Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're a coffee lover then you'll want to go to a coffee bean shop. These shops offer a variety of whole beans from all over the world. They also offer unique kitchenware and trinkets.

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

Porto Rico Importing Co.

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

When you enter this traditional West Village shop, the scent of freshly roasted beans fills your nose. Open bags of dark-brown beans are stacked on the shelves along with jars of sugar coffee-making equipment, tea and other accessories.

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

Porto Rico offers 130 different varieties of beans, including those from around the globe located in three locations including Bleecker Street, Essex Market, and online. Porto Rico roasts their own beans and offers wholesale distribution for 350 restaurants in NYC, Brooklyn and Brooklyn.

Peter Longo, current owner and president, was raised in the family bakery located on Bleecker Street, where his father ran Porto Rico. The business is still run by the shop in the same way to his father and grandfather.

Sey Coffee

It is located on 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 the fourth-floor loft located across the street from their new location in 2011 under the name Lofted Coffee (with local clients including Greenpoint's Budin and Soho cart service Peddler).

Sey's focus on purchasing micro-lots, or even whole harvests from a single farmer has earned it the praise of discerning New York City coffee aficionados. 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 carefully picked at peak ripeness, removed by flotation to eliminate defects and dried fermented for about 36 hours before being dried on the farm. The result is a blend with hints of berry lemongrass, and melon.

Sey's focus on holistically improving the wellbeing of growers, staff and customers extends beyond the retail store. It makes use of biodegradable plastics and composts, preventing waste from garbage and converting it into agents that lower harmful greenhouse gases as well as nourish soil. It also eliminates gratuity. This allows baristas to concentrate on their work and support their livelihoods.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee brand, was founded in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. The company began with a small store and a dedicated team. Their honest and creative approach to delivering an extraordinary coffee experience has earned their acclaim not just in their home town however, but across the globe.

La Carba follows a strict procedure to identify their ideal beans. They go through hundreds of varieties every year to select the beans that best meet their standards. They then roast them very light, adjusting the desired flavor profile. This results in an enhanced taste and clarity.

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

The shop utilizes a La Marzocco Modbar and the cups, plates, and bowls are custom-designed 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 about 250 different coffees a year, and typically has seven or eight different varieties available at any given time.

The Plant Coffee Roasting Plant Coffee

The Roasting Plant, a multi-unit retailer of coffee, roasts and brews the coffee on site. Each cup is brewed and roasted according to your requirements in less than seconds. It is a search engine for the finest specialty beans that are directly sourced offering customers a choice and quality.

The roaster on site uses fluid bed technology, which is a bit different to the drum-type machines that are commonly used in the majority of UK coffee houses. The beans are blown in an enclosed box that is heated and has high-speed and circulating air. This keeps the beans in suspension and ensures a consistent roasting rate.

I tried the Sumatran coffee and it was a rich cup with smooth mouthfeel, dark chocolate from the fragrance was present, and the coffee began to cool as you sipped, subtle flavours of citrus fruit were evident.

The roasted coffee is then whisked to the store's Eversys super-automatic brewing systems and you can have your coffee brewed to your specifications within less than a minute. Customers can choose from a selection of nine single origin choices and a wide range of blends.

Parlor Coffee

Parlor Coffee was founded in 2012 behind a barbershop, equipped with a single group espresso machine. It has since grown into a bustling coffee roastery, whose beans are sold in top cafes and restaurants as well as home brewers throughout the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to procuring 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 a relentless passion for craft and a belief that good coffee should be available to anyone." They accomplish that with their down-to-earth street space, which includes compost bins, a chalkboard welcome handmade up-cycled items, and a minimalist deco.

They roast their own blends (there were six at the time I was there) and single-origins, but they also hold cuppings on Sundays that are accessible to the public. Imagine it as the tasting room of a brewery. You can smell and taste the beans, ranging from chocolaty earthy (one was very tomato-like!). It's a little off the beaten path, but well worth the trip.