Coffee Bean Shop Isn't As Tough As You Think

Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're a fan of coffee, then you will want to check out a coffee bean shop. These shops provide a variety of whole beans from around the world. They also sell unique kitchenware and trinkets.

Some of these shops offer subscriptions for their coffee beans. Some shops offer the beans in large quantities.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

Veteran coffee seller that is a specialist in international brews, loose teas, and a wide selection.

As you enter this old-school West Village shop, the scent of freshly roasting beans fills your nostrils. The shelves are packed with jars and sacks filled with dark brown beans, with coffee-making equipment, tea 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 influx of Italian immigrants who had opened businesses to serve their culinary requirements. Albanese named her shop after the renowned Puerto Rican coffee she imported (and sold) - - a drink that was so popular that even the Pope drank it.

Today, Porto Rico sells 130 varieties of beans from all over 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, current owner and president, grew up in the family bakery on Bleecker Street, where his father ran Porto Rico. He still runs the shop in a similar way as his father and grandfather.

Sey Coffee

Sey Coffee, a coffee shop and roaster is located on Grattan Street, in Morgantown. This neighborhood in Brooklyn's Bushwick district is located on Grattan Street. Tobin Polk, Lance Schnorenberg and their co-founders, who are 33 years old, started roasting coffee in an apartment on the fourth floor, just around the corner in the year 2011. They named 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 acclaim of New York City coffee enthusiasts. The last time Sey was in the market, he purchased a six-bag micro lot of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai from Brazil's Espirito Santa region. The beans were picked at peak ripeness, floated to remove defects, coffee bean shop then dry fermented for 36 hours prior to being dried on the farm. The result is a coffee that has hints of melons and berries.

Sey's dedication extends beyond its shop to improve the overall well-being of employees and growers and customers. It makes use of biodegradable disposables and composts, preventing waste from landfills and converting it to agents that lower harmful greenhouse gases and enrich the soil. It also removes gratuities. This allows baristas to focus on their craft and help sustain their livelihoods.

La Cabra

La Cabra is a modern specialty coffee business that was founded in Aarhus, Denmark in 2012. It began with a tiny shop and a dedicated team. Their honesty and ingenuity to providing a unique coffee experience earned them a following not only in their hometown, but globally.

La Carba follows a strict process to find their perfect beans. They scour hundreds of beans each year to select the beans that best meet their standards. They roast them lightly, adjusting their desired flavor profile. This gives their coffees clearer and more vibrant taste.

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

The shop utilizes the La Marzocco modbar, and the plates and cups are made by Wurtz ceramics in Horsens, a father and son studio. In a recent Q&A with Atlanta coffee bean shop Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves about 250 different types of coffees each year, and usually has seven or eight varieties on offer at any given point.

The Plant Coffee Roasting Plant Coffee

The Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit retailer of coffee that roasts its own coffee and brews to order with each cup of coffee being roasted and brewed to your specifications in less than an hour. It searches far and wide for the highest-grade specialty beans, which are directly sourced providing customers with choice and high-quality.

Their on-site roaster is a fluid bed machine which is different from traditional drum machines commonly found in UK coffee shops. The beans are blown about in the heated box by high-speed air which keeps the green beans in suspension and allows roasting to happen in a steady manner as they travel through the machine.

I tried the Sumatran coffee and it was very rich with smooth mouthfeel, dark chocolate from the fragrance was present. The coffee began to cool while you sipped the coffee. The subtle scents of citrus fruit were detected.

The coffee gift set is whisked to the store's Eversys super-automatic brewing systems and you can have your coffee brewed to your specifications in under a minute. Customers can select from a variety of single origins and a variety of blends.

Parlor Coffee

Parlor Coffee was founded in 2012 in a barbershop using a single espresso machine. It has since evolved into a burgeoning coffee roastery, and its beans can be found in a variety of great cafes as well as restaurants and home brewers in every city. Parlor Coffee is committed to finding the highest quality beans that have gone through a long journey before reaching its roasters.

According to their own words according to their own words, they "have an unrelenting love of craft and a conviction that good coffee should be accessible to everyone." They accomplish that with their down-to-earth street space, which includes compost bins, chalkboard welcome handmade up-cycled items, and a minimally-decorated space.

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 public. Imagine it as a brewery tasting area--you can taste and smell the beans that are ground. They vary from earthy to chocolaty (one was almost like tomato!). They're a bit off the beaten track however, they're it's worth the trip.