their coffees an enhanced taste and clarity. The East Village store opened last October with a sleek minimalist design, and has been praised by international coffee aficionados for its exacting pour-overs and baked goods, which are overseen by head baker Jared Sexton, who's previously worked at Bien Cuit and Dominique Ansel. The shop is equipped with a La Marzocco Modbar and the cups, plates and bowls are crafted by Wurtz ceramics, a father-and son studio in Horsens. In a recent Q&A with Atlanta Coffee Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves around 250 different types of coffees each year, and typically has seven or eight coffees available at any given point. The Roasting Plant Coffee The Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit retailer of coffee that roasts on site and brews according to your preferences, with each cup of coffee being roasted and brewed to your specifications in less than one minute. It searches the globe for the highest-grade specialty beans that are sourced directly to give customers the option of the choice and quality. The roaster they have on site is an automatic fluid bed machine that is distinct from the traditional drum machines commonly found in UK coffee shops. The beans are blown around the heated box by high-speed air which keeps the beans suspended and allows them to be roasted in a steady manner as they travel through the machine. I tried the Sumatran coffee and it was very rich with a velvety mouthfeel, dark chocolate aromas were present and the coffee started to cool as you sip, subtle flavours of citrus fruit were detected. The coffee that has been roasted will be poured into the Eversys Super-Automatic Brewing Machines and brewed according your preferences in less than one minute. Customers can select from nine single origins as well as several blends. Parlor Coffee It was founded in 2012 in the back of a barbershop that had an espresso machine with a single group, Parlor Coffee has become an energizing roastery whose coffees are found at great cafes, restaurants and home brewers across the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to sourcing the highest quality beans that have all undergone a long journey before arriving at its roasters. The owners, who are self-described as "passionate about craft and believe that great coffee should accessible to everyone," have created a space that is down-to earth and filled with chalkboards. There are compost bins, recycled handmade products, and minimal decor. They roast and create their own blends as well as single-origins (there were six while I was there) Also, they offer cuppings on Sundays, which are open to the public. Imagine it as a brewery tasting area--you can smell and taste the beans as they are roasted. They vary from earthy to chocolaty (one was similar to tomato!). It's a little off the beaten path but it's worth the drive.