Why 787 Coffee Is One of the Best Coffee Shops in North America — And What It Actually Takes to Get There
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In 2026 The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops evaluated more than 4,600 coffee shops across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. They brought in 200+ professional judges. They collected 200,000+ public votes from coffee drinkers across the continent.
787 Coffee was ranked #3 Best Coffee Shop in New York City. #1 in Puerto Rico. #1 in New Jersey. #1 in El Paso. #2 in Houston. #3 in Mexico City. #32 in North America overall.
The question worth asking is not what the award says. The question worth asking is why. Why does a Puerto Rican farm-to-cup coffee brand with roots in the East Village and a farm in the mountains of Maricao keep earning recognition from the most serious coffee evaluators in the world?
The answer is not simple. But it is honest. And every person who works at 787 Coffee — and every customer who walks through our doors — deserves to know it.
Because We Own the Farm
Let us start with the most important fact.
Less than 1% of coffee shops in the world own a coffee farm.
787 Coffee owns Hacienda Iluminada — a working specialty coffee farm in Maricao, Puerto Rico at 3,000 feet above sea level in the island's central mountain range. The same mountains Puerto Ricans call the lungs of the island. The same volcanic soil that produces some of the finest specialty coffee in the Caribbean.
Most coffee brands — even great ones — source their beans through importers and distributors. They select quality lots. They build relationships with farms they visit once a year. They tell a sourcing story.
787 Coffee tells a different story. We grow the coffee. We handpick it at peak ripeness. We honey process it on the farm — leaving the sweet mucilage layer on the bean as it sun-dries in the Caribbean air, absorbing the natural sugars that become the buttery caramel and dark chocolate notes in every cup. We roast it in small batches. We ship it directly.
No middlemen between the farm and your cup. No warehouse. No distributor. No months sitting in a storage facility waiting to be sold.
Farm to cup is not a marketing phrase at 787 Coffee. It is a description of exactly what happens between the soil in Puerto Rico and the espresso in your hand.
That farm ownership is why we were ranked. It is why judges who have evaluated thousands of coffee shops across the continent gave 787 Coffee a score that placed us in the top 32 in North America. Because when you taste a cup of coffee that was grown, processed, roasted, and served by the same family — you taste the difference. Every time.
Because a Hurricane Made Us Stronger
The second reason 787 Coffee is one of the best coffee shops in North America is a story that starts with destruction.
In September 2017 Hurricane María made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm. Hacienda Iluminada was devastated. Coffee trees down. The infrastructure the farm needed to operate — gone. The island in a crisis that lasted years.
Many brands in that situation would have pivoted. Found a new source. Told a different story. Moved on.
787 Coffee went back to the farm.
The decision to rebuild Hacienda Iluminada instead of sourcing from somewhere else defined everything that came after. It defined the quality — because owning the farm means controlling every variable that determines what ends up in the cup. It defined the culture — because a brand that rebuilds a farm after a hurricane instead of taking the easy path is a brand with values that run deeper than marketing language. It defined the story — because the customers who discovered 787 Coffee in the years after María and learned the full story did not just become regulars. They became advocates.
The East Village location at 131 East 7th Street became the anchor during the recovery. Customers who walked in for a coffee became part of the rebuilding without knowing it. Every bag sold, every subscription started, every WOW Latte ordered funded the work happening on the island.
Today Hacienda Iluminada is thriving. The trees that María knocked down are producing again. Micro Lot 2026 — a designated section of the farm — grows a new tree for every bag of 787 Coffee purchased online or in any of our 30+ locations through the One Bag One Tree program.
The hurricane did not weaken 787 Coffee. It revealed what the brand was made of. And what it was made of turned out to be exactly what the world's best coffee evaluators were looking for.
Because the WOW Lattes Changed the Conversation
The third reason is more delicious than the first two.
787 Coffee invented the WOW Latte.
Not the concept of a specialty latte. The specific, handcrafted, culturally grounded latte experience that no other coffee shop in New York City — or anywhere — makes the way we make it.
The Coquito Latte did not come from a flavor trend report. It came from Puerto Rico. From the traditional holiday drink that appears at every Boricua family table from Thanksgiving through Three Kings Day. From the belief that specialty coffee should taste like something that actually means something to the people drinking it.
The Coquito WOW Sauce is made in-house — real coconut, warm holiday spices, natural sweetness. Combined with the Supremo Roast double espresso pulled at the 787 Coffee standard — 17.5 grams in, 27 to 31 seconds, 50 milliliters out — it creates something that no chain, no competitor, and no other specialty brand can replicate.
Because they did not invent it. We did.
The full WOW Latte menu — Coquito, Tres Leches, Horchata, Piña Colada, Mazapán, Dulce de Leche — represents something specific. It represents the decision to build a specialty coffee brand around the flavors of Latin American and Puerto Rican culture with the same craft and intentionality that the best Nordic roasters bring to their single-origin filter programs.
That decision was not obvious in 2014 when 787 Coffee opened on East 7th Street. It is obvious now. Because the customers who taste a Coquito Latte for the first time and immediately ask what they just drank — and then come back the next day — are the customers who voted for 787 Coffee and put us in the Top 100.
