Coffee

I like coffee so much that I have tea for breakfast: The first cup of the day in particular is so good that I’m afraid I won’t be able to properly appreciate it when I am half-asleep. Therefore, I celebrate it two hours later when I am fully conscious.

I must have been 5 when I first discovered the taste of coffee, when I was accidentally given a scoop of coffee ice cream. I was inconsolable: how could grown-ups ruin something as wonderful as ice cream with something as disgusting as coffee?

A few years later I was similarly devastated when my parents announced that for our big summer vacation we would go . . . hiking.

When I was 10 I still hated coffee, but fell in love with the ritual of making coffee. My parents were thankful enough about me fixing them coffee every morning that they overlooked my first clashes with brewing technology.

At 17 I still suffered from coffee schizophrenia: I loved the concept of coffee, but resented the taste. I decided to cure myself through auto-hazing. Around that time, my parents took me on my first trip to Paris. We arrived by train early in the morning and went straight to a little cafe. I ordered a large café au lait and forced down the entire bowl. It worked. Since then I have enjoyed coffee pretty much every day.

When I was 21 I worked as an intern at a magazine. The art director and I would brew a gigantic pot of coffee around 9 a.m. to help us get through the day. The pot would simmer in the coffeemaker, and through evaporation the coffee strengthened noticeably at lunchtime. In the evening hours, the remaining coffee had turned to a black concoction with a stinging smell and tar-like taste. We endured it without flinching.

When I came to New York in 1995, I was delighted to discover deli coffee. At the time, I was focused less on taste and more on quantity and price. Thus, I was in caffeinated paradise.

In January 1999 a friend seduced me into switching to latte. Within weeks a considerable portion of my budget ended up at the L Cafe in Williamsburg.

My inner accountant quickly convinced me to buy one of those little espresso machines (for the price of approximately 10 tall lattes). It had a steam nozzle to heat milk, which one should clean very thoroughly after each use. I didn’t have the patience to do so. Within a few uses, an unappetizing, dark brown, organic lump developed around the nozzle. A few days later it had become unremovable, and I reverted to getting my coffee outside.

Here’s a chart that shows my coffee bias over the years.

For good measure I have added my bagel preferences over the same period. (1) Drip coffee , (2) Starbucks , (3) blueberry bagels , (4) sesame bagels , (5) poppy-seed bagels , (6) everything bagels

Please don’t hold my brief affair with blueberry bagels against me. I cured myself of this aberration.

I order large coffees, but stop drinking when the coffee gets too cold. There’s always a couple of ounces left in the cup, so I can’t just toss it into my wastebasket. I dread the long haul to the bathroom to properly dispose of the coffee remains. Hence you will usually find a tower of paper cups on my desk.

Hot milk greatly improves the taste of coffee, but I find milk foam useless and annoying.

My mother (who makes the most delicious coffee in the world), is obsessed with a particularly potent mechanical foam maker. The result is a layer of impenetrable foam, a kind of lacto-stucco. I have to gnaw my way through it before being able to get to the actual coffee. Apart from that she really makes the best coffee in the world.

Once, after a grueling all-day design conference at a university, I was invited to dinner on campus. To go with the various delicious pastas, salads and quiches, coffee was served.

When you are craving a beer, coffee is the most disgusting drink in the universe.

In New York, I was always envious of people who could walk into a coffee place and the guy behind the counter would know them so well he would just start fixing their order, without any exchange of words. It took me more than 10 years to get to that stage, but at the very end of my tenure in New York I finally achieved it: I would enter my little spot on Eighth Avenue and, with nothing more than maybe a nod of acknowledgment, my buddy prepared my personal choice: drip coffee with steamed milk.

After a couple of blissful weeks though, things took an unfortunate turn. For some reason he started making the wrong coffee (half and half, two sugars). I knew that if I corrected him, our mystic bond would be forever tarnished. So I swallowed the coffee, instead of my pride.

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brilliant. really appreciate the thought and time you put into these little gems. keep em coming!

I love coffee too, but have you ever gone without it for 48 hours? I get terrible withdrawal symptoms after 36-48 hours off the bean. That can’t be good, can it? Every few years I get off the bean an switch to tea, to prove that I can. (I always get back on upon visiting a country with particularly good espresso products.)

This is an epic yet universal story! I greatly enjoyed both the pictures and the words! I’d love to see the story continue or expand to other areas of enjoyable little parts of life. Is the author no longer a New York resident?

I love this set of graphics and the accompanying descriptions. I, too, thought coffee was vile when I was given a taste of it at a young age. But by the time I was in my late teens, and working on Saturdays at a boring job, I began to cotton to its stimulant powers. At that point, I put the white, milk-substitute powder in it, which I referred to as Cremate just to amuse my morbid sense of humor. Now I drink a very strong coffee (Sumatra!) black, and like it. Adulthood is about compromise and learning to cope.

I love the illustrations but nothing can make up for the copious amounts of the most horrible coffee I have ever had on a mass scale – in my entire 3.5 years in NY it took me 18 months to find a decent cup that did not come from my own kitchen – I started my addiction at 16 it is hard to break such a habit but deli coffee in NY almost made me turn to tea even while seeking a law degree.

I worked for a law firm right out of high school before I started college. I had sworn that I’d never

be a coffee drinker, but when the receptionist quit

it became one of my duties to make the coffee.

So now I do like coffee, but black and strong and

I make my own…none of this fancy, overpriced effete

Awesome chronicle here, Christoph… and I LOVE those graphics! I can relate to your lifelong fixation… Altho’ a native of the Caribbean island that’s home to Blue Mountain Coffee of mixed repute, I never had coffee growing up. In a bohemian phase during university I initiated myself, rabidly imbibing up to ten cups daily over two years — all Instant. Fast forward twenty years and courting my new wife-to-be in San Francisco, I am so humbled by her snobbery towards Instant that I convert to her freshly ground and percolated cups, the morning starter. Today, five years on, I greet each day with a strong French-Pressed cup, followed by two or three Starbucks-brewed cups spaced across the day… always straight (No cream, milk, nor froth. No sweetener. Nada. Noir!) …And yet, I still keep a bottle of Instant on hand. Sealed. One just might need a caffiene hit PRONTO.

As a fellow coffee lover (addict?) I really enjoyed this. Brilliant.

I grew up in a family in which the last thing you did at night was prepare the drip coffee pot for brewing and the first thing you did in the morning was plug it in (this was before such fripperies as timers and the like).

I still enjoy coffee although, despite my Starbucks’ best efforts, I prefer brewed coffee with steamed milk for flavor. No matter — I’ve been known to drink McDonald’s coffee in a pinch.

As they say,(who I’m not sure exactly) “once a junkie, always a junkie”. Started my addiction to coffee in the Army and have been hooked since. I’m glad that the fickle hand of science has now swung back to saying that coffee might actually be good for me, though bad or good I’d still drink it, well mines brewed now so gotta go get some, in parting let me quote Homer Simpson, “MMMMMMM COFFEEEE”

In my cross country big truck driving days coffee was a necessity. The Turnpikes had Starbucks and other good coffee joints. I found that to get the desired “keep awake” effects it was best to hold the sip in my mouth and swish it around.It seems that if you swallowed the drink quickly most of the caffine got destroyed in the digestive system. I believe that the caffine is best absorbed thru the mouth tissues. Hey , great article.

Great article! Coffee truly is the drink of the gods worthy of periodic spotlight and introspection. I also enjoyed CoffeeKid.com’s essay on the site manager’s own discovery of coffee, I highly recommend it.

In Indonesia where I grew up, coffee is always automatically served to guests, Turkish-style with a serving of palm sugar. At least that’s how it was in my household. So imagine a nation of hundreds of millions of dwellers where if you are a coffee guy, even a nod is not required for the serving of (usually good) coffee.

Christoph, your drawings and your sense of humor fill me with nearly as much joy as coffee does. Thanks.

This is great. It truly encapsulates what those of us who are coffee addicts feel about our Morning Joe!

As I sip a cup of black the sun gently rises, yawns and stretches it’s golden arms of day…

I enjoyed reading this article while drinking my morning coffee. I loved the drawings!

I grew up a Mormon boy in the Western U.S. and was proscribed from drinking coffee (which I nevertheless flirted with from time to time). When I left the faith as a 40 year old man, I signalled the event by purchasing my first drip machine and baptizing myself with inexpertly made brew into the culture.

