Five Brooklyn gourmet coffee beans Bean Shops

If you're a lover of coffee, then you will want to go to the coffee 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. Others offer the beans in bulk at their retail stores.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

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

The scent of freshly roasted beans fills the air once you enter this West Village shop. The sacks 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. Greenwich Village at the time was experiencing an influx of Italian immigrants, who set up businesses to meet their food needs. Albanese named her shop after the well-known Puerto Rican coffee she imported (and sold) the beverage was that was so well-known at the time that even the Pope consumed it.

Today, Porto Rico sells 130 varieties of beans from all over the globe 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 provides wholesale distribution for 350 restaurants in NYC, Brooklyn and Brooklyn.

Peter Longo, current owner and president, grew up in the family bakery located on Bleecker Street, where his father was the owner of Porto Rico. The business is still run by the shop in the same manner as his father and grandfather.

Sey Coffee

It is located on 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 began roasting in a fourth-floor loft across the street from their new shop 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 even whole harvests from single farmers has earned it the respect of New York City coffee enthusiasts. Last year, Sey purchased a six-bag micro lot of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai from Brazil's Espirito Santo region. The beans were handpicked at their peak ripeness, floated to eliminate any defects, then dry fermented for about 36 hours before being dried on the farm. The result is a coffee that has hints of berry and melon.

Sey's goal of holistically improving the health of staff, customers, and growers extends beyond the store. It makes use of biodegradable disposables and composts, preventing waste from the landfill and converting it into substances that help reduce harmful greenhouse gases and enrich the 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 company founded in Aarhus, Denmark in 2012. They started with a small store and a committed staff. Their honest and innovative approach to providing an exceptional coffee experience has earned them a loyal following not only in their home town but also around the world.

La Carba follows a strict method to select their best beans. They go through hundreds of varieties every year in order to select the beans that best match their ideals. They medium roast coffee beans them in a light manner then dial the roast to create their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees a greater clarity and a more vibrant taste.

The East Village store opened last October with a sleek, minimalist design. It's 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 Dominique Ansel.

The shop utilizes the La Marzocco modbar, and the cups and plates are made by Wurtz ceramics in Horsens, the son and father studio. In a recent Q&A with Atlanta Coffee Shops, General Manager Ian Walla reveals that La Cabra serves around 250 different varieties of coffee each year, and usually has seven or eight varieties available at any given time.

The Plant Coffee Roasting Plant Coffee

The Roasting Plant A multi-unit coffee retailer, roasts and brews coffee on-site. Each cup is roasted and brewed according to your specifications within less than one second. It is a search engine for the highest-grade specialty beans that are sourced directly providing customers with choices and high-quality.

Their onsite roaster is a fluid bed machine which is different from traditional drum machines found in UK coffee shops. The beans are blown about in a heated container by high-speed air, which keeps the green beans in suspension and allows roasting to happen in a steady manner as they move through the machine.

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

The roasted coffee will then be transferred to the store's Eversys Super-Automatic Brewing Machines and brewed according your specifications in under a minute. Customers can choose from nine single origins and a variety blends.

Parlor Coffee

Parlor Coffee was founded in 2012 behind a barbershop, equipped with a single group espresso machine. It has since morphed into a flourishing coffee roastery, whose coffee beans are sold in top cafes, restaurants, and home brewers throughout the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to procuring the finest quality beans, which have all been through a long journey before they reach its roasters.

In their own words in their own words, they "have a relentless passion for craft and a belief that good coffee should be available to anyone." They accomplish this with their earthy streetscape that is a mix of residential and commercial. Think compost bins, chalkboard welcome handmade up-cycled products, and a minimally-decorated space.

They roast and make their own blends and single-origins (there were six while I was there) Also, they have cuppings on Sundays that are open to the public. Imagine it as a tasting area--you can taste and smell the beans that are ground. They vary from earthy to chocolatey (one was almost like tomato!). They're off the beaten track and worthwhile to visit.