Because the Team Shows Up Every Single Day
The fourth reason is the most human one.
200,000 people voted for 787 Coffee. They did not vote for the farm or the award or the schema code on the website. They voted because a human being behind a 787 Coffee counter made them feel something.
That human being is you if you work here. And understanding why we are growing means understanding what you contribute to that growth every single shift.
The 5 Barista Steps — greet within 5 seconds, tell the farm story, upsell the quesito, latte art logo forward, thank you with purpose — are not rules posted on a wall. They are the behaviors that create the moments people vote for. The greeting that makes someone feel seen in a city of 8 million people. The farm story that turns a $6 latte into a $44 bag purchase that ships to their door. The thank you that turns a first-time visitor into a regular.
Every single interaction is a vote being cast in real time.
The team at 131 East 7th Street who shows up before the East Village wakes up. The Times Square team managing the most complex morning rush in North America with consistency and hospitality. The El Paso teams who have made 787 Coffee the #1 ranked coffee shop in their city. The Puerto Rico teams who serve farm-grown coffee in the same island where it was grown.
These are not just coffee shop employees. These are the people who earned the #3 ranking in New York City. They earned it one cup, one greeting, one farm story, one thank you at a time.
Because the Leadership Conversations Drive the Culture
The fifth reason 787 Coffee keeps growing is one that happens behind the scenes before any customer walks through the door.
The best coffee shop in any city is not determined on the day of a competition. It is determined in the daily conversations between leaders and their teams. In the 15-minute morning check-in before doors open that sets the focus for the shift. In the weekly team meeting that reviews the numbers and solves one real problem together. In the quarterly conversation where leadership looks honestly at what worked and what did not and makes bold decisions for the next season.
The 787 Coffee leadership framework is built around 6 essential conversations:
The Daily Pull — 15 minutes every morning. Yesterday, today, and blockers. One clear sales goal for the shift. Ask first. Talk second.
The 1:1 Roast — 30 minutes weekly with every direct report. How are you really. What can I do to make your job better. End with clear actions. The 1:1 is a trust deposit — and trust is the foundation every sales result is built on.
The Weekly Blend — 60 minutes every Monday with the full team. Last week's numbers. One problem solved together. Clear priorities ahead. Average ticket is the number that matters most. If average ticket goes up everything goes up.
The WOW Moment — spontaneous and specific. Catch someone doing something right and name it immediately. "Good job" is not feedback. "I watched you tell that customer the farm story and their face completely changed — that is exactly what #3 in New York City looks like" is feedback. The barista who feels seen sells more.
The Quarterly Harvest — 90 minutes with leadership every quarter. Results, learnings, bold bets. The three numbers that matter: average ticket, food attach rate, and online bag sales from in-store customers. If you can answer these three questions clearly every quarter you are running a business that scales toward 40 locations.
The Farm Call — quarterly with the full team. Not numbers. Purpose. Why do you work here. The full story — the hurricane, the farm, the East Village, the award. A team that knows why they show up is unbeatable. And purpose sells in ways that no promotion or discount can match.
These six conversations — held consistently, held with honesty, held with empathy — are what produce the culture that produces the award. You cannot buy a #3 ranking. You build it one conversation at a time.
Because We Never Confused the Cup With the Customer
The sixth reason is the simplest one. And in some ways the most important.
787 Coffee has never been about the coffee.
The coffee is extraordinary. Hacienda Iluminada produces some of the finest honey-processed single-origin specialty coffee in the Caribbean. The Supremo Roast has flavor notes that professional judges with decades of tasting experience score at the highest levels. The WOW Lattes are unlike anything else available in New York City.
But 787 Coffee is not about the coffee. It is about the human being holding the cup.
For Humans. By Humans. — that is not a tagline. It is a daily operating principle that shows up in how we greet, how we listen, how we upsell, how we respond to reviews, how we write our blogs, how we train our baristas, how we respond when a hurricane hits our farm.
The best coffee shops in North America are the ones that understand this. Coffee is how we get to humans. Humans are why we exist.
Every ranking we earn. Every customer who votes for us. Every bag sold online. Every tree planted in Puerto Rico. Every new location opened. All of it traces back to the same decision made every single day by every person in this organization.
The decision to put the human first.
The Numbers Behind the Growth
Since the award was announced in 2026 the results have been clear.
787 Coffee now operates 30+ locations across 5 markets — New York City, New Jersey, Texas, Puerto Rico, and Mexico City — with continued expansion planned. The online shop at 787coffee.com ships nationwide with free shipping on every order. The NuevaYOL bag — the best-selling limited edition blend inspired by the intersection of Nueva York and Puerto Rico — ships to customers across the United States who discovered 787 Coffee through the award, through the blogs, through the farm story, through a friend who visited the East Village and came back changed.