I’m now dating an East Villager and spend a great deal of time in the City. For a time, I was caught up in the wonders and complexities of the New York coffee scene, and dabbled in the variations of lattes, cappuccinos, and drips the provide much of the street level scenting of lower Manhattan, but I’ll always be principally a drip guy. If I’m given to any snobbery yet, it’s in the quality of the bean and the joys of preparing my own grind.

Thank you NY Times, Christoph Niemann, and Stephanie (love of my life, even – though just barely – more than coffee) for this delightful tabletop treatise on a subject I love so much.

Once again, you have produced a beautiful essay.

As a coffee lover/addict I especially appreciate the evening pot of coffee turning to a tar-like taste, and drinking it without flinching.

I will forgive your blueberry bagel phase, but Starbucks? tisk tisk

Lovely work. Thank you.

The funniest book I have ever read on a passion for coffee is Coffee: The Bean of My Existence. It’s a little graphic novel that tells the tale of a coffee addict who kills the person who serves him decaf when he needs the real thing and not only is he acquitted — justifiable homicide — he receives millions of dollars in damages. Totally Hilarious!

This series of drawings is very clever. I think that the story of coffee addiction probably applies to most people.

P.S. Love the napkin choice.

There is no place as NYC where any cup of worst coffee tastes simply the best

What a delightful story…love the drawings! This could be the beginning of a good book. Thanks. Now I’m going to email this to a few appreciative people; but first I’m going to refill my cup :)

Enjoyed a different look at the coffee. I am committed to java, make that good tasting coffee. It’s my favorite beverage for many reasons but it’s ability to make you take a break from the “daily grind” is very powerful in many ways.

Very funny. I too have a love/hate relationship with coffee. I love the ritual of a hot cup of joe in the mornign while I read the paper. My stomach has tried to tell me otherwise but everytime I say I want to switch to tea, coffee comes out of my mouth instead.

I have learned to enjoy coffee ice cream…especially with a little chocolate sauce and toasted almonds…..Yum.

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About the Artist

Christoph Niemann is a visual columnist for The Times Magazine.

His work has appeared on the covers of The New Yorker, Newsweek, Wired and American Illustration. In 2010 he was inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame.

Niemann is the author of many books, among them "The Pet Dragon," which teaches Chinese characters to young readers, "I LEGO N.Y." and "Subway," which is based on "The Boys and the Subway," the first entry of the Abstract City blog. His most recent book, "Abstract City," includes the first 16 chapters of this blog, plus an essay on creativity.

Earlier this year he released Petting Zoo, an interactive and fully animated app for iOS and Android.

The New York Times

New York Is Finally Taking Its Coffee Seriously

March 9, 2010

NEW YORK used to be a second-string city when it came to coffee. No longer.

Over the last two years, more than 40 new cafes and coffee bars have joined a small, dedicated group of establishments where coffee making is treated like an art, or at least a high form of craft.

At places like Bluebird Coffee Shop in the East Village, the espresso is so plush and bright that it tastes sweet on its own.

The elaborate designs in the cappuccino’s foam at Third Rail Coffee in the West Village aren’t just to show off, but are a sign that the barista properly steamed the milk so that it holds its form.

At Abraço in the East Village, you can get drip coffee brewed by the cup, not drawn from an urn.

For years New Yorkers had to look to places like Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland , Ore., or Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco for this kind of quality. Now both companies have opened roasters and coffee bars in New York. Four Barrel Coffee of San Francisco will be roasting here soon.

Meanwhile, some established cafes around the city have made moves toward roasting their own beans. Café Grumpy is already doing it, and Abraço will by the summer.

This means that New Yorkers can now drink coffee that is made from some of the best beans available in the United States , freshly roasted in town.

The difference between a cup of coffee from these new style coffee bars and what was available before is striking.

These shops use only beans that have been roasted in the past 10 days (though some say two weeks is fine), so the flavors are still lively.

The beans are ground to order for each cup. Certain coffee bars have a skyline of grinders: one for espresso, one for decaffeinated espresso, one for brewed coffee. If they offer more than one variety of espresso bean, that gets its own grinder, too.

Milk is steamed to order for each macchiato or latte. A telltale sign is an arsenal of smaller steam pitchers, instead of one big one.

And coffee bars reaching for the highest rung use only manual espresso machines run by baristas who, in the past three years, have been able to attend classes given by the leading roasting companies in the intricacies of these devices. Many chain stores are turning to automatic machines with preset levels for coffee, temperature and timing.

For brewed coffee, there are French press pots, filter cones or machines like the Clover or Bunn’s new Trifecta.

Some of the obsessiveness may get a bit off-putting. Want an espresso to go at Ninth Street Espresso? Forget it. The baristas there believe it should be drunk immediately from a warm ceramic cup. Want a cappuccino made from single-origin beans at Kaffe 1668? Sorry, you’ll be told, but milk would overpower the subtle flavors of the coffee. Wonder why the barista pulled and tossed out two shots of espresso before she served you yours? She was making sure it was perfect, the coffee evenly tamped, the water temperature ideal for the particular beans, the timing just right. (The best baristas will “dial in” throughout the day, tasting the espresso and adjusting the grind and dose.)

Want a double espresso? You’ll have to buy two singles.

Today, most of the chains use about seven grams of ground coffee for a two-ounce shot. Espresso pods are filled with around five grams.

Baristas at the best places in town, like Bluebird Coffee Shop or Joe, tamp down between 19 and 21 grams. Often the espresso is even more concentrated because it’s pulled “short,” with less water, so that the final volume is a thick 1.5 to 2 ounces.

With that much coffee — and care — put into each shot, baristas feel that a larger shot, with more water, would compromise the quality of the espresso.

This awakening has led some unlikely businesses to offer serious, artful drinks. Saturdays Surf, a minimalist surf shop in SoHo, has a vintage la Marzocco machine next to the cash register. At Moomah, a children’s center in TriBeCa, parents can enjoy one of the city’s more artful cappuccinos.

Even restaurants, where coffee has long been an afterthought, are getting in on the act.

Superior coffee, day after day: increasingly it’s the rule in New York, not the exception.

Here are places in New York serving the best coffee. Included are 10 outstanding coffee bars (listed with an asterisk) that not only produce extraordinary coffee at the highest standards, but also do so with consistency, day after day. There are also coffee bars that serve particularly good drip coffee, restaurants with great coffee, coffee bars with nice baked goods and places to buy beans, all of which are noted on a map, here.

The Best Coffee Places in Manhattan and Brooklyn

* ABRAÇO There’s barely room enough for six standing adults, never mind the dozen or more who can crowd in during prime time. And yet in this cramped space the baristas turn out some of the city’s best cappuccinos and drip coffee . There’s a small, exquisite selection of baked goods, including a memorable cookie with cured olives. The owner, Jamie McCormick, will start roasting beans soon in Greenpoint, Brooklyn .

86 East Seventh Street (First Avenue), no telephone, abraconyc.com .

BABA A tasteful little Italian-accented specialty store that doubles as restaurant with a serious coffee setup.

502 Lorimer Street (Powers Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (347) 227-7133, bababrooklyn.com .

BAKERI Pretty and crowded, Bakeri produces an astonishing variety of pastries and breads (there must be elves in the basement) and coffee that is sometimes as good as what’s found at the city’s most serious spots.

150 Wythe Avenue (North Eighth Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 388-8037, bakeribrooklyn.com .

BEANER BAR So small, it’s really a coffee counter. There’s a vivid Mexican theme: chili in the hot chocolate, skeletons on the wall.

Latte art at Third Rail.

Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times

447 Graham Avenue (Richardson Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, no telephone, beanerbar.com .

BIRCH COFFEE With its plywood seating and dark-roast beans, Birch Coffee feels like it belongs in a college town instead of the ground floor of the Gershwin Hotel.

5 East 27th Street, (212) 686-1444, birchcoffee.com .

BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE The sleek Williamsburg location of this San Francisco import has single-origin espresso from a vintage San Marco lever machine, five Japanese slow-drippers that take 12 hours to make iced coffee and other unusual gadgets. All beans are roasted on the premises.

160 Berry Street (North Fifth Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn; (718) 534-5488, bluebottlecoffee.net .

* BLUEBIRD COFFEE SHOP So pleasant, it’s disarming — tiny and flooded with sunlight, it’s easy to sit and linger over one of the pastries baked here daily. But the coffee is exceptional. Katie Duris, one of the country’s most respected baristas, sets a high standard: the espresso is bright and lush, the cortado a sublime balance of coffee and steamed milk.

