Mathew Deshotel

Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're a coffee connoisseur and you're looking for a place to shop, then you'll need to try out a coffee bean shop. These shops provide a variety of whole beans from all over the globe. They also have unique trinkets and kitchenware.

Some of these shops offer subscriptions to their coffee beans. Others offer them in bulk at their retail stores.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

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

The aroma of freshly roasting beans fills the air when you walk into this West Village shop. The shelves are lined with jars and sacks filled with dark brown beans, along with tea-making equipment, coffee 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 established businesses in order to meet their food requirements. Albanese named the shop after the popular Puerto Rican Coffee she imported and sold - a drink that was so popular in the present, that even the Pope would drink it.

Today, Porto Rico sells 130 varieties of beans from all over the world at three locations in New York City including their Bleecker Street location, Essex Market and online. The company roasts its own beans and offers wholesale distribution to 350 restaurants in NYC and Brooklyn.

Peter Longo, the current owner and president of the company 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 shop in the same way as his father and grandfather.

Sey Coffee

It is located on Grattan Street in Morgantown, Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, Sey luxury coffee beans is both a roaster and coffee shop. Co-founders Tobin Polk and Lance Schnorenberg, both 33 began roasting in a fourth-floor loft around the corner at their new location 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, and even whole harvests, from farmers who are one has earned it the praise 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 carefully picked at peak ripeness, floated to get rid of any imperfections and dried fermented for 36 hours before being dried on the farm. The result is a blend with hints of berry and melon.

Sey's dedication to holistically improving the well-being of employees, customers and growers extends beyond the store. It uses biodegradable disposables and composts to keep waste out of the landfill and converting it into agents that reduce harmful greenhouse gases and nourish soil. It also reduces gratuity. This allows baristas to concentrate on their craft and support their livelihoods.

La Cabra

La Cabra is a modern specialty coffee brand that was established in Aarhus, Denmark in 2012. The company began with a small shop and a dedicated staff. Their innovative and honest approach to providing a superior coffee experience has earned them a devoted following not only in their local area but all over The Coffee Bean Shop world.

La Carba has a rigorous process for finding their perfect beans, by scouring through hundreds of different varieties every year to locate the ones that are perfect for their tastes. They roast them in a light style before dialing them in to achieve their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees a more intense flavor and clarity.

The East Village store opened last October, with a minimalist and sleek style, and has been praised by international coffee beans near me lovers for its meticulous 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 utilizes a La Marzocco Modbar, and the cups, plates and bowls are crafted by Wurtz ceramics, a father/son studio located 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 has typically seven or eight coffees available at any one time.

The Roasting Plant Coffee

The Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit coffee retailer that roasts on site and brews on demand, with each cup of coffee roasting and brewed according to your preferences in less than minutes. It searches countries far and far to find the finest specialty beans that are directly sourced that offer customers a variety and quality.

Their onsite roaster uses fluid bed technology, which is a bit different to the classic drum-type machines used in many UK coffee houses. The beans are blown through an enclosed box that is heated and has high-speed, circulating air. This keeps the beans suspended and ensures a consistent roasting rate.

I tried the Sumatran Coffee and it was velvety and rich with a velvety taste. Dark chocolate was evident in the aroma, and as you sip the coffee, there were subtle citrus fruit flavours.

The roasted coffee is then transported to the store's Eversys super-automatic brewing equipment and it is brewed to your requirements within less than a minute. Customers can select from nine single origins and a variety 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 has become a burgeoning roastery whose beans are available at top restaurants, cafes and home brewers all over the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to procuring the highest-quality beans, which 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 conviction that good coffee beans 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 products, and low-frills deco.

They roast and make their own blends and single-origins (there were six when I was there), but they also hold cuppings on Sundays, and are open to the public. Imagine it as a tasting room for breweries. You can smell and taste the ground beans, ranging from chocolaty earthy (one was almost tomato-like!). They're a bit away from the main roads however, they're well worth a trip.