Blue Bottle Coffee

Coffee shop très populaire et surtout caché dans les recoins du concourse du Rockfeller Center. Mon macchiato était très bien.

Voted the #8 Favorite Coffee of New Yorkers according to this list:

This place is fantastic. simple but always consistent. If you want a non-Starbucks.non-mega coffee shop experience, you need to check out Blue Bottle. The staff is always very friendly and makes great suggestions.

This is quite a funky spot, but I can understand that it is a grab-​n-​go on your way to work kind of place. Hence the lack of seating. I definitely wouldn’t make all the effort to find this relatively hidden coffee shop even if I am in the area, but if I’m in the building, I would choose this over Starbucks.
I’ve been here twice, and I’ve enjoyed the coffee both times. I’ve heard the New Orleans is something worth trying — but given the icy cold weather as of late, that will have to wait.
Very pricey for the amount of coffee you get — $ 4 something for a latte that is an equivalent to a tall at Starbucks is a bit astounding!

Latte? Yes, please!
The coffee is made fresh here and their beans are simply heavenly! Each cup feels like you’re sipping your way into heaven. The only downfall is that it is pretty pricey. For that reason, I can treat myself to this deliciousness no more than once a week.

It’s such a treat to visit Blue Bottle and order their soy cappuccino.
The flavor of their espresso is insanely rich and bold, but it finishes without the bitter bite you’d expect. Their milk steamer makes a very dense foam, creating a nice thick film over your cappuccino. To top it all off, they pay attention to presentation and always finish the drink with a beautiful floral design. Always delicious, and a star cappuccino amongst the otherwise mediocre coffee options in the Rockefeller food mall.

I can’t believe I waited this long to write a Blue Bottle review! I’ve been to a few others, but the majority of the customers who come here either work in the building or are tourists. I fall into the former category, so we’re here at LEAST twice a week. I’m not a coffee connoisseur, so I’m usually satisfied with any good cappuccino (yes — I’m not above a Starbucks or Dunkin beverage every now and then).
If you work at the 30 Rock Blue Bottle, you’ll know what I’m talking about, but they usually accommodate any weird receipt requests that we make without a fuss, so I really appreciate that.
If you go at certain times in the early afternoon, it’s so crowded and I wish they set up a better system with their lines when they have both coffee sections/​registers open, so people aren’t cutting, but they’re always super busy and I understand that. (For instance, it’s ONE line that splits at the T, but people often come in and just cut the first line to go straight to the back register, which suuuucks.) Anyway! My only gripe.
Love Blue Bottle! It keeps us going!

Best latte in the area!
They drip their coffee through mugs by pouring hot water manually into the filter, the old traditional way, the interior is clean and modern, it’s super cozy, you could miss the shop in the concourse level but it’s next to Sea Grill by the restrooms.

La Blue Bottle Coffee Company es oriunda de Oakland, pero hoy cuenta con varios locales en San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, New York y Tokyo. Si algo distingue a Blue Bottle es la simpleza, el minimalismo casi extremo. El logotipo ya lo anticipa (una simple botella color azul sobre un fondo color madera), el diseño de los locales lo deja entrever (colores básicos, claridad, ambiente impoluto) y la carta lo confirma (las opciones de café no llegan a diez y los acompañamientos dulces no llegan a cinco). En New York, la compañía cuenta con sus headquarters en el barrio de Williamsburg (en un hermoso edificio de ladrillo de principios del siglo XX) y con cinco sucursales en Manhattan. El local que ahora nos convoca está ubicado en el Rockefeller Center y supone un desafío para el iniciado: hallarlo no es tarea fácil. Tal es así que la página oficial de la compañía ofrece instrucciones precisas para llegar. El espacio es pequeño y aun así está divido en dos secciones con sus respectivas máquinas espresso y barras para preparar café con las V60. Enfrente, una barra de mármol ofrece un espacio para tomar las bebidas en el local (acá no hay ni sillones cómodos ni mesas comunales como en Starbucks que hace del tercer lugar su marca distintivita), pero si se prefiere tomar el café más tranquilo la otra opción es sentarse en el patio de comidas del Rockefeller que se encuentra a pocos pasos. Las opciones básicas de café incluyen espresso, macchiato, cappuccino, latte y mocha. En mi paso probé un espresso (tomado religiosamente en taza de porcelana en la barra) y un macchiato (en hermoso, pero descartable vasito de papel) con una galletita de chocolate. La experiencia de esos pocos segundos saboreando un café orgánico tostado recientemente (de eso Blue Bottle hace un principio no