72 East First Street (First Avenue), East Village, (212) 260-1879, bluebirdcoffeeshop.com .

BONESHAKERS A rambling, rickety, sun-filled cafe with sandwiches, salads , beer and espresso from Gimme! Coffee.

134 Kingsland Avenue (Beadel Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 963-0656, brooklynboneshakers.com .

BREUKELEN COFFEE HOUSE Stumptown coffee and Balthazar pastries during the day, art openings and D.J.s at night.

764A Franklin Avenue (St. Johns Place), Crown Heights, Brooklyn, (718) 789-7070.

BROOKLYN LABEL A cavernous restaurant in a quiet corner of Greenpoint. You can have a shot of espresso standing at the bar.

180 Franklin Street (Java Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 389-2806, brooklynlabel.com .

CAFÉ 474 Overstuffed couches and great beans almost in the shadow of the elevated Fourth Avenue subway station.

474 Fourth Avenue (11th Street), Park Slope, Brooklyn, no telephone.

* CAFÉ GRUMPY Café Grumpy always offered the city’s widest variety of coffees by the cup. Caroline Bell, one of the owners, is still committed to bringing in selections from some of the country’s best roasters. Grumpy recently inaugurated a roaster at its Greenpoint shop. A third location, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is more coffee bar than cafe, and better suited to standing when you drink your flat white. 224 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5511; 383 Seventh Avenue (11th Street), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 499-4404; 193 Meserole Avenue (Diamond Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 349-7623; cafegrumpy.com .

CAFÉ PEDLAR A joint venture by Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo (Frankies Spuntino and Prime Meats) and Duane Sorensen (Stumptown Coffee Roasters), with a Cobble Hill location that’s large, airy and popular with the stroller set, and a Lower East Side space that’s more intimate.

210 Court Street (Warren Street), Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, (718) 855-7129; 17 Clinton Street (East Houston Street), (212) 253-2303, cafepedlar.com .

CAFÉ REGULAR A dark and moody sliver of a space so narrow, all the seating is side-by-side. Dark roast beans from La Colombe Torrefaction.

318 11th Street (Fifth Avenue), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 768-4170.

CAFÉ REGULAR DU NORD The more cheerful sibling of Café Regular. There’s a chandelier, a full-scale reproduction of James Ensor’s “Christ’s Entry into Brussels ” and a few tables on the terrace out front.

158 Berkeley Place (Sixth Avenue), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 783-0673.

CAFFÉ MOCIAS This tiny kosher coffee bar observes Shabbat. Drip coffee is made with beans from PT’s Coffee Roasting Company from Topeka, considered to be one of the country’s best artisanal roasters. Plans are to turn the cafe into a Screme Gelato Bar, though the coffee will stay.

711 Amsterdam Avenue (94th Street), Upper West Side, (347) 533-2800, mocias.com .

CHAMPION COFFEE A sleepy neighborhood spot tucked away in the northernmost end of Greenpoint. Might be the only place in New York to use beans from the notable Seattle roaster Caffé Vita.

1108 Manhattan Avenue (Clay Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 383-5195, championcoffee.net .

CITY GIRL CAFE A cramped room with flea market furniture, it feels like a throwback to a cobbled-together SoHo that existed before the boutiques.

63 Thompson Street (Spring Street), SoHo, (212) 343-0110, citygirlcafeny.com .

CLOVER CAFE AND ART GALLERY There’s a coffee bar pulling shots in the front of this large art gallery on a busy stretch of Atlantic Avenue.

338 Atlantic Avenue (Hoyt Street), Boreum Hill, Brooklyn, (718) 625-2121.

LA COLOMBE TORREFACTION A Philadelphia company known for its darker roasts. It opened a loft-like TriBeCa storefront in 2007 and a more streamlined coffee bar in SoHo in 2009.

319 Church Street (Lispenard Street), TriBeCa, (212) 343-1515; 270 Lafayette Street (Prince Street), SoHo, (212) 625-1717, lacolombe.com .

CULTURE ESPRESSO BAR Culture is part of the Australian coffee diaspora (one owner is from Down Under) and one of the few serious coffee bars in Midtown.

72 West 38th Street (Sixth Avenue), Midtown, (212) 302-0200, cultureespresso.com .

ESPRESSO 77 Child-friendly, small, and crowded, Espresso 77 is on a side street in a busy part of Jackson Heights. There’s beer, wine and Gimme! Coffee.

35-57 77th Street, Jackson Heights, Queens , (718) 424-1077, espresso77.com .

EVERYMAN ESPRESSO It’s little more than a handful of tables and a coffee counter in the lobby of the Classic Stage Company , an Off Broadway theater, but its owner, Sam Penix, is much admired by espresso-heads.

136 East 13th Street (Third Avenue), East Village, (212) 533-0524, everymanespresso.com .

FIVE LEAVES The baristas at this restaurant can hold their own with the city’s leading coffee bars. The affogato is transcendent: two shots of espresso served with vanilla ice cream from the General Greene, it is the best in the city.

Mark Connell, the owner of Bluebird Coffee Shop.

Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times

18 Bedford Avenue (Lorimer Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 383-5345, fiveleavesny.com .

FORT DEFIANCE In a part of Red Hook that feels like a sleepy Maine port, Fort Defiance is part bar, part restaurant and part serious coffee joint with trained baristas. In the morning there’s pour-over coffee made with single-origin beans.

365 Van Brunt Street (Dikeman Street), Red Hook, Brooklyn, (347) 453-6672, fortdefiancebrooklyn.com .

* GIMME! COFFEE Ithaca -based Gimme! Coffee has been counted among the city’s best coffee bars since it arrived in New York in 2003. The baristas balance the espresso with expertly steamed milk for an intense, rich cappuccino. It recently started offering single-origin coffee brewed by the cup.

228 Mott Street (Prince Street), NoLIta, (212) 226-4011; 495 Lorimer Street (Powers Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 388-7771; gimmecoffee.com .

GLASS SHOP A storefront kept attractively raw. There’s a full lunch menu and flat whites — one of the owners is from Australia .

766 Classon Avenue (Sterling Place), Crown Heights, Brookyn, (718) 450-8905, glassshoplocal.com .

GORILLA COFFEESome of the best baristas in the business, working with the best machines. Gorilla Coffee roasts its own beans, and it goes for a flavor profile so dark its almost ashy. Still, this Park Slope coffee bar, a neighborhood favorite, is always busy.

97 Fifth Avenue ( Park Place), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-3244, gorillacoffee.com .

GROUND SUPPORT It has the airy feeling of the art gallery that once occupied the space. Tourists and locals sit at rough wood tables and enjoy well-crafted espresso drinks, single-origin Chemex drip coffee, cold-brew iced coffee and a range of pastries and sandwiches.

399 West Broadway (Spring Street), SoHo, (212) 219-8722.

INDIAN ROAD CAFE & MARKET In a part of Manhattan that feels less like a metropolis than a quiet Hudson Valley hamlet, the macchiato is solid, and a nominal market has a good selection of beans from Counter Culture Coffee.

600 West 218th Street (Indian Road), Inwood, (212) 942-7451, indianroadcafe.com .

IRIS CAFE Hidden in one of the prettiest corners of Brooklyn Heights, Iris Cafe has a simple menu (fresh sticky buns are a must) and a serious coffee bar. The macchiato can be great.

20 Columbia Place (Joralemon Street), Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, (718) 722-7395.

JITTERY JOE’S Based in Athens, Ga., it opened its first New York branch in the gloomy lobby of a fashion business school in Midtown East — it’s a makeshift setting and the beans are dark roast; the baristas are talented.

216 East 45th Street (Second Avenue), (646) 218-7729, jitteryjoes.com .

* JOE Joe reinvented itself last year: it started buying beans from Ecco Caffé, a highly regarded roaster; it retrained its staff; and it streamlined its locations, giving extra space to upgraded coffee gear. You can taste the difference. The macchiato is a work of art, and in the late morning when the crowds die down, some branches offer pour-overs, with single-origin beans. Last year, a Joe opened on the Upper West Side, bringing serious coffee to an underserved neighborhood.

