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If you’ve ever waited 20 minutes for a pourover coffee in the East Village and thought, “this better be life-changing,” you may now feel vindicated.
Coffee Project New York has landed on a new international ranking of the world’s best coffee shops, earning the No. 63 spot across North, Central America and the Caribbean at the inaugural World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops awards. The New York-born mini-chain also ranked No. 22 in the United States and No. 3 in New York State, according to the organization behind the new list, which announced the winners in San Diego earlier this month.
Founded in 2015 by Chi Sum Ngai and Kaleena Teoh, Coffee Project started as a small East Village operation before quietly expanding across the city. These days, the company has locations in the East Village, Tribeca, Hell’s Kitchen, FiDi, Chelsea, Fort Greene and Long Island City, though the vibe still feels more indie neighborhood obsession.
Part of what has made the shop such a favorite among serious coffee people is its focus on smaller producers and constantly rotating beans. According to the company, Coffee Project works with “small, often under-the-radar emerging farms, rare cultivars and limited lots chosen for both quality and storytelling.”
The brand has also become surprisingly influential in coffee education. Coffee Project is home to New York State’s first Specialty Coffee Association-certified Premier Training Campus, where future “Q Graders” (essentially the wine sommeliers of coffee) learn how to professionally evaluate beans.
The ranking itself evaluated shops on factors including coffee quality, barista expertise, innovation and sustainability practices. Organizers consider the project a definitive guide to shops around the world, “celebrating those that excel in every aspect of the coffee experience.”
Honestly, New Yorkers probably could have told them that years ago.