Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're an avid coffee drinker, then you must visit a coffee shop. These stores offer a wide assortment of whole beans from all across the globe. These stores also offer unique trinkets, kitchenware, and other items.

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

Porto Rico Importing Co.

Veteran coffee seller who concentrates on international brews, loose teas and a selection.

When you step into this old-fashioned West Village shop, the smell of fresh roasting beans fills the air. Open bags of dark-brown beans line the shelves, along with jars of sugar, coffee-making equipment and tea accessories.

Porto Rico, originally opened in 1907 by Italian immigrants Patsy Albonese. At the time, Greenwich Village was seeing an large influx of Italian immigrants who set up businesses to serve their culinary requirements. Albanese named her shop after the well-known Puerto Rican coffee she imported (and sold) which was so famous at the time that even the Pope was a fan.

Today, Porto Rico sells 130 varieties of beans from around the world at three locations in New York City including their Bleecker Street location, Essex Market and online coffee beans. Porto Rico 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 above the bakery of his family on Bleecker Street where his father was the owner of Porto Rico. He still runs the shop in the same way as his father and grandfather.

Sey speciality coffee beans

It is located along Grattan Street in Morgantown, Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, Sey Coffee is both a coffee shop and roaster. Co-founders Tobin Polk and Lance Schnorenberg, both 33 started roasting in the fourth-floor loft just around the corner from their new store 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 or whole harvests, from farmers who are one has earned him the respect of New York City coffee enthusiasts. Last year 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 their peak ripeness, removed by flotation to eliminate defects, then dry fermented for a period of 36 hours before being dried on the farm. The result is a coffee that has hints of melons and berries.

Sey's commitment goes beyond its shop to improve the overall health of staff and farmers, as well as its customers. It uses biodegradable disposables and composts, preventing waste from landfills and turning it into agents that lower harmful greenhouse gas emissions and feed the soil. It also does away with gratuity, which puts the baristas in a position to support their livelihoods as well as encourage them to concentrate on their profession.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee company, was founded in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. It began with a tiny store and a dedicated team. Their honest and innovative approach to delivering an extraordinary coffee experience has earned them a following not only in their home town, but globally.

La Carba follows a strict process to find their perfect beans. They scour through hundreds of beans each year to find the ones that best meet their standards. They then roast them very lightly, adjusting their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees more intense flavor and clarity.

The East Village store opened last October with a sleek, minimalist design. It's been praised by global coffee lovers for its precise pour overs and baked goods that 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 made by Wurtz ceramics, a father-and son studio located in Horsens. In a recent Q&A with Atlanta Coffee Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves approximately 250 different types of coffees each year, and usually has seven or eight coffees available at any given point.

The Plant Coffee Roasting Plant Coffee

The Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit retailer of coffee which roasts on-site and brews on demand, with each cup of coffee roasted and brewed according to your preferences in less than minutes. It searches the world for the highest quality specialty beans that are directly sourced offering customers a the option of choice and quality.

Their onsite roaster uses fluid bed technology, which is quite different from the classic drum-type machines used in most UK coffee shops. The beans are blown around a heated box by high-velocity air, which keeps the beans suspended and allows them to be roasted in a steady manner throughout the machine.

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

The coffee is then be whisked into the store's Eversys Super-Automatic Brewing Machines and brewed according your specifications in less than a minute. Customers can select from nine single origin options and a wide range of blends.

Parlor Coffee

The company was founded in 2012 at the back of a barbershop with a single-group espresso machine, Parlor Coffee has become a rapidly growing roastery whose beans can be found in Top 10 coffee beans cafes, restaurants and home brewers across the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to procuring the finest quality beans, which have been through a lengthy journey before reaching its roasters.

The owners, who are self-described as "passionate about their craft and believe that great coffee should accessible to everyone," have created a space that is down-to earth, with chalkboards, compost bins, up-cycled handmade products, and minimal decor.

They medium roast coffee beans and create their own blends as well as single-origins (there were six when I was there) They also hold cuppings on Sundays, and are open to the public. Imagine it as a brewery tasting area--you can smell and taste the beans in the ground. They vary from earthy to chocolaty (one was almost like tomato!). It's a bit away from the main roads, but worth the trip.