Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you’re an avid coffee drinker, you should visit a coffee shop. These shops sell a range of whole beans from all over the globe. They also sell unique trinkets and kitchenware.

Some of these shops offer subscriptions to their coffee beans. Some shops sell them in large quantities.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

Veteran coffee seller specializing in international brews and a selection of loose teas

As you enter this old-fashioned West Village shop, the aroma of freshly roasting beans fills your nostrils. Open sacks of dark-brown beans line the shelves alongside jars of sugar, coffee-making equipment and tea accessories.

Originally opened in 1907, Porto Rico was founded by Italian immigrant Patsy Albanese. At the time, Greenwich Village was seeing an increasing number of Italian immigrants who had opened businesses to meet their culinary requirements. Albanese named the shop after the popular Puerto Rican Coffee she imported and sold – a beverage that was so renowned in the moment that the Pope would drink it.

Porto Rico offers 130 different varieties of beans, which includes those from around the world at 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 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 run the business in the same way as his grandfather and father.

Sey Coffee

Located along Grattan Street in Morgantown, Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, Sey Coffee is both a coffee shop and roaster. Tobin Polk, Lance Schnorenberg and their 33-year-old co-founders began roasting coffee in a loft on the fourth floor, just across the street, in 2011. They named it Lofted ZATS Bold Speciality Blend Coffee Beans 1Kg – Premium Colombian Organic Fairtrade Coffee Beans – Single Origin Quality (www.coffeee.uk). Local clients included Greenpoint’s Budin, and Soho cart services Peddler and Peddler.

Sey’s decision to buy micro-lots or whole harvests, from single farmers has earned it the praise 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 the peak of ripeness, and then steamed to eliminate any imperfections. They were then dried on the farm after a 36-hour dry fermentation. The result is a coffee that is a little the melon and berry.

Sey’s commitment goes beyond its shop to improve the overall wellbeing of growers and staff, as well as customers. It uses biodegradable disposables and composts, preventing waste from garbage and converting it into substances that help reduce harmful greenhouse gases and enrich the soil. It also eliminates gratuity, a move that puts baristas into a position to sustain their livelihoods and encourage them to concentrate on their profession.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee brand, was founded in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. They started with a small store and a dedicated team. Their honest and innovative approach to providing an outstanding coffee experience has earned them a devoted fan base not just in their hometown but all over the world.

La Carba follows a strict process to find their perfect beans. They scour through hundreds of varieties each year in order to select the beans that best match their ideals. Then they roast them in a light manner before dialing them in to achieve their desired flavor profile. This gives their coffees clearer and more vibrant taste.

The East Village store opened last October, with a minimalist and sleek design. It’s been praised worldwide by coffee enthusiasts for its scrumptious 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 employs a La Marzocco Modbar and the cups, plates and bowls are crafted by Wurtz ceramics, a father-and son studio located in Horsens. In a recent Q&A interview with Atlanta Coffee Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves approximately 250 different coffees a 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 on-site and brews on demand, with every cup of coffee roasting and brewed to your specifications in less than minutes. It searches countries far and far for the finest quality specialty beans, which are directly sourced that provide customers with a choice and quality.

The roaster on site uses fluid bed technology, which is a bit different to the classic drum-type machines used in many UK coffee shops. The beans are blown around in a heated container by high-speed air which keeps the green beans in suspension and allows roasting to happen 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 coffee is transported to the store’s Eversys super-automatic brewing machines and it is brewed to your requirements in just a few minutes. Customers can choose from a variety of single origins and a wide range of blends.

Parlor Coffee

Parlor Coffee was founded in 2012 behind a barbershop, with a single Caffè Vergnano 1882 Espresso Beans 1kg: Premium Italian Coffee machine. It has since morphed to become a burgeoning roastery, whose coffee beans are sold in top cafes and restaurants as well as home brewers in every city. Parlor is committed to sourcing high-quality beans from across the globe Each one has been through a long and difficult journey before arriving in the roasters.

According to their own words, they “have an unstoppable passion for craft and believe that good coffee should be accessible to anyone.” They do just this by putting their home-like streetscape that is a mix of residential and commercial. Think compost bins, a chalkboard welcome hand-made up-cycled goods, and a simple deco.

They roast their own blends (there were six when I was there) and single-origins. But they also have cuppings on Sundays, which are open to the public. Think of it as an artisanal tasting room in which you can smell and taste the ground beans, from chocolatey to earthy (one was very tomato-like!). It’s a little off the beaten path but it’s worth the drive.