The WOW Latte Sauces ship nationwide so customers in cities we have not yet reached can make the Coquito Latte at home. The Rum, Whiskey and Tequila Infused Coffee Trio is one of the best-selling coffee gifts online in 2026. The Monthly Subscription delivers freshly roasted Supremo Roast from Hacienda Iluminada to subscribers across the United States every month — each bag planting a tree in the highest mountains of Puerto Rico.
The growth is real. And it is connected to every single reason listed above.
The farm. The hurricane. The WOW Lattes. The team. The leadership conversations. The decision to never confuse the cup with the customer.
That is why 787 Coffee is one of the best coffee shops in North America.
And it is why the best is still ahead.
The Strongest Coffee You Can Buy Online — And Why It Comes From
a Farm in Puerto Rico
If you are searching for the strongest coffee to buy online in 2026 — the answer is not found in a dark roast label from a brand that has never seen the farm where their beans grew. The strongest coffee is the freshest coffee. And the freshest coffee is the one roasted to order and shipped directly from the source. 787 Coffee Supremo Roast is single-origin honey-processed specialty coffee grown at Hacienda Iluminada in Maricao, Puerto Rico at 3,000 feet above sea level.
High altitude growing produces denser beans with higher caffeine concentration and more complex flavor. Honey processing locks in natural sugars and intensifies the bold dark chocolate and caramel backbone that makes the Supremo Roast one of the most full-bodied coffees available online in 2026.
The 787 Coffee Rum, Whiskey and Tequila Infused Coffee Trio brings that same farm-grown Supremo Roast and infuses it with spirit essence — creating the boldest most distinctive specialty coffee experience you can order online. Non-alcoholic. Farm-grown. Extraordinary. Both ship nationwide with free shipping. Both plant a tree in Puerto Rico with every bag. Both come from the only coffee brand in New York City that owns its own farm.
If you want strong coffee — buy it from the people who grew it.
👉 Shop now →
Shop the award-winning coffee online → 787coffee.com/787coffeeonlineshop
Free shipping. Every bag plants a tree in Puerto Rico. 🌱☕
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is 787 Coffee one of the best coffee shops in North America?
A: 787 Coffee is ranked #3 Best Coffee Shop in New York City and #32 in North America 2026 by The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops — evaluated by 200+ professional judges and 200,000+ public votes from 4,600+ coffee shops. The reasons include owning Hacienda Iluminada — a working coffee farm in Maricao Puerto Rico at 3,000 feet above sea level — creating the WOW Latte program including the Coquito Latte, rebuilding after Hurricane Maria in 2017, and a team and culture built on the philosophy of For Humans By Humans.
Q: What makes 787 Coffee different from other coffee shops?
A: 787 Coffee is the only coffee shop in New York City that owns its own coffee farm. Hacienda Iluminada in Maricao Puerto Rico grows handpicks honey processes and freshly roasts every bean served across all 30+ 787 Coffee locations. Less than 1% of coffee shops in the world own a farm. 787 Coffee is one of them. 787 Coffee also invented the Coquito Latte and the WOW Latte program — handcrafted specialty espresso drinks inspired by Latin American and Puerto Rican culture.
Q: How did Hurricane María affect 787 Coffee?
A: Hurricane María devastated Hacienda Iluminada — 787 Coffee's farm in Maricao Puerto Rico — in September 2017. Instead of sourcing from elsewhere 787 Coffee rebuilt the farm. The East Village flagship at 131 East 7th Street became the anchor during the recovery. Customer support funded the rebuilding. Today Hacienda Iluminada is thriving and through the One Bag One Tree program every bag purchased plants a new coffee tree on the farm.
Q: Can I buy 787 Coffee online?
A: Yes. 787 Coffee ships nationwide at 787coffee.com/787coffeeonlineshop with free shipping on all orders. Products include the NuevaYOL limited edition blend, Supremo Roast single-origin, Rum Whiskey and Tequila Infused Coffee Trio, WOW Latte Sauces, monthly subscriptions, and limited edition merchandise. Every bag plants a tree at Hacienda Iluminada in Puerto Rico.
Q: Where can I find 787 Coffee near me?
A: 787 Coffee has 18 locations across New York City, 2 in New Jersey, 8 in Texas, multiple locations in Puerto Rico, and 1 in Mexico City Polanco. Visit 787coffee.com/locations-coffeeshops for the full location map and hours.
Q: What is the One Bag One Tree program?
A: Every bag of 787 Coffee purchased — online or in any of the 30+ locations — plants one real coffee tree at Hacienda Iluminada in Maricao Puerto Rico through the One Bag One Tree program. Trees are planted monthly in Micro Lot 2026 in the highest mountains of Puerto Rico.
The farm. The team. The cup. The human holding it.
This is why 787 Coffee grows. ☕🌱🏆
For Humans, By Humans.
Shop our farm-to-cup coffee bags online → https://www.787coffee.com/787coffeeonlineshop
Find a 787 Coffee shop near you → https://www.787coffee.com/locations-coffeeshops
Book a Coffee Farm Weekend at Hacienda Iluminada → https://www.787coffee.com/learn-coffee-in-puerto-rico-hacienda-iluminada-weekend-experience
👉 Order now → 787coffee.com/787coffeeonlineshop