141 Waverly Place (Sixth Avenue), Greenwich Village, (212) 924-6750; 9 East 13th Street (University Place), Greenwich Village, (212) 924-7400; 405 West 23rd Street (Ninth Avenue), Chelsea, (212) 206-0669; 89 East 42nd Street ( Grand Central Terminal ), (212) 661-8580; 514 Columbus Avenue (West 85th Street), Upper West Side, (212) 875-0100; joetheartofcoffee.com .

* KAFFE 1668 In some ways, Kaffe 1668 is a neighborhood cafe; in other ways, it’s an orthodox coffee bar. For New Yorkers on the run, there are lattes in paper cups and jumbo cookies . But for the obsessed, there is drip coffee from a Clover machine, or seasonal single-origin espresso, which the baristas refuse to serve in a cappuccino because the milk would mask the flavor.

275 Greenwich Street (Warren Street), TriBeCa, (212) 693-3750, kaffe1668.com .

KNAVE Le Parker Meridien converted a soaring, vaulted corridor into one of the most ceremonious settings in New York for a cup of coffee. And at $6 for a cappuccino, it’s one of the most expensive cups as well — though the anise-scented cookie that comes with every cup takes away some of the sting.

118 West 57th Street (Le Parker Meridien Hotel), (212) 708-7392, parkermeridien.com/eat5.php .

MAIALINO This Roman-style restaurant turns coffee into a ritual: during the morning, a pour-over drip bar is set up in a sunny area up front.

In the Gramercy Park Hotel, 2 Lexington Avenue (East 21st Street), Gramercy Park, (212) 777-2410, maialinonyc.com .

MARLOW & SONS During the day, it acts like a cafe, with a full-service coffee bar that opens at 8 a.m. A selection of whole beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters is available at Marlow & Daughters, just down the street.

81 Broadway (Berry Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 384-1441, marlowandsons.com .

MCNALLY JACKSON BOOKS This bookstore recently revamped its café, bringing in beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Drinks like the espresso and macchiato are well crafted; larger drinks like the latte are unfocused.

52 Prince Street (Mulberry Street), NoLIta, (212) 274-1160, mcnallyjackson.com .

MILK BAR Cheerful and family friendly, with a full cafe menu. One of the owners is Australian, which means there’s a flat white on the menu and cocoa powder on the cappuccino.

620 Vanderbilt Avenue (Prospect Place), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0844, milkbarbrooklyn.com .

MOOMAH CAFÉ An arts and crafts center for stylish TriBeCa children where the coffee is as good as at any of the hip spots in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Stroller parking out front.

161 Hudson Street (Laight Street), TriBeCa, (212) 226-0345, moomah.com .

THE NATIONAL At night, it is an intimate restaurant; by day, it’s a coffee bar with good cappuccinos and a small selection of pastries baked in house.

8 Rivington Street (the Bowery), Lower East Side (212) 777-2177.

* NINTH STREET ESPRESSO Each Ninth Street Espresso feels different, and yet the harried shoppers at the Chelsea Market, the parents with strollers across from Tompkins Square Park and the laptop crowd at the original Ninth Street location all enjoy uniformly excellent coffee. Last spring, the owner, Ken Nye, did the next best thing to roasting his own beans by creating the Alphabet City Blend with Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea . It’s good in a cappuccino, great in a macchiato and exquisite in an espresso — which is only available to stay.

700 East Ninth Street (Avenue C), East Village, (212) 358-9225; 341 East 10th Street (Avenue B), East Village, (212) 777-3508; in the Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Avenue (West 15 Street), (212) 228-2930; ninthstreetespresso.com .

The coffee bar at Saturdays Surf in SoHo.

Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times

ORTINE A rambling cafe with creaky chairs and mismatched vintage cups and saucers. A small selection of whole beans from Intelligentsia Coffee and tea is available.

622 Washington Avenue (Pacific Street), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, (718) 622-0026, ortine.com .

OSLO COFFEE COMPANY A Williamsburg standby, Oslo Coffee Company started roasting its own beans in 2008. There’s a lever-operated espresso machine at the Bedford Avenue location, one of the few found in the city.

133 Roebling Street (North Fourth Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 782-0332; 328 Bedford Avenue (South Second Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 782-0332, oslocoffee.com .

OST CAFE Excellent coffee, including a fine cappuccino. Most people here seem to nurse their drinks, a tacit rent for the comfy chairs and WiFi.

441 East 12th Street (Avenue A), (212) 477-5600, ostcafenyc.com .

PRIME MEATS The restaurant still isn’t fully open, but its the restaurant’s coffee bar is running at full steam, with beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters and gorgeous German-accented pastries baked downstairs. It turns out a pretzel with butter and sea salt that goes nicely with a macchiato.

465 Court Street (Luquer Street), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, (718) 254-0327, frankspm.com .

RBC NYC Slick and ambitious, RBC is best known for having New York’s only Slayer, a tricked-out variable pressure espresso machine made in Seattle. It should be known for its Vietnamese coffee, a short espresso-fueled version of the classic mix of coffee and condensed milk.

71 Worth Street (Church Street), TriBeCa, (212) 226-1111, rbcnyc.com .

ROOTS & VINES A wine bar and sandwich shop with serious coffee. It’s in a part of the Lower East Side that feels a world away from the trendy bustle of Clinton Street.

409 Grand Street (Clinton Street), Lower East Side, (212) 260-2363, rootsandvinesnyc.com .

ROOTS CAFEIt feels like a coffeehouse from the 1990s, with bordello-red walls and bookcases filled with paperbacks. There’s a good selection of whole beans.

639A Fifth Avenue (18th Street), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (205) 246-2149, rootscafebrooklyn.com .

SATURDAYS SURF If you’re going to open an upscale surf shop in SoHo, why not turn the front into a coffee bar? The baristas are so good you don’t mind the paper cups — which are easier to carry to the deck in back anyway.

31 Crosby Street (Grand Street), SoHo, (212) 966-7875.

SECOND STOP CAFE Decorated with furniture that looks as if it was just pulled down out of the attic. It’s as much a cafe as a coffee bar, where patrons angle for a prime seat and spend the day working on their laptops.

524 Lorimer Street (Ainslie Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 486-6850.

SIT & WONDER A large and dimly lighted room that feels a little like a bar, the kind where you get beer. It’s serious about coffee, with a rotating selection of serious origin espressos.

688 Washington Avenue (St. Marks Avenue), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, (718) 622-0299.

THE SMILE This stylish, dimly lighted basement restaurant has a vintage Faema from 1963 (not the reissue), regarded as the first modern espresso machine. But even if you don’t care about the mechanics you can appreciate the aesthetics — the dials look as if they’re from a Fiat Spider. And everybody can appreciate the plummy espressos.

26 Bond Street (the Bowery), NoHo, (646) 329-5836, thesmilenyc.com .

SOUTHSIDE COFFEE This friendly, bare-bones coffee bar opened in 2009 and is already a neighborhood fixture. The chairs out front fill up when the weather is nice.

652 Sixth Avenue (19th Street), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (347) 599-0887.

* STUMPTOWN COFFEE ROASTERS With its travertine floors, walnut bar and natty staff, this is a striking setting for a cappuccino. The drink is up to the surroundings. Cold-brewed iced coffee tastes as bright and fruity as berries steeped in water, while a shot of espresso is so sweet and plush you’ll wish it lasted longer. Starting at $3.70, the mocha, made with Mast Brothers Chocolate, is one of New York’s most reasonably priced luxuries.

18 West 29th Street (Broadway), no telephone, stumptowncoffee.com .

SWEET LEAF This wedge of a coffee bar sits at a traffic-clogged crossroads in Long Island City, though once you’re inside the airy room, it feels like a sanctuary. The baristas know coffee, and there’s an excellent selection of whole beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Pastries are baked fresh all day.

10-93 Jackson Avenue (49th Avenue), Long Island City, Queens, (917) 832-6726, sweetleaflic.com .

THINK COFFEE All three Think Coffee locations are large and well run. The espresso is a custom Italian-style dark blend from Porto Rico Importing. More interesting are the brewed-to-order coffees made with beans from different artisanal roasters.

248 Mercer Street (West Fourth Street), Greenwich Village, (212) 533-3366; 1 Bleecker Street (the Bowery), NoHo, (212) 228-6226; 123 Fourth Avenue (East 12th Street), Greenwich Village, (212) -614-6644, thinkcoffeenyc.com .

