Coffee Bean Shop Isn't As Difficult As You Think

Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're a fan of coffee and you're looking for a place to shop, then you'll need to check out a coffee bean shop. These stores offer a wide variety of beans that are whole from all across the globe. They also sell unique kitchenware and trinkets.

Some of these shops offer subscriptions for their coffee beans. Others offer coffee beans in bulk at their retail stores.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

Veteran coffee vendor specializing in international brews, as well as a variety of loose teas

When you walk into this traditional West Village shop, the aroma of freshly coffee beans fills your nostrils. Unopened bags of dark brown beans are displayed on the shelves alongside jars of sugar as well as coffee-making equipment and tea accessories.

In 1907, the first time it was opened, Porto Rico was founded by Italian immigrant Patsy Albanese. Greenwich Village at the time was witnessing an influx of Italian immigrants, who had opened businesses to meet their food needs. Albanese named the shop after the famous Puerto Rican Coffee she imported and sold - a drink that was so famous in the moment that the Pope would drink it.

Porto Rico offers 130 different kinds of beans, including those from around the globe, at three locations, including Bleecker Street, 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 on the top floor of his family's bakery on Bleecker Street where his father operated Porto Rico. He continues to operate the shop in the same manner as his father and coffee bean shop grandfather.

Sey Coffee

It is located along Grattan Street in Morgantown, Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, Sey Coffee is both a cafe and a roaster. Co-founders Tobin Polk and Lance Schnorenberg, both 33, started roasting in a fourth-floor loft located across the street from their new shop 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, and even whole harvests, from single farmers has earned it the respect of New York City coffee enthusiasts. Last year, they made a six-bag micro-lot purchase of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai 785 from Brazil's Espirito Santo region. The beans were picked at the peak of ripeness, and steamed to remove any imperfections. They were then dried on the farm after a 36-hour dry fermentation. The result is a cup that is fragrant with hints of melons and berries.

Sey's goal of holistically improving the wellbeing of staff, growers and customers extends beyond the shop. It makes use of composts and biodegradable disposables in order to ensure that waste is kept out of the garbage dumps. This helps reduce greenhouse gases and helps nourish the soil. It also eliminates gratuity, a move that places baristas in the position to sustain their livelihoods and inspire them to focus on their craft.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern Specialty Coffee-coffee company, was founded in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. The company started with a modest store and a dedicated staff. Their innovative and honest approach to providing an outstanding coffee experience has earned them a loyal following not only in their home town but also around the world.

La Carba follows a strict process to find their perfect beans. They search through hundreds of lots each year to find beans that fit their ideals. They roast them in a very light manner and dial the roast to create their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees greater clarity and coffee bean shop a more vibrant taste.

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

The shop utilizes the La Marzocco modbar and the cups and plates are custom-designed at Wurtz ceramics in Horsens, the son and father studio. In a recent Q&A interview with Atlanta Coffee Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves approximately 250 different coffees per 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 its own coffee and brews to order with each cup of coffee roasting and brewed to your specifications in less than a minute. It searches the world for the finest specialty beans that are directly sourced offering customers a the choice and quality.

Their roaster on site is a fluid bed machine which is different from the classic drum machines used in UK coffee shops. The beans are blown around an enclosed box heated by high-speed air that keeps the green beans in suspension and allows them to be roasted at a consistent rate as they move through the machine.

I tried the Sumatran Coffee and it was incredibly rich and velvety with a velvety taste. Dark chocolate was evident in the aroma. And as you sip the coffee, you could detect subtle citrus fruit flavors.

The coffee is transported to the store's Eversys super-automatic brewing machines and it is brewed to your requirements in less than a minute. Customers can select from a variety of single origins and a variety of blends.

Parlor Coffee

Founded in 2012 in the back of a barbershop, complete with a single-group espresso machine, Parlor Coffee has become a growing roastery, whose beans are sold at top cafes, restaurants and home brewers across the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to procuring the finest quality beans, which have all been through a long journey before arriving at its roasters.

The owners, who self-described as "passionate about coffee and believe that great coffee should accessible to everyone," have created a environment that is simple, with chalkboards, compost bins, up-cycled hand-made products, and low-frills decor.

They roast and make their own blends and single-origins (there were six when I was there) However, they also do cuppings Sundays, which are open to the public. Think of it as a brewery tasting room--you can smell and taste the ground beans, ranging from chocolaty earthy (one was very tomato-like!). It's a little away from the main roads, but worth the journey.