Joe Bean Roastery – Bar – Kitchen

Category:	Restaurant
Address:	1344 University Ave, Rochester, NY 14607, USA
Phone:	+1 585-319-5279
Site:	joebeanroasters.com
Rating:	4.7
Working:	8AM–7PM 8AM–10PM 8AM–10PM 8AM–10PM 8AM–11:30PM 8AM–11:30PM 8AM–7PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 5

Paul Cicotta

Joe Bean Coffee Roasters carried the torch swimmingly for the next Rochester Cocktail Revival Week Seminar. This seminar was called Spoiler Alert! with Luc Thiers from Back-Bar Boston. Knowing that Joe Bean Coffee was such an active business leader in the local Rochester community, it was nice to actually visit the place for my first time. The inside gives you this barrel-aged wood look, with open windows looking out to University Ave. The Seminar got started in the back room of Joe Bean where you had the opportunity of seeing barrels of coffee beans moving through the production stages to the end product. There coffee can range from Colombia El Bado (Green Apple, Cashew, Caramel, and Almond), to Papua New Guinea Kunjin (Dried Cherry, Raisin, Walnut, Dark Chocolate, Cinnamon). Luc showed us a variety of Kyoto Cocktails they had been fermenting for weeks. Kyoto is a cocktail that is going to involve the mixture of Joe Bean Kyoto coffee in it. The Heavy Handed cocktail highlighted Kyoto coffee, lemon juice, egg, and Larceny Bourbon. You can even make a Cold Fashioned using Kyoto Coffee, Orange, Bourbon Cherries, and a dash of Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters. Mixing alcohol with coffee not only gets you buzzed, but also very hyper. The second part of the seminar consisted of Luc discussing the process of spoilage and deterioration of product. This was shown through ginger that has been fermenting with moonshine. The moonshine takes away any long lasting bacteria on the ginger while continuing to absorb the alcohol in the jar for months. The end result of draining the moonshine from the jar was ginger that gave a huge flavor/alcohol boost. You only needed a little piece of ginger in my Whiskey Cocktail, which had me buzzed at Joe Bean Coffee around 11:30 in the morning. After the seminar Luc gave me a copy of the book he uses as a frame of reference called Craft Cocktails at Home by Kevin Liu. I wanted to complete my Joe Bean experience by having a cup of there hand-crafted coffees. The slow process of getting your coffee hand-dripped into your own personnel pot is catching on. You can choose from 3 Brew Methods, which i choose the Chemex Articulate, This coffee was acidity, and delicate in body. Google tip!- choose the Chemex for the best quality brew style. Then choose your coffee, in which i choose the Burundi Buhorwa. The Burundi tasted like blueberry, dark chocolate, and cherries (Yummies!). Then you see the Barista hand press/pour the coffee into cycles to the final end product in your pot. Google! tip- Do NOT use cream in these coffees as they take away the flavor, and the power of the caffeine in the beans ( I am a total cream kind of guy too). Overall: Hand-Crafted/Poured Coffee, High Quality Coffee Beans, Kyoto Cocktails, Luc "Back-Bar" Thiers, Ginger Jar, Chemex Articulate Brew, and the tasty Burundi Coffee.....I will be back for the Beer and Coffee Seminar during Rochester Real Beer Week!!!

Jason Andrews

I love coffee. I have an excellent coffee grinder and only purchase whole beans from local roasters. I use a french press for optimal extraction and bold flavor. I personally believe it is the best way to drink coffee and I am not alone. However, we are not in this pour over hipster revolution hell so I should not have been surprised that this is how Joe Bean chooses to prepare their coffee. Once I saw the Chemexs I knew I would be dealing with a pretentious coffee snob who had an artificial appreciation for coffee. If there is one thing I cant stand, it is someone in customer service who acts better than their customers, when in fact, outside of their delusional world, you can have a greater appreciation for coffee and not act like a pretentious @$$hole. So what was I looking for? I expected a place with a large variety of beans, devices to brew coffee, and a small counter where you can try what you could end up buying. What did I get? A café/coffee bar with good coffee in a hipster atmosphere that lacked any real relaxing qualities commonly seen in a café. The coffee bean selection was small and the selection of brewing and grinding products was mediocre to poor. Clearly I had different expectations but even if I went for a café experience, I would have been just as disappointed.

A Private User

Bravo Wade (one of the awesome baristas at Joe Bean)! The two friends I brought by yesterday were quite impressed with the beauty and deliciously rich flavor in the lattes that were poured for them. Other places have to load up their "coffee" with syrups and flavors in order to cover up the subpar product underneath. Not so at Joe Bean. They truly care about not just your beverage from the literal roots in which the coffee grows but the entire coffee experience and beyond. The people at Joe Bean are dedicated to sustainable agricultural methods and practices and promote buying and eating locally grown products which helps everyone around them. This is a local business that takes pride in the atmosphere they create and the influence they have on their community. If you havent tried them yet, even if you think you "dont like coffee", I strongly urge you to give them a try. If not for a beverage then stop in to check out the local artists that they feature on a monthly basis and the information on the "locavore" initiative that theyre a big part of. I cant think of a better way to start my day than with a hand-crafted artisan latte from a brilliant barista at Joe Bean Coffee Roasters! :)

A Private User

No place like it. There are alot of coffee shops around town, and a collection of fake cafes on park ave serving mass produced plonk -- but there is no place like this one where the owners treat coffee as an art form. During my visits, they basically brewed each cup right in front of me - promptly and with expertise in the manner you would expect from a wine connoisseur with a vintage Barolo! This sort of thing is a meaningless cliche in Rochester. Not at Joe Bean. You have to experience it to believe it. The varietals, the blends, the TLC they pour into each cup, it all goes beyond anything imaginable locally. Those of us who are travelers who have frequented the real Paris and Rome cafes will recognize the qualitative difference at this place. If they have one drawback, though, its the bright lights and minimal ambience. They do have First Fridays meetings, rotating photographers work on the walls, etc...but could use a bit more in the warm, cozy ambience category. And could use tables and chairs where people can congregate, not just the high tables at the window and around the central bar. But that is a minor quibble. All in all, in Rochester there is no place like it.

Rebecca Holley

Joe Bean has really great coffee and espresso, no doubt, but this joint is more upscale than my simple college student needs. The menu is on small boards by the register that list the brews, which can make figuring out the pricing before ordering difficult. I was taken aback that instead of paying for my coffee right away, a tab was opened for me (a tab that did not take my card? Different from any bar Ive been to). The selection of food is very small but is meant to be paired with either the coffee or alcohol. The lighting is quite dim (although to be fair it was dark and rainy the day I went), with no power outlets away from the bar, so not a place to sit and study for a while unless your laptop is fully charged. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable; theres plenty of parking on the side of the building.