* THIRD RAIL COFFEE Third Rail Coffee punches above its weight. It’s one of the city’s smallest coffee bars, and its most focused. The owners, Humberto Ricardo and Rita McCaffrey, offer at least two different espresso blends (each needs its own grinder, a commitment of capital and counter space), single-origin coffee in a Chemex and a full range of espresso drinks. The cortado is memorable.

240 Sullivan Street (West Third Street), Greenwich Village, no telephone, thirdrailcoffee.com .

VAN LEEUWEN ARTISAN ICE CREAM Last year Panda and Roo, two of the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream trucks, were outfitted with Kees van der Westen espresso machines, and what they make is about as good as you’ll get in a paper cup. Now they have a permanent location in Greenpoint, too.

632 Manhattan Avenue (Nassau Avenue), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 701-1630; Panda truck (@VLAIC), Fifth Avenue and 15th Street, Flatiron district, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Roo truck (@VLAIC), Sixth Avenue and West 22nd Street, Chelsea, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., and at Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., vanleeuwenicecream.com .

* VARIETY COFFEE AND TEA Both locations of Variety Coffee and Tea look a little ramshackle — mismatched furniture, stacks of fliers by the door — but the baristas are professionals, and serve coffee with an endearing formality more in keeping with Milan and Rome than Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Just as important, the staff is highly skilled, and they serve as artful a cappuccino as you’ll find in New York.

368 Graham Avenue (Conselyea Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (347) 599-2351; 145 Driggs Avenue (Russell Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (347) 689-3790, varietynyc.com .

VILLAGE TART The menu is still a work in progress, but the coffee is serious. Espresso drinks are made with Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea and guest coffees from different artisanal roasters brewed-to-order either on a French press or in a Clever Coffee Dripper. Some baristas are skilled, but some could use more training.

86 Kenmare Street (Mulberry Street), NoLIta, (212) 226-4980, villagetart.com

An interactive map of the coffee bar and cafe listings can be found here.

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Your Coffee Is From Where? California?

GOLETA, Calif. — There is a new crop growing in Southern California’s famous avocado groves — coffee.

About two dozen farms between San Diego and here, just outside Santa Barbara, are nurturing coffee bushes under the canopies of old avocado trees, in what may be the first serious effort in the United States to commercialize coffee grown outside Hawaii, home of Kona coffees.

“When people hear I’m growing coffee, they typically make a face and say something like, ‘Well, how good can coffee grown in California be?’” said Jay Ruskey, the owner of Good Land Organics, who is widely regarded as the father of the state’s nascent coffee business.

The farmers are hoping to capitalize on a variety of changing factors abroad and here, including the aging of California’s avocado trees, which are producing less fruit.

The avocado growers face major disruptions in their business, including increased competition from Mexican imports, less access to water and rising real estate prices, all of which are forcing them to rethink that crop. But thanks to Mr. Ruskey, they have realized that their sprawling avocado trees provide perfect shade for high-quality coffee bushes.

One variety of Mr. Ruskey’s beans, Pacamara, emits an earthy scent like the smell of California dirt and new plants in spring. His Geisha beans have a light and fruity flavor with low acidity. Bourbon finishes with a chocolate taste.

As growers like him consider the move into growing coffee beans, they are eyeing machinery that can harvest the beans, which would reduce labor costs, as well as a contraption called a demucilager that mechanically strips coffee berry skin and pulp off the beans, rather than using water to clean them.

And they see more and more American consumers willing to spend $8 or $12 for a cup of joe, which would offset their high costs of production.

At the same time, climate change threatens to damage the coffee crop in the tropical highlands that produce nearly all the world’s beans, potentially opening up a lucrative opportunity in the $20 billion export market for beans. Last year, some small Brazilian coffee farmers lost 90 percent of their crop to drought and heat, and similar conditions in Sumatra in western Indonesia made it uneconomical for many farmers there to harvest what little crop they had.

Mr. Ruskey has grown coffee on his farm for more than a decade, but it is only over the last three or four years, as his coffee started winning high scores in taste tests, that other farmers have begun to try their hands at growing it. Still, Doug Welsh, roastmaster at Peet’s, notes that the number of coffee bushes growing in California today is 30 times what it was 13 years ago when Mr. Ruskey started, or about 14,000 plants.

“We probably roast more coffee at Peet’s in one day than is being produced on all the farms growing coffee here, but I’m looking at this as a cup half full,” Mr. Welsh said. “It’s early days, but I think it could at least get to be as big as the Hawaiian coffee business.”

(There are roughly 800 coffee farms in the Hawaiian Islands producing as much as nine million pounds of unroasted beans a year; California produces only hundreds of pounds. Globally, 12 billion pounds of coffee are consumed each year.)

These growers aim to appeal to the premium coffee market. More than half the adult coffee drinkers in America reported drinking a specialty coffee daily, according to the National Coffee Association, or roughly twice as many as in 2010.

“People are shifting away from the way my grandparents drank coffee, which was at breakfast and made from whatever coffee was on sale — it was simply fuel,” said Peter Giuliano, chief research officer at the Specialty Coffee Association. “They’re willing to pay for something unusual.”

A pound of dried green specialty coffee beans can sell for as much as $120 in today’s market, according to Andy Mullins, a retired technology executive who has planted coffee on his property east of Santa Barbara. “You should be able to produce a pound for under $30, which is a superb profit margin,” Mr. Mullins said. “The only places that see better margins than that are software companies.”

Mr. Mullins is not a coffee drinker, but he caught the bug after visiting Mr. Ruskey’s farm, which cascades down a mountainside some 650 feet above the Pacific Ocean. Dragon fruit trees and finger lime bushes are interspersed among cherimoya and avocado trees, and each fruit crop is enlisted to help others grow. The avocado trees are the workhorses, acting as trellises for passion fruit vines and providing shade for the coffee bushes.

His profits from growing those unusual crops has helped persuade other farmers to take on the risk and expense of growing coffee. It can take as many as four years for coffee plants to get established, said Mark Gaskell, a farm adviser in the University of California system, meaning a grower must make a significant upfront investment before seeing any return.

In addition, coffee is labor-intensive. Many of the coffee growers here are looking to Brazil, where coffee harvesting machines have replaced the people who picked and processed coffee, for ideas about how to reduce labor costs.

“The way they do it there would remind you of how cotton or almonds are harvested, highly mechanized and technical,” Mr. Welsh said, though he noted that such machinery tends to operate on large, flat spaces that are very different from coastal California’s mountainous terrain.

Many California avocado groves are aging, confronting their owners with a variety of challenges — and coffee offers one sort of transition.

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Avocado trees were popular because they are easy to grow, requiring water, a little fertilizer and almost no maintenance. But water is now a more expensive resource, and because avocado trees are traditionally not pruned, older trees have dense foliage that discourages fruiting.

That was the problem Mr. Mullins faced when he retired to a home in the Santa Barbara area. “The home we purchased came with four acres of avocado trees, and we thought, Hey, that could be an interesting thing to get involved with,” he said.

But he soon discovered that his avocado trees were 30 years old and not so productive. His options were to cut them back severely to regenerate growth, replace them or prune them, each of which would require significant expense and put the grove out of production for at least two years.

So Mr. Mullins began looking into what’s known as high-density planting, and that led him to Mr. Ruskey, who is widely known among such growers. Good Land Organics looks more like a jungle than the cherimoya grove it was when Mr. Ruskey’s family bought the property 27 years ago.

He has planted cactuses that produce dragon fruit and avocado trees among the cherimoyas, and everything is knitted together with passion fruit vines. Their mingled roots help preserve soil, and their foliage creates a shade that helps conserve water while providing just the right amount of dappled sunshine for coffee bushes.

So after spending some time at Good Land, Mr. Mullins and his wife, Linda, planted coffee in their avocado grove. They are growing Geisha, a Panamanian varietal that produces some of the world’s most expensive coffee beans, and Caturra, a Colombian coffee that is the workhorse of the specialty coffee business.

Willem Boot, a consultant to the coffee industry, said that in many ways, the climate along California’s southern coast was ideal for coffee. “You have colder nights and warmer days pretty consistently, and the temperature rarely gets close to freezing,” Mr. Boot said.

Such weather patterns allow coffee berries to mature slowly, which is the key to producing high-quality coffee. “Some of Jay’s coffees are truly excellent and can succeed in the specialty market,” he said. The farm’s Typica, a centuries-old Arabica variety, “is really great.”

