Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you're a coffee connoisseur, then you will want to check out the shops selling coffee beans. These shops offer a variety of whole beans from around the world. These stores also offer unique trinkets, kitchenware, and other products.

Some of these shops offer subscriptions for their coffee beans. Others offer coffee beans in Bulk Buy Coffee beans at their retail locations.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

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

The aroma of freshly roasted beans fills the air once you walk into this West Village shop. Open bags of dark-brown beans line the shelves, along with sugar jars, premium coffee beans-making equipment and tea accessories.

Porto Rico, originally opened in 1907 by Italian immigrants Patsy Albonese. At the time, Greenwich Village was seeing an influx of Italian immigrants who set up businesses to serve their culinary requirements. Albanese named the shop after the famous Puerto Rican Coffee she imported and sold - a beverage that was so famous at the moment, even the Pope would drink it.

Porto Rico offers 130 different kinds of beans, including those from around the globe in three locations, including Bleecker Street, Essex Market, and online. Porto Rico roasts its own beans and offers wholesale distribution to 350 restaurants in NYC 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 owner 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 Coffee is both a roaster and coffee shop. Tobin Polk, Lance Schnorenberg and their 33-year-old co-founders began roasting coffee in the loft on the fourth floor just across the street, in 2011. The name was Lofted Coffee. Local clients included Greenpoint's Budin, and Soho cart services Peddler and Peddler.

Sey's reliance on micro-lots -- or even whole harvests from a single farmer has earned it the respect of the most discerning New York City coffee aficionados. The last time Sey was in the market, he purchased a six-bag micro lot of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai from Brazil's Espirito Santa region. The beans were harvested at the peak of ripeness, and floated to remove any defects. They were then dried on the farm following a 36-hour dry fermentation. The result is a cup with hints of berry, melon and lemongrass.

Sey's mission extends beyond the shop to improve the overall well-being of employees and growers and customers. It makes use of composts and biodegradable disposables to keep waste out of landfills. This helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also nourish the soil. It also eliminates gratuity, a move that puts baristas into a position to provide their livelihoods as well as encourage them to concentrate on their craft.

La Cabra

La Cabra, a modern specialty coffee company, was established in Aarhus in Denmark in 2012. They started with a small store and a committed staff. Their open and creative approach to providing an exceptional coffee experience earned their acclaim not just in their own town however, but across the globe.

La Carba follows a strict procedure to identify their ideal beans. They scour through hundreds of beans each year in order to find beans that meet their standards. Then they roast them in a light manner then dial the roast to create their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees a more vibrant flavor and clarity.

The East Village store, which was opened in October of last year and has been praised by critics for its high-quality pour overs, as well as the baked goods, overseen and managed by Jared Sexton. He previously worked at Bien Cuit, Dominique Ansel and other coffee houses.

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

The Plant Coffee Roasting Plant Coffee

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

The roaster they have on site is a fluid bed machine that is distinct from the classic drum machines used in UK coffee shops. The beans are blown in a heated container with high-speed, circulating air. This keeps the beans in suspension and ensures a consistent roasting rate.

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

The roasted coffee will then be taken to the store's Eversys Super-Automatic brewing Machines to be brewed according your preferences in under a minute. Customers can pick from a variety of single origins and a wide range of blends.

Parlor Coffee

Parlor Coffee was founded in 2012 behind a barbershop, with a single espresso machine. It has since evolved into a bustling coffee beans unroasted roastery, whose coffee beans are sold in top cafes and restaurants as well as home brewers all over the city. Parlor Coffee is committed to sourcing the highest-quality beans, which have all undergone a long journey before arriving at its roasters.

According to their own words, they "have an unrelenting passion for craft and a belief that great coffee should be available to everyone." They do just this with their earthy space on a residential street--think compost bins, chalkboards, handmade up-cycled products and a simple deco.

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