Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you are an avid coffee drinker, then you should visit a coffee shop. These stores provide a large 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 for their coffee beans. Others sell them in bulk at their retail stores.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

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

The aroma of freshly roasting beans fills The Coffee bean shop air as you walk into this West Village shop. The shelves are packed with jars, sacks and dark brown beans, with coffee-making equipment, tea accessories, and sugar.

Porto Rico, originally opened in 1907 by Italian immigrants Patsy Albonese. Greenwich Village at the time was experiencing an influx of Italian immigrants, who had opened businesses to satisfy their food needs. Albanese named the shop after the popular Puerto Rican Coffee she imported and sold – a beverage that was so famous at the moment, even the Pope would drink it.

Porto Rico offers 130 different kinds of beans, including those from around the world located in three locations including Bleecker Street, Essex Market and online. The company also roasts their own beans and offers wholesale distribution to 350 restaurants in NYC, Brooklyn and Brooklyn.

Peter Longo, the current president and owner of the company was raised above his family’s bakery located on Bleecker Street where his father operated Porto Rico. The owner continues to run the business in the same way as his grandfather and father.

Sey Coffee

Sey Coffee, a coffee roaster and shop located on Grattan Street, in Morgantown. This neighborhood in Brooklyn’s Bushwick district, is located on Grattan Street. Tobin Polk, Lance Schnorenberg and their 33-year-old co-founders started roasting coffee in an apartment on the fourth floor, just across the street, in 2011. They dubbed it Lofted Coffee. Local clients included Greenpoint’s Budin and Soho cart services Peddler and Peddler.

Sey’s decision to buy micro-lots, or even whole harvests, from farmers who are one has earned him the respect of New York City coffee enthusiasts. Last year, Sey purchased a six-bag micro lot of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai from Brazil’s Espirito Santo region. The beans were harvested when they were ripe 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 melon and lemongrass.

Sey’s dedication to holistically improving the quality of life for growers, staff and customers extends beyond the walls of the shop. It uses biodegradable disposables 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, a move that puts baristas in a position to sustain their livelihoods as well as encourage them to concentrate on their art.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee company, was established in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. They began with a small shop and a committed team. Their honest and innovative approach to providing an outstanding coffee experience has earned them a loyal following, not just in their home town, but worldwide.

La Carba follows a strict procedure to find their perfect beans. They scour through hundreds of varieties each year in order to find beans that fit their ideals. Then, they roast them in a light manner before dialing the roast to create their desired flavor profile. This results in an enhanced taste and clarity.

The East Village store opened last October, with a minimalist and sleek design. It’s been praised by international coffee lovers for its precise 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 utilizes a La Marzocco modbar, and the cups and plates are custom-designed at Wurtz ceramics in Horsens, a father and son studio. In a recent Q&A with Atlanta Coffee Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves approximately 250 different varieties of barista coffee beans each year, and usually has seven or eight coffees available at any given moment.

The Roasting Plant cafe coffee beans

The Roasting Plant A multi-unit retailer of coffee roasts and brews its coffee on the spot. Each cup is brewed and roasted according to your preferences in less than one second. It searches far and wide for the highest-grade specialty beans that are directly sourced that offer customers a variety and quality.

Their on-site roaster utilizes fluid bed technology that is quite different from the drum-type machines commonly found in most UK coffee shops. The beans are blown around an enclosed box heated by high-speed air, which keeps the green beans suspended and allows them to be roasted at a consistent rate as they travel through the machine.

I tried the Sumatran Coffee and it was smooth and rich with a velvety flavor. Dark chocolate was evident in the aroma and as you sip the coffee you could smell subtle citrus fruit flavours.

The roasted coffee will be whisked into the store’s Eversys Super-Automatic brewing Machines, and brewed to your specifications in less than a minute. Customers can choose 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 with a single group, Parlor coffee beans unroasted has become a growing roastery, whose beans can be found in top restaurants, cafes and home brewers across the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to finding the finest quality beans, which have been through a lengthy journey before reaching its roasters.

In their own words according to their own words, they “have an unrelenting love of craft and a belief that good coffee should be accessible to everyone.” They accomplish this with their earthy space on a residential street–think compost bins, chalkboards, handmade up-cycled products and a minimally-decorated space.

They roast and make their own blends and single-origins (there were six while I was there) However, they also hold cuppings on Sundays, and are open to the public. Think of it like an artisanal tasting room in which you can smell and taste the ground beans, from chocolatey to earthy (one was very tomato-like!). They’re away from the main roads, but well worth a trip.