787 Coffee

787 Coffee has recently expanded into many NYC neighborhoods. They run their own farms in Puerto Rico and import themselves. Here you can find some fun stuff such as coffee that is infused with rum or mint after it has been roasted making for a refreshing rum-infused cold brew (nonalcoholic!)

Abraço

One of the neighborhood’s most beloved shops, Abraço, meaning to hug, squeeze or embrace in Portuguese, opens its arms to the neighborhood for an all-in hug.  Roaster and Barista Jamie McCormick oversees all things coffee while Elizabeth Quijad, his partner, churns out some of the neighborhood’s most delectable pastries.  Their shop is truly a neighborhood gem, with the owners’s kids running around, regulars with coffees named after them and their faces illustrated on coffee bags to flaunt their fame.  Cash only.  Check the hours–after the pandemic, they went to weekend only. Find them just east of 1st ave on 7th street in a sunken-in little spot on the northside of the street.

Ninth Street Espresso

Ninth Street Espresso‘s original location east of Avenue C on 9th Street, marks almost the end of the East Village, bookended by the East River and Thompkins Square Park.  One of of the city’s first original voices on the coffee scene, their pared down menu asks only one question: do you want coffee, espresso or espresso with milk?  The barista will chat with you from there–how much milk do you like?  what kind of coffee do you like?  The shop has sunny outdoor sidewalk benches for taking in the east village or lots of tables inside for lingering among the city’s freelancers, geeks and old school East Village citizenry.  Ninth Street roasts in the Chelsea Street Market and has several shops that have popped up a little more on-the-grid than this spot, but nothing exceeds this original location’s ability to bring you into the East Village’s neighborhood culture.

Coffee Project NY

Coffee Project NY is always worth a stop. In Long Island City, Sum and Kaleema run a SCAA coffee lab where you can learn and obtain coffee education certificates. They also roast out there and are some of the most friendly people in NYC’s coffee scene. Try the deconstructed latte!

New comer… Hard to Explain is using one of my favorite roasters–East One Coffee Roasters, so they are worth checking out too!

(Guide Updated June 2022)