Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're a coffee connoisseur then you'll want to go to a coffee bean shop. These stores provide a large variety of beans that are whole from all across the globe. These stores also sell unique trinkets, kitchenware, and other things.

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 vendor who specializes in international brews, loose teas and a selection.

When you walk into this old-school West Village shop, the scent of freshly roasting beans fills the air. The shelves are filled with jars, sacks and dark brown beans, along with coffee-making equipment, tea accessories and sugar.

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

Porto Rico offers 130 different varieties of beans, including those from around the globe at three locations, including Bleecker Street, Essex Market and online. Porto Rico also 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 over the bakery of his family located on Bleecker Street where his father was the owner of Porto Rico. He still runs the shop in a similar way as his father and grandfather.

Sey Coffee

Sey Coffee, a coffee roaster and shop is located on Grattan Street, in Morgantown. The neighborhood, which is part of Brooklyn's Bushwick district is located on Grattan Street. Tobin Polk, Lance Schnorenberg and their co-founders, who are 33 years old, started roasting coffee in the loft on the fourth floor, just around the corner, in 2011. They called it Lofted Coffee. Local clients included Greenpoint's Budin, and Soho cart services Peddler and Peddler.

Sey's focus on 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 six-bag micro-lot purchase of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai 785 from Brazil's Espirito Santo region. The beans were handpicked at the peak of ripeness, then removed by flotation to eliminate defects, then dry fermented for about 36 hours before being dried on the farm. The result is a cup with hints of berry, lemongrass, and melon.

Sey's commitment goes beyond its shop to improve the overall health of staff and farmers, as well as customers. It makes use of biodegradable disposables and composts, keeping waste out of landfills and converting it to agents that reduce harmful greenhouse gases and enrich the soil. It also does away with gratuity, which puts the baristas in a position to help sustain their livelihoods and motivate them to focus on their craft.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee company, was founded in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. They started with a small store and a dedicated team. Their honest and innovative approach to delivering a truly exceptional coffee experience earned them a following not only in their own town however, but across the globe.

La Carba has a rigorous process for finding their perfect beans, coffee bean shop scouring through hundreds of different lots every year to find ones that are perfect for their tastes. They roast them in a light style and dial them in to achieve their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees a more vibrant taste and clarity.

The East Village store, which was opened in October of last year was praised for its top-quality pour-overs and baked goods that are overseen by Jared Sexton. He previously worked at Bien Cuit, Dominique Ansel and various coffee houses.

The shop is equipped with the La Marzocco Modbar and the cups plates and bowls are made by Wurtz ceramics, a father-and-son studio in Horsens. In a recent interview with Atlanta Coffee Shops General Manager Ian Walla revealed that La Cabra serves 250 different coffees a yea and typically has seven or eight different varieties available at any given time.

The Plant Coffee Roasting Plant Coffee

The Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit retailer of coffee that roasts its own coffee and brews to order, with each cup of coffee roasting and brewed to your specifications in less than an hour. It searches the globe for the finest specialty beans that are directly sourced providing customers with choice and quality.

The roaster on site uses fluid bed technology which is a bit different to the drum-type machines commonly found in the majority of UK coffee houses. The beans are blown about in a heated container by high-speed air which keeps the green beans suspended and allows roasting to happen in a steady manner as they travel through the machine.

I tried the Sumatran Coffee and it was smooth and rich with a smooth taste. Dark chocolate was evident from the aroma. And as you sip the coffee, you could taste subtle citrus fruit aromas.

The coffee that has been roasted is transported to the Eversys super-automatic brewing machines and brewed to your specification in less than a minute. Customers can pick from nine single origin options and a variety of blends.

Parlor Coffee

Founded in 2012 in the back of a barbershop that had one espresso machine in a single group, Parlor Coffee has become a burgeoning roastery whose beans are sold at top cafes, restaurants and home brewers in the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to sourcing the highest quality beans that have been through a lengthy journey before they reach its roasters.

The owners, who are self-described as "passionate about the craft and believe that good coffee should be accessible to everyone," have created a place that is a bit more grounded, with chalkboards, compost bins, up-cycled handmade products, and a minimalist interior.

They roast and create their own blends and single-origins (there were six on the menu when I was there), but they also hold cuppings on Sundays, and are open to the public. Think of it as an artisanal tasting room in which you can smell and taste the beans, ranging from chocolaty to earthy (one was almost tomato-like!). They're a bit off the beaten path and is worth a visit.