Quite often here at the Build-Outs of Coffee we’re featuring brands that are brand new to us—the feature series functions as a marvelous discovery engine, and many of the coffee companies that show up in the series go on to do great things in the world of coffee. But sometimes we’re afforded the pleasure of instead taking a closer look at new work from familiar favorites. That’s the case here, as Brooklyn’s Partners Coffee embark on opening a new coffee bar on the home turf of Williamsburg. We’ve followed Partners closely over the last 14 years, as their growth has mirrored the ongoing primacy of New York City as one of the great coffee cities in the world. This new cafe on Bedford is stunning—let’s take a closer look.
The 2026 Build-outs of Coffee is presented by DONA, Pacific Barista Series, and La Marzocco.
As told to Sprudge by Claire Frost.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Partners Coffee, founded in 2012, is an independently owned, small-batch coffee roaster headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, devoted to producing and sharing specialty coffee.
The original flagship cafe and roastery opened in 2012 on North 6th Street in the burgeoning Williamsburg neighborhood. We have since developed a thriving wholesale business, state-of-the-art education facilities, and four beloved neighborhood cafes.
With an unwavering commitment to coffee integrity and community at the center of our practice, Partners Coffee has helped pave the way for specialty coffee that is for everyone in New York and across the United States.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
145 Bedford Avenue is just a short walk from our first cafe on North 6th. This new cafe is a continued dedication to our Brooklyn roots, and an opportunity to share in our deep commitment to creating exceptional coffee with the community.
We were intentional in showcasing the experience of the coffee itself in the design of our new location. Seating at the large marble pour-over bar invites conversation across the counter and offers a close-up look at the brewing process. We’re also thrilled to have the opportunity to highlight our limited and niche lots in the expanded single origin menu at the new cafe. The windows open up to the wrap-around outdoor space with ample seating inside and out, where folks can stay to enjoy coffee and conversation in the heart of the neighborhood.
Bedford also features a full kitchen, allowing us to offer a more thoughtful brunch menu and an even wider selection of signature drinks like our yuzu vanilla latte and espresso mint julep.
One of our favorite visual design elements of the cafe is a large photograph by Anders Goldfarb, depicting Belinda’s Lounge, which occupied the space in the 1980s. Goldfarb’s photo captures two figures standing by the space, its walls bearing the hand-painted message, “TOPLESS GO-GO GIRLS.” We love this nod to the space’s past as we become a part of the history of this beloved corner.
What’s your approach to coffee?
Our coffee selection broadly reflects our intentionality in sourcing. Our single origin offerings are more ephemeral than our mainstay coffees, but we have structured our buying in such a way that we can prioritize quality and seasonality while remaining steadfast in our commitments at origin. All of our coffees originate through long-term relationships or through producers we aspire to work with in the long term.
In selecting single origin coffees, we’re always considering which coffees are a strong representation of the producer, the variety, and the place they were grown. Most often we gravitate towards time-honored varieties—caturra, bourbon, Ethiopian heirlooms—and fully washed processing, but we’re not afraid to challenge expectations as long as we remain faithful to our broader sourcing paradigm.
Suke Quto Secret Process is a great example of this, and it’s one of the coffees we launched Bedford with. We’ve purchased fully washed coffees from Suke Quto (in Guji, Ethiopia) for 14 years, but this “secret process” lot is indeed still a secret to us. What we do know is that the farm’s founder, Tesfaye Bekele, believes producing coffee to this level of excellence can better facilitate his forest conservation efforts, so we’re proud to support his more experimental offerings.
To that end, Bedford allows us to warmly receive the community we’ve already cultivated in Brooklyn, while narrowing our focus on excellent coffees and the stories behind them.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
On bar, we outfitted the space with a three-group, two-steam Modbar featuring a custom midnight blue paint job by Legacy Coffee Tech. Accompanying the Modbar are two Mahlkönig E80 GBWs and one E65 GBW. For batch brew, we’re running a FETCO CBS-2232-NG paired with a Mahlkönig EK43. We also added a Marco FRIIA tap system behind the bar for our tea and matcha station.
We opted for a Modbar Pour-Over 2.0 system to help facilitate our expanded single origin list, which we paired with a Weber Workshops EG-1 grinder to deliver some of the highest quality by-the-cup extractions possible.
How is your project considering sustainability?
We really wanted to emphasize coffee “to stay,” primarily to create an excellent cafe experience but also to reduce the amount of waste directed to landfill. Aside from designing a comfortable cafe and encouraging gracious hospitality, we were especially selective in the ceramics we chose, including Kinto pour over and tea serviceware and custom Service Projects drinkware for espresso drinks.
More broadly, our sustainability efforts are intertwined with our sourcing and roasting program. We follow a relationship sourcing model that is built on the idea of comprehensive purchasing—we understand that every coffee farm produces a spectrum of different qualities, so we structure our buys in a holistic way: intentionally sourcing microlots through the same individual producers and communities where we blend components. We work with farms and producers who we believe are producing coffee in a socially responsible, ecologically sustainable manner.
Another coffee of ours from Suke Quto, a more traditional fully washed selection, was named a winner in the 2026 Good Food Awards — which celebrates food and beverage products that are delicious, but also socially and environmentally responsible. To advance to the finalist stage we received a high score in a panel of blind tastings, then passed a vetting process that evaluated everything from labor and environmental practices on the farm to waste reduction in our roastery and cultural awareness in our marketing efforts.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We celebrated the grand opening of this new location on February 6th, 2026.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
For the buildout, we collaborated with Vural Design and LCM Construction on the overall design and execution of the cafe. Allie Caran helped oversee the project from start to finish. Legacy Coffee Tech created the beautiful custom paint work for our Modbar setup, while La Marzocco USA helped us bring both the Modbar and Pour-Over 2.0 systems into the space. The Pour-Over 2.0 is the first installed in the US—the dial-in by Cary Wong was complicated to say the least. We also partnered with Weber Workshops, who outfitted us with the stunning EG-1 grinder. Our uniforms were custom designed by Helt Studios in LA.
Thank you!
Thanks so much!
The 2026 Build-outs of Coffee is presented by DONA, Pacific Barista Series, and La Marzocco.
