Good whole bean coffee in NYC?

June 26, 2006 7:28 PM

Looking for Intelligentsia quality coffee in NYC--around Chelsea, if possible.

I'm about to have an extended stay in NYC for work and will be staying in an apartment that has a coffee maker (hallelujah!) but no grinder. As such, I would like to have a nice stash of coffee. I'm a groupie of Intelligentsia coffee here in Chicago and would like something of that caliber. The place should offer whole bean, in 1/2 and full pound bags and be able to grind on site. I'm staying in Chelsea but know my way around the city.

posted by gsh to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

Best answer: My coffee-geek roommate says to try Porto Rico. There's one on Bleecker, one on Thompson in SoHo, and one on St. Marks. He used to live in Chicago and "used to almost live at Intelligentsia" when he lived there. He says Porto Rico has the best bean he's found in the city thus far.
posted by bedhead at 7:37 PM on June 26, 2006

Just go to a Whole Foods and get Allegro coffee. I like the Ethiopian peabean, or the Guatemalan. You really can't do any better.
posted by Miko at 7:38 PM on June 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

Oren's. That's my drug of choice. They've got locations all over Manhattan.
posted by jason's_planet at 7:41 PM on June 26, 2006

Allegro.
posted by Miko at 7:45 PM on June 26, 2006

Ditto for Whole Foods and Porto Rico. I'll also put in a mention for both Balducci's on 14th St. & 8th Ave. and Fairway on the Upper West Side - Both stores have among the finest selections of coffee I've seen in the United States.

For coffee-to-go, there's a great independent coffee shop on W 25th Street and Sixth Avenue in Chelsea as well.
posted by huskerdont at 7:49 PM on June 26, 2006

The A&P at Union Square can grind some Eight O'Clock for you.
posted by caddis at 8:07 PM on June 26, 2006

Porto Rico si good stuff. I find Whole Food's beans to be too dry.
posted by falconred at 8:54 PM on June 26, 2006

Uh, you know you an order Intelligentsia online, right? So, order it, get a good cone burr grinder, enjoy.

(Will be in Chicago next week indulging in Intelligentsia.)

I live in San Fran, so luckily I have Blue Bottle Coffee.
posted by smallerdemon at 9:09 PM on June 26, 2006

as suggested by jason's_planet, Oren's Daily Roast (locations throughout Manhattan) is (IMHO and the less humble opinion of my coffe-snob friend) the best coffee in NYC.
posted by JMOZ at 9:15 PM on June 26, 2006

I hear the real coffee snobs are drinking this stuff where some kind of wild cat eats the beans and then shits them. Supposed to have a real exotic flavor. I'll pass, personally.
posted by JamesMessick at 2:42 PM on June 27, 2006

no, that cat passes
posted by caddis at 3:25 PM on June 27, 2006

Since it's been long enough that it's probably not a problem if I derail, I figured I'd link to the wikipedia page for Kopi Luwak, which JamesMessick was talking about. The "cat" in question is a type of civet.
posted by JMOZ at 9:51 PM on June 27, 2006

A 3rd vote for Oren's.

For a change of pace, try the Juan Valdez Cafe in midtown.

I was unable to find a link directly to their site, so I'm referring you to a review that I posted on Yelp earlier this year.
posted by NYCinephile at 10:39 AM on July 28, 2006

omfg the most delicious coffee ive ever had is at Think on mercer street (corner of 3rd)
posted by weaponsgradecarp at 11:25 PM on August 15, 2006