In 2015, Mr. Ruskey took some of his exotic fruits and coffee berries to Re:co, the coffee industry equivalent of TED conferences. “It put coffee in the context of fruit,” Mr. Giuliano said. “Very few people in the world get to taste a coffee berry,” he said, but when they do, it’s easy to understand what makes the seeds inside, which become coffee beans, special.

A year earlier, Coffee Review, a consumer publication, had given Good Land’s Caturra coffee a score of 91 out of 100, and depending on the roast, brew and time of harvest, the farm’s coffees have scored from the mid-80s to the low 90s on other quality tests.

“There’s no question that Jay has proved good coffee can be grown in California,” Mr. Giuliano said.

Jason Mraz, a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter known for his hit “The Remedy,” expects to produce his first significant coffee crop in about two years. “I started my career in a coffee house, and I love the coffee culture,” Mr. Mraz said. “I knew right away that California coffee could be special.”

So two years ago, he and his farm crew planted some 2,500 coffee bushes among the avocado groves on the 1,700 acres he farms near San Diego. Each plant’s roots had to be caged to protect them from gophers. The bushes were caged above ground, too, and then wrapped to insulate and protect their leaves — just planting them took three months.

Today, Mr. Mraz said, the bushes are waist high and producing a few coffee berries. Only a handful were lost, mostly to gophers, coyotes and wind.

He gets a variety of reactions when he tells people about his coffee venture, he said.

“In the 1960s, people didn’t think you could grow wine grapes in California, either,” Mr. Mraz said. “I like to let the coffee deniers I meet here know that not only is coffee growing well in California, it also has its own flavor profile — and right now, it’s one of the rarest coffees in the world.”

An earlier version of a picture caption with this article misspelled the surname of the coffee roaster at Good Land Organics. She is Lindsey Mesta, not Nesta.

A version of this article appears in print on May 27, 2017, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Coffee From California (Yes, Really). Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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31 Outstanding Coffee Shops in New York City

Where to drink coffee in New York City

Sweatshop Photo: Sweatshop

While New York is full of great coffee, the sea of cafes can be hard to navigate. Here to help is a freshly updated guide to New York's coffee shops. This map shares where to find the brightest espresso, the best-made cappuccino, or just a really good drip coffee. Don't expect to find a list of all the coffee chains on here.

Note: Restaurants on this map are listed based on geography, south to north through Manhattan, and north to south through Brooklyn. This is an updated version of a map originally written in 2015.

1 Black Fox Coffee Co.

Here's what you should know about Black Fox on Pine Street: The shop has best bean selection day to day of any shop in the city. As a result, it's packing in downtown workers looking for a coffee fix and above-average coffee shop food, like kale and farro salad with pesto, a roast chicken and avocado sandwich, and a smoked salmon bagel.

New York, NY 10005

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2 Voyager Espresso

Named for the Voyager spacecraft, this shop goes for the sci-fi vibe with beakers and scientific items as part of the experience here. Coffee fans take note of the offbeat featured roaster, often one not based in the U.S. For eating, there’s fancy toasts like avocado and one topped with Nutella.

New York, NY 10038

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3 Everyman Espresso

The West Broadway location is the star of the three locations. The move here is to get one of the signature drinks like the panacea or espresso old-fashioned.

Photo: Everyman Espresso

New York, NY 10013

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4 Blue Bottle Coffee

There are many locations of Blue Bottle in the city, but this one is an oasis in the neighborhood for pour-overs and cold brew.

Photo: Blue Bottle

Lower East Side, NY 10002

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5 Third Rail Coffee

A small and rustic-chic venue that's packed into the evening with NYU students, this is a go-to spot for a coffee before a movie at the IFC Center. A menu of classics is complemented by Doughnut Plant doughnuts and numerous other baked goods. Just keep in mind it's cash only.

Photo: Third Rail Coffee

New York, NY 10012

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Even though what had been a tiny shop has grown larger in an across-the-street move, Abraco remains a destination for quality coffee and the baked goods. AN espresso is especially fantastic when owner Jamie McCormick pours. Take note of the tunes, start-to-finish vinyl records.

New York, NY 10003

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7 Hi-Collar

“Choose your bean” among several on the menu. And consider the array of different brewing methods.The experience is a draw as much as anything here.

New York, NY 10003

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Look for a Vancouver vibe from this Canadian native, Claire Chan has opened a destination for a fine cortado and a single-origin pour-over. The general store slash coffee shop with a light menu includes bruleed grapefruit and baked egg toast.

New York, NY 10014

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9 Toby's Estate Coffee

The third addition to the Toby's Estate family in NYC, and also the most comprehensive. The large space is outfitted with all sorts of brewing devices, and the menu includes a range of single-origin coffees. It's also one of the best bets for the serious coffee nerd because it offers regular classes on everything from latte art to coffee tasting. [Facebook]

New York, NY 10014

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10 Intelligentsia Coffee

This Chicago import is one of the best options in a neighborhood lacking in good coffee. Drinks come beautifully prepared and is served in standout glassware. Plus there are some prepared salads and pre-packaged sandwiches for the lunch crowds, along with pastries from Bien Cuit and Mah Ze Dahr.

Photo: High Line Hotel

New York, NY 10011

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11 Stumptown Coffee Roasters

The Ace Hotel staff keeps the ever present line moving at a good clip. The cappuccino is especially stellar: perfect milk to espresso ratio, and milk temperature. It's ground zero for nitro in the city.

New York, NY 10001

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12 Culture Espresso

A solid cortado and drip coffee anchor the menu of this stylish coffee bar near Bryant Park. It’s a much stronger choice for coffee than the several chain stores closer to the park and it serves a superb chocolate chip cookie.

New York, NY 10018

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13 Little Collins

The Aussies running this Midtown shop have provided a getaway for a neighborhood otherwise filled with Starbucks and Le Pains. Alongside flat whites and pour overs the shop serves sandwiches, salads, and a behemoth of toasted banana bread with ricotta, berries, honey, and almond brittle. Get the schnitzel sandwich or the always-solid avocado smash.

New York, NY 10022

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Billing itself as a “creative bakery,” this shop can feel a little too much like a Panera bakery, with Oasis playing on the speakers and a too-corporate vibe. The staff is still figuring out the menu somewhat, but all is forgiven with an espresso dispensed from the stylish Modbar sheer aluminum fittings. The coffee beans are sourced from Brooklyn’s Nobletree, which is a roaster that also oversees the growing of beans from its own fields in Brazil. The end result at Padoca is notably good. And there is free Wifi available.

New York, NY 10065

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15 Flora Coffee

Just before Flora Bar is Flora Coffee, a lower-key extension of the UES stunner serving coffee, pastries, and takeaway sandwiches. It’s smaller than Flora’s main dining room, but there’s plenty of room for an expert cup of coffee, provided by Counter Culture. It’s also where pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz is selling out of her can’t-be-missed sticky buns.

New York, NY 10021

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16 Box Kite

The digs at the UWS location of Box Kite are small, but the team here is big on serving some of the best coffee to the neighborhood. Arrive during off-peak times since it's tough to land a seat.The service here is fantastic, with a team that is helpful and gracious.

New York, NY 10023

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17 Petite Shell

This corner cafe is flooded with light from the picture windows, and redolent with the rich perfumes of the dulce de leche mini-croissants, which are toasted to order. Those who want to leave the spacious seating will find to-go growlers of iced coffee available in two sizes. Petite Shell is also kosher.

New York, NY 10028

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18 Birch Coffee

This cafe has a high energy-yet-relaxed vibe with accompanying tunes. Birch usually has a formidable waiting line of young people from the office spaces nearby despite that prices are typically 25 cents higher across the board than elsewhere. The standout offering here is the Kyoto drip iced coffee, which is tremendous, if also notably expensive at $4 for a small plastic cup. The elaborate glass beaker needed for the production of the Kyoto stands as a frontispiece to the brewing counter. Wine and beer are available as well.

New York, NY 10025

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19 The Queens Kickshaw

This Astoria favorite is a full-blown cafe, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as beer and wine. But it still takes its coffee very seriously. Besides well-made espresso drinks, Queens Kickshaw offers four different pour overs made from different beans, and offers growlers of cold brew to-go.

