Seattle invades New York the only way it can - coffee beans

NEW YORK, New York - When I moved to New York three years ago, I was stunned at how hard it was to find A-list espresso; I assumed everything about urban life in New York was by definition better than urban life anywhere else. Greenwich Village coffee houses may have hosted groundbreaking intellectual conversation 40 or 50 years ago, but all they have now is poseurs and bad espresso.

Help is on the way from Seattle; the New York Times is reporting on the blossoming New York espresso roasting scene, including the migration to Brooklyn of Stumptown Coffee Roasters owner Duane Sorenson.

The article has the now-obligatory reference to roasting locally to leave a "less intrusive footprint."

One California cafe owner seems to have taken a swipe at the alleged "politics" of the coffee scene in other places, presumably Seattle?

Andrew Barnett, who owns Ecco Caffè in Sonoma County, California, was in New York recently, scouting real estate for a roastery and cafe he hopes to open in the next 12 months.

“This is a great place to run a small roastery,” he said. “I feel like there is a very strong barista community, without the politics and divisions of other places.”