Thursday, November 8, 2007

Brooklyn Coffee Roasters?

I love coffee. I don't drink it as regularly as I used to because I tend to get a lot of heartburn when I do, but I still love it.

I've been looking to upgrade my home coffee experience for a while on a number of fronts. We've got a great coffee grinder that was a gift from my father a few years back. It's an older Kitchenaid that gives off a 1950's-type vibe and it works beautifully, so we're set there. Beyond that I'm pretty sure I can do better.

Our coffee maker is a basic Mr. Coffee drip maker that I bought when I first moved to NYC back in 2001. It's serviceable enough, but I'd really like to replace it, likely with one of the nice Cuisinarts everyone seems to have. Mickey doesn't like to use any of that, preferring her ancient stove percolator. To each her own.

I buy whole beans from Costco, but one thing I've wanted to try for a while is roasting my own coffee beans. I've read up on it and it doesn't seem that difficult, but I have enough demands on my time as it is, and I know I'd end up just going out and buying coffee beans when I ran out. What I'd really like to find is a local roaster and see if the beans are really that much better than what I'm buying.

So, any recommendations? I could just Google it, but this seems like a much more fun way of finding something interesting.

8 comments:

ker said...

I suggest you hop over to Puerto Rico Importers for beans and invest in a french press. Throw that drip machine way!

Kath said...

Try D'Amico's on Court St. They roast their own beans and have decent prices. I agree: you should try a French press.

Brian said...

I've used French presses before and liked them. The main problem is that I like to be able to set the coffee maker before I go to sleep and have coffee waiting in the morning. If pressed (!) to do it onmy own in the morning, I invariably end up not bothering because I'm lazy and foolish.

And Kath, that dog is adorable. He looks so proud to be a reindeer!

jj said...

gorilla coffee on fifth avenue in park slope roasts their own beans which are amazing.

Anonymous said...

It is actually Porto Rico, not Puerto, but they do roast in W'burg. They also sell burlap sacks for a dollar if you ever have a fig tree to wrap for winter.

A friend of mine brought by some fresh roasted beans the other day, he says he uses a pop corn popper.

Zak said...

Haven't tried it, but at L'Epicerie du Quartier on Vanderbilt one can buy Brownstone Beans coffee, which is roasted locally.

www.brownstonebeans.com

I roast my own coffee in my apartment. I buy beans from a source out in Northern California, called Sweet Marias. It is very economical to roast your own beans, and the variety available is overwhelming.

www.sweetmarias.com

Unknown said...

Hey Brian, there's a new gourmet coffee wholesaler in Bed Stuy - Kitten Coffee - www.kittencoffee.com - they roast their own espresso blend. They also offer NYC's first barista training center as well as supplying machines - I dropped by the other day in my passing and bought some exquisite espresso beans.. and as the head barista there explained to me, the secret doesn't lie in the bean, it lies in the training. Check them out, I guarantee they'll assist with your roasting inquries!

Anonymous said...

I've tried Brownstone Beans and it's great stuff. The different varieties really have distinct flavors and they also have a wide range of roasts. Plus the guy is really grassroots. He teaches at a public high school and started up this Brooklyn based company.