Photo: The Queens Kickshaw

Astoria, NY 11103

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20 Sweetleaf

This is the original location for this growing coffee chain. Besides the standard lineup of high quality espresso drinks, there are two special iced coffee drinks here, both a far cry from the saccharine concoctions served at the chains. There’s the Rocket Fuel, cold brew spiked with chicory, maple syrup, and milk, and the Voodoo Child, a Vietnamese-style iced coffee made with sweetened condensed milk. Sweetleaf is also a great place to hang out for a while. There’s free Wifi up front, and a record room, with a turntable and an extensive vinyl collection in the back.

Queens, NY 11101

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21 BÚÐIN NYC

Mild Ikea vibes at this coffee shop meets modern design store in the heart of Greenpoint. It’s a lovely and spacious space, anchored by a coffee counter surrounded by stools where visitors can sit with their laptop or chat up the baristas. It specializes in Scandinavian roasted coffee, which are typically very light, and imports beans from cult Nordic roasters like Tim Wendelboe. Budin is open until 11:00 p.m. every day,and adds a dinner menu and wine and beer to the offerings.

Brooklyn, NY 11222

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22 Cafe Grumpy

The original Grumpy in Greenpoint is a great neighborhood cafe that takes its coffee seriously. The beans are roasted right next door, the espresso drinks are top quality, and there's plenty of space to sit.

Brooklyn, NY 11222

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23 Devoción

This sprawling roastery and cafe is an outpost of a coffee roaster in Bogota, Colombia. All its raw beans arrive by FedEx straight from Colombia just 10 days after being picked, which makes for some of the freshest coffee around. The space itself is big and open, with a plant-covered wall, a huge skylight, and plenty of seating.

Brooklyn, NY 11249

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24 Sweatshop

Very real Australian vibes and very strong coffee have made Sweatshop a favorite for Williamsburg and its newfound locals. It’s not terribly big, so it’s mostly visitors grab takeaway, but there is a nice space outside for sitting in the sun. The music here relies heavy on Chet Fake and Tame Impala. Also, Sweatshop serves Vegemite.

Brooklyn, NY 11211

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25 Marlow & Sons

Just ahead of the lively dining room at this Williamsburg favorite is a sunny cafe in the front serving excellent pastries and some of the city’s best coffee. On any given day visitors will find the pastry counter filled with options like almond croissants, blueberry muffins, and rhubarb scones. When it’s nice out, Marlow & Sons will open up the French doors, creating an extension of its lovely sidewalk patio.

Brooklyn, NY 11249

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26 Supercrown Coffee Roasters

The minimalist Supercrown roastery imports beans from Indonesia to Ethiopia. Consider the Laura Palmer drink of coffee with lemonade, as well as milkshakes and soft serve.

Photo: Supercrown Coffee Roasters

Brooklyn, NY 11237

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27 Variety Coffee Roasters

The Bushwick outpost of Variety Coffee is a popular all-day hang for freelancers and a whole bunch of other people on laptops. The corner shop is big and beautiful, so folks at tables are never quite on top of one another. Baristas are not terribly chatty, but the bathroom is always clean and it’s never terribly loud. If it’s nice out, get the cold brew.

Brooklyn, NY 11237

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A bright, minimalist space with touches of color, Dweebs feels like having coffee or tea inside a small art gallery. The team here is serving an ethos, too, that amazing coffee doesn’t need to come with attitude. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly, and in fact serving some very strong coffee. If looking for a distraction, the seats at the window and the outdoor patio are perfect for people watching.

Brooklyn, NY 11237

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29 Kos Kaffe Roasting House

Kos is a true local favorite, providing a bright space for either sitting for hours on a laptop, dropping in for a pastry, or have a quiet lunch. Fairly priced coffees ($3.25 for a latte), are available alongside breakfast items like a feta and bacon frittata, a biscuit breakfast sandwich, and buckwheat pancakes. Bonus: The breakfast and lunch menus are both available from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Brooklyn, NY 11215

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30 Roots Café

Cash-only Roots Cafe is a long and narrow space, where both sides are lined with coffee shop-goers with a book or laptop. Breakfast and lunch are served all day which means a burrito egg and cheese is available until 5:00 p.m. daily. Roots also has an expansive tea list that includes earl grey, passionfruit, African rooibos, yerba mate, and mint. A small but lovely outdoor patio is open when it’s nice out, and they regularly host poetry nights.

Brooklyn, NY 11215

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31 Southside Coffee

The espresso here comes from Alchemy, and George Howell Coffee provides a variety of single origin brew coffees, but corner coffee shop is loved just as much for its food menu as it is for its coffee. The South Slope coffee shop also serves an impressive breakfast hoagie that sandwiches eggs, salami, mozzarella, aioli, pepper relish, arugula, and parmesan. During lunch, there are more sandwiches like a turkey club and an Italian combo. Note: Southside is no longer cash-only.

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@GregCrawford @HayMarg Happy holidays! https://t.co/8YpF8Jhr8x

At Gregorys, we believe that respect for our coffee and respect for our customers go hand in hand. So we take freshly roasted beans grown by skilled, dedicated farmers all over the world and prepare them for you in a way that will fit your needs without sacrificing the quality of the coffee. Grab one of delicious blends and run. Watch us pull you a shot of our one-of-a-kind espresso, with or without some expertly steamed and poured milk. Sit down with one of our single origin coffees and appreciate how its complex flavor changes as it cools. Whatever pace you’re going at, our friendly and skilled baristas will make sure that both your coffee and your experience are absolutely wonderful.

Locations

Gimme espresso bars are found in New York City and Upstate New York. We served our first shot of “world-class neighborhood coffee to go” in 2000 at our Cayuga Street location. Since then, we've opened a few small cafes, usually favoring worn spaces that call for a little revitalization. Each place feels “like a Gimme” while showing its own local style. We've been amazed and inspired by how neighborhoods come alive and people come together when there's a new gathering place on the block.

NEW YORK CITY

Manhattan, Mott Street

228 Mott St, Manhattan, NY (Map & Directions)
212-226-4011
Mon-Fri: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sat-Sun: 8:00 am - 7:00 pm

Opened in 2008, between Prince and Spring in Nolita (6 train to Spring St)

Brooklyn, Roebling Street

107 Roebling St, Brooklyn, NY (Map & Directions)
718-388-4595
Mon-Fri: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sat-Sun: 8:00 am - 7:00 pm

Opened in 2011, Roebling & N 6th St (L train to Bedford Ave)

Brooklyn, Lorimer Street

495 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY (Map & Directions)
718-388-7771
Open daily: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm

Opened in 2003, between Powers and Grand in Williamsburg (L train to Lorimer)

UPSTATE NEW YORK

Cayuga Street

430 N Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY (Map & Directions)
607-277-8393
Open daily: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm

Opened in 2000, the original Gimme! Coffee

State Street

506 MLK Jr / W State St, Ithaca, NY (Map & Directions)
607-272-8564
Open Daily: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm

Opened in 2001, the original Gimme roastery and cupping lab

7 E Main St, Trumansburg, NY (Map & Directions)
607-387-3960
Open Daily: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm

Opened in 2002, on Main Street USA, loosely speaking

CORNELL UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

Gates Hall, Cornell University

Bill and Melinda Gates Hall, Campus Rd Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
(607) 227-5391
Summer Hours: Mon-Fri: 8:00 am - 3:00 pm

Our first espresso bar on Cornell Campus opened August 2014

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Currently on sabbatical
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Operated 2005-2007, at Cornell University during a campus construction project

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Crowds gather as Obama goes on New York coffee run

By Julia Manchester, CNN

Updated 1725 GMT (0125 HKT) February 25, 2017

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

JUST WATCHED

Crowds flock to Obama in NYC

MUST WATCH

Story highlights

Obama surprised New Yorkers while grabbing coffee
Hundreds gathered to get a glimpse of the 44th President

(CNN) Hundreds of cheering onlookers got a glimpse of former President Barack Obama Friday in New York City as he left a Fifth Avenue building after grabbing coffee.

Obama casually getting some coffee outside of the DoSomething office. pic.twitter.com/bWqfPjc0Ix

Barack Obama being greeted by a crowd while getting coffee as someone yells "SPEECH" just made my entire day 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/jbVUS81GQ8

It's 65 degrees and super sunny in NYC and Obama is here drinking iced coffee and waving to people.

Top 10 Coffee Shops in New York City

In the past decade, along with many other cities around the world, New York City has undergone a new wave of coffee culture. While well-known American chains can now be found across the globe, New York City’s coffee culture has moved away from corporate giants and towards an emphasis on specialty coffee. Specialty coffee means coffee that is made from usually fair trade and organic beans that are freshly ground for each individual cup of coffee. This so-called third wave coffee movement has made way for small, cozy neighborhood cafes where baristas know customers by name.

