17 Reasons You Shouldn't Ignore Coffee Bean Shop

Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're a fan of coffee You'll want to check out a coffee bean shop. They offer a wide selection of whole beans from around the globe. They also sell exclusive trinkets, kitchenware and other items.

Some of these shops offer subscriptions to their coffee beans. Some shops offer the beans in bulk.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

Veteran coffee shop that specializes in international brews, loose teas and a selection.

When you walk into this old-school West Village shop, the smell of fresh roasting beans fills your nostrils. The shelves are stacked with jars and sacks of dark brown beans, with tea-making equipment, coffee accessories and sugar.

In 1907, the first time it was opened, Porto Rico was founded by Italian immigrant Patsy Albanese. At the time, Greenwich Village was seeing an large influx of Italian immigrants who set up businesses to cater to their culinary requirements. Albanese named her shop after the well-known Puerto Rican coffee she imported (and sold) - - a drink that was that was so popular at the time that even the Pope consumed 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 to 350 restaurants in NYC and Brooklyn.

Peter Longo, the current owner and president of the business was raised over the bakery of his family on Bleecker Street where his father was the owner of Porto Rico. He still runs the shop in the same way as his father and grandfather.

Sey Coffee

The shop is located along Grattan Street in Morgantown, Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, Sey Coffee is both an espresso bar and a coffee roaster. Tobin Polk, Lance Schnorenberg and their 33-year-old co-founders began roasting coffee in a loft on the fourth floor just around the corner, in the year 2011. They called it Lofted Coffee. Local clients included Greenpoint's Budin and Soho cart services Peddler and Peddler.

Sey's commitment to buying micro-lots, or even entire harvests from single farmers has earned it the respect of New York City coffee enthusiasts. In the past 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 ripeness, floated to get rid of any imperfections and then dried fermented for 36 hours before being dried on the farm. The result is a blend with hints of berry melon and lemongrass.

Sey's focus on holistically improving the health of employees, customers and growers extends beyond the store. It makes use of composts and biodegradable products to ensure that waste is kept out of the landfills. This helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also nourish the soil. It also eliminates gratuity, which puts the baristas in a position to support their livelihoods and encourage them to focus on their craft.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee company, was established in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. It started with a small shop and a dedicated team. Their honesty and ingenuity to providing an exceptional coffee experience earned them a following that was not only in their own town but all over the world.

La Carba follows a strict process to find their perfect beans. They scour hundreds of lots each year to find those that best match their ideals. Then, they roast them in a very light manner and dial the roast to create their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees more vibrant flavor and clarity.

The East Village store opened last October with a sleek, minimalist design. It's been praised by coffee lovers for its meticulous pour-overs and baked goods supervised by head baker Jared Sexton, who's previously worked at Bien Cuit and coffee bean shop Dominique Ansel.

The shop uses the La Marzocco Modbar, and the cups, plates, and bowls are custom-designed by Wurtz ceramics, a father/son studio located in Horsens. In a recent interview Atlanta Coffee Shops General Manager Ian Walla revealed that La Cabra serves 250 different types of coffee per day and has typically seven or eight varieties on offer at any time.

The Plant Coffee Roasting Plant Coffee

The Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit coffee retailer that roasts on site and coffee bean shop brews to order with each cup of coffee roasting and brewed according to your preferences in less than minutes. It scour the globe for the highest-grade specialty beans that are directly sourced to give customers the option of choices and high-quality.

Their roaster on site is a fluid bed device, that is distinct from the traditional drum machines found in UK coffee shops. The beans are blown through a heated box with high-velocity, circulating air. This keeps the beans suspended and allows for a consistent roasting rate.

I tried the Sumatran coffee and it was a rich cup with a velvety mouthfeel, dark chocolate aromas were present, and the coffee began to cool as you sipped and subtle aromas of citrus fruit were detected.

The coffee is then be whisked into the Eversys Super-Automatic Brewing Machines, and brewed to your preferences within less than a minute. Customers can pick from nine single origin options and a variety of blends.

Parlor Coffee

In 2012, the company was established in the back of a barbershop that had an espresso machine that was single-group, Parlor Coffee has become a rapidly growing roastery whose beans are sold at top restaurants, cafes and home brewers throughout the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to procuring the highest quality beans that have all been through a long journey before they reach its roasters.

The owners, who are self-described as "passionate about the craft and believe that good coffee should be accessible to everyone," have created a space that is grounded and filled with chalkboards. There are compost bins, up-cycled hand-made products, and minimal decor.

They roast their own blends (there were six when I was there) and single-origins, but they also host cuppings on Sundays that are accessible to the public. Imagine it as a tasting area where you can smell and taste the beans that are ground. They are a mix of earthy and chocolate (one was almost like tomato!). They're a bit off the beaten track and well worth a trip.