New York's coffee scene is anchored by New York City. Brooklyn and Manhattan together hold most of the state's specialty volume, with operators that have shaped American coffee over the last two decades. Outside the city, the state runs deep too: Rochester, Buffalo, Ithaca, the Hudson Valley, Long Island, and the Finger Lakes all support indie roasting communities that don't get the press the city does but consistently turn out serious work.
Roast Local maps 199 independent coffee roasters across New York, concentrated in Brooklyn, New York, and Rochester. Read the New York coffee scene guide for the full write-up.
199 independent roasters listed · Updated September 2026
Brooklyn alone is home to 34 active independent roasters in our directory, with names that have helped define American specialty coffee. Devoción, Brooklyn Roasting Company, Driftaway, BKG, and Toby's Estate operate across Williamsburg, Bushwick, Industry City, and Greenpoint. Manhattan adds Abraço, Black Fox, Cafe Grumpy, and Irving Farm, running cafes and wholesale programs across the boroughs. Astoria has Kinship, Mighty Oak, and Vassilaros Coffee Company. Long Island City brings Sweetleaf, Wild House, City Boy Coffee, Dallis Bros. Coffee, Kape Catorce, and Regalia Coffee Roasters. Williamsburg has Partners. The result is a city that's hard to map without a list, and where the difference between a Brooklyn roaster and a Manhattan one increasingly comes down to street address rather than style. NYC's specialty culture has matured to the point where neighborhood cafe culture and roasting craft are almost inseparable.
Upstate New York runs its own distinct coffee economy. Rochester anchors the Finger Lakes corridor. Boulder Coffee, Canaltown, Fuego, Ink Wtr Coffee Roasters, Java's Coffee Roasters, Joe Bean, New City Cafe & Roastery, Union Place Coffee Roasters, and Untold Coffee Lab serve a city that's quietly become one of the strongest specialty markets in the Northeast. Buffalo's roasters (Tipico, Undergrounds, Buffalo Coffee Roastery, Golden Cup Coffee, Premium Coffee Company, public espresso + coffee, Traffick Coffee Roasters, and Unapologetic Coffee) work in a city that's reinvented itself culinarily over the last decade. Syracuse adds Cafe Kubal, Salt City, Hyman Smith, Peaks Coffee Co., Recess Coffee House, The Cracked Bean Roastery, and The Kind Coffee Co. to the regional bench, and Ithaca's Forty Weight, Copper Horse, Gimme Coffee, and Ithaca Coffee Company serve Cornell and Ithaca College with the kind of college-town intensity that builds loyal customers fast. Saratoga Springs has Kru, Stacks, and Uncommon Grounds. Troy adds Alias and Touchy. None of these cities sees the press that NYC does, but the work is genuinely competitive with anything in the Northeast.
Outside the major upstate cities, New York's coffee scene is unusually rich for the population. The Hudson Valley has Hudson Roastery, Elders Coffee, and Hudson Valley Coffee Company in Hudson itself, Big Mouth in Beacon, and a string of operators serving the weekend-tourist economy without losing their craft footing. The Catskills, the North Country, the Adirondacks, and the East End of Long Island all have their own indie roasters: Adirondack Coffee Roasters in Plattsburgh, Tug Hill Artisan in Lowville, Left Hand in Montauk, Caffé Vero on Lake George. Long Island proper has East Coast Roast, Southdown, and Thunder Island. Tarrytown brings Coffee Labs Roasters. Pelham, Port Chester, and Peekskill round out the Westchester ring. The state's geography forces variety, and the roasting culture reflects it, which is part of what makes upstate coffee culture distinct from the city's.
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