Not only do these cafes serve a mean cup of coffee, they also offer people a quiet workspace, great reading spot or a hang out for friends (very much like the cast of Friends always did in Central Perk). In the last couple of years, specialty coffee shops have sprung up all over the city, and there are literally too many to choose from. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of our top 10 coffee shops in New York City, focusing on specialty cafes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We hope it’ll be of use when you visit the city!

Café Grumpy is the spot to go for a fresh brewed cup of coffee. The café started out as just one coffee shop on Meserole Avenue & Diamond Street in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, but now has four locations in the city. Meanwhile, the Greenpoint shop has become very popular due to it appearing on the television series Girls. In the show, creator Lena Dunham’s character Hannah works in a Greenpoint coffee shop, and Café Grumpy is used for the exterior. If you’re a fan of Girls, you should definitely head to the Greenpoint location. If you prefer a quieter spot, the Café Grumpy on 20th Street & 7th Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan has a lovely and tranquil garden space.

Check out Live Like a Local in Chelsea for more information about Café Grumpy and the surrounding neighborhood!

2. Brooklyn Roasting Company

Another Brooklyn staple, the Brooklyn Roasting Company offers a fantastic selection of fair trade and organic coffees. The first location of the café is located in an old warehouse just a block away from the East River and the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO. The spacious café is furnished with recycled and re-purposed furniture, making it delightful to spend some time inside with a delicious cup of coffee. You’ll also find a wonderful park between the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge just two blocks from the café, so on a hot day you can take your (iced) coffee to go and enjoy it in the park with an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. The second location of the Brooklyn Roasting Company can be found on Flushing Avenue & Washington Avenue, and is another wonderful spacious café that serves equally great coffee!

Just like the USA’s most famous coffee export concept Starbucks, La Colombe has its roots in Seattle. Founders Todd Carmichael and French native Jean Philippe Iberti met here in college, and years later founded La Colombe coffee. The brand has three locations in Manhattan: one on Church Street (Tribeca) and two on Lafayette street (SoHo & NoHo). The SoHo location on Lafayette & Prince Street brews truly excellent cappuccinos and espressos. The coffee shop also offers some delicious pastries such as an almond croissant to accompany your coffee.

Blue Bottle originally hails from California, but now boasts five locations in New York City. Together they serve some of the freshest coffee you can get in the Big Apple. Their secret? They use a pour-over method to brew coffee per individual cup. Blue Bottle’s flagship coffee shop is in Williamsburg on Berry Street & 5th Street. The Chelsea location on 16th Street & 10th Avenue is also great, as it’s right at the High Line! The High Line is a fantastic elevated park that was built on an old railroad. This green space makes for a great walk and offers splendid views of Midtown Manhattan skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building. Stop at Blue Bottle halfway along the High Line for a nice cup of coffee or espresso. On a hot day, the New Orleans iced coffee is absolute bliss.

The Chipped Cup on 149th Street & Broadway in Hamilton Heights is an authentic neighborhood espresso bar. Order a tasty latte with regular, soy or almond milk and be sure to try one of the fresh pastries. The Chipped Cup has free Wi-Fi and is a great place to sit down with a laptop and get some work done. In summertime, the back garden patio is the place to go to have a cup of coffee with friends.

Think is big on fair trade coffee, and makes the effort to travel to the source of their coffee to build a relationship with individual farmers. As a result, they can tell you exactly where each individual brand of coffee has come from! There are six Think locations in Manhattan, and each offers something different. The NoHo location on Bleecker Street & Bowery has a cozy atmosphere and plenty of spots to sit down. Both the Americano and the hot chocolate are absolutely delicious. There’s also a Think coffee shop inside the NYU bookstore on Mercer Street & 3rd Street. This is a popular student hangout with a nice atmosphere, and also a great place to pick up some books or NYU merchandise.

Gorilla Coffee has been a neighborhood staple in Brooklyn’s Park Slope for over a decade now. The coffee shop on the corner of Park Place & 5th Avenue serves a proper strong espresso and sells fresh coffee beans, so you can enjoy your own Gorilla cup first thing in the morning at home.

Of course you’ll need a kitchen with a proper coffee maker to enjoy the beans, so have a look at our vacation rental apartments in New York City! These apartments often come with fully equipped kitchens, and can provide the perfect home away from home during your visit to the city.

8. Stumptown Coffee Roasters

Founded by Duane Sorenson in 1999, Stumptown Coffee Roasters has helped revolutionize coffee shops in the United States. The brand is known for personally visiting their coffee growers and forming lasting relationships with their suppliers. They roast their coffee themselves, which you can definitely taste in their deliciously brewed hot and iced coffees. There are currently two locations of the roasting company in New York City: one on 29th Street & Broadway and one on 8th Street & MacDougal Street. The latter is more spacious, and also offers tasting classes!

Ninth Street Espresso started out with just one location on 9th Street & Avenue C in the East Village about a decade ago. Since then, three more New York City locations have been added. However, the East Village location remains a classic. The minimalist furnishings provide plenty of places to sit down and enjoy a drink. The foam on the cappuccinos is perfection and the latte art is definitely something to see. You can also buy fresh beans to take home; we recommend the Alphabet City blend!

This family-owned coffee shop started with a café in the West Village in 2003, and has quickly expanded with the opening of two cafes in Philadelphia and a whopping eight more in New York City. The original West Village shop on the corner of Waverly Place & Gay Street is a cozy neighborhood bistro with friendly baristas and seriously delicious coffee. At Joe’s pro shop on 21st Street & 6th Avenue you can learn all about the art of coffee making and also buy the equipment you need to brew your own cup of Joe at home.

So there you have it: our top 10 coffee shops in New York City. As an added bonus, we would like to mention Housing Works Bookstore Café. This wonderful coffee shop/bookstore on Crosby Street & Jersey Street in SoHo is largely operated by volunteers and donates all profits to the charity Housing Works, which helps homeless people living with HIV/AIDS. The bookstore has an original selection and the café itself is spacious and serves a great cup of coffee.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to New York City’s thriving coffee culture! What’s your favorite local coffee shop?

This entry was posted Monday, February 24th, 2014 in New York Travel Tips. Contact Blog Team.

One Response to “Top 10 Coffee Shops in New York City”

Sushma Gupta Says:

28 March 2014 at 10:05 am

Its a very informative blog for me. I read the tips, and I thinks, that it seems interesting and informative for me. Thanks a lot for sharing.

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Phone: +1 (212) 255-8018 | Fax: +1 (212) 627-1416

Rockefeller Center

Concourse Level, Suite D

New York, NY 10020

Hours This Week

Blue Bottle at Home

We source great coffees, roast them to perfection, and get them to you fresh.

One early spring day in 2012, we opened our second New York shop on the concourse level of Rockefeller Center. As the largest private construction project of the twentieth century, Rockefeller Center is comprised of eight million square feet of office space. We occupy a cringingly modest .0000875 percent of the total complex.

Nestled around the corner from the famed ice skating rink and down the steps from 1 Rockefeller Plaza, our coffee bar is a sleek and efficient respite from the clamor of Midtown.

We serve espresso, blends, and single origin coffees along with two styles of iced coffee. We keep our community of tourists and high-rise inhabitants happy with parfaits and pastries baked in our Brooklyn kitchen and with our golden, made-to-order liege wafels.

Our Rockefeller Center café can be a little tricky to find:

Directions from BDFM subways

Exiting from the subway, follow signs that read “24-hour booth and 49th street.” After heading through the turnstile, stay right through the revolving doors. At Paper Source, take the right tunnel. At the end of the hall, stay to the right, where you will see a large seating area with chairs and tables. We are located to the upper left corner of the seating area. (Look for the blue bottle!)

Directions from 49th Street

Enter Rockefeller Plaza from the revolving doors labeled "14 West 49th Street" located between Free People and Morell’s. Take a right down the stairs. You will see us as you descend!

Directions from 48th street:

Enter Rockefeller Plaza from the revolving doors labeled "15 West 48th Street" located between Citibank and Dean & DeLuca. Walk past the information desk (or feel free to stop and ask questions) and take the stairwell to the left leading to the concourse level.

Blue Bottle at Home

We source great coffees, roast them to perfection, and get them to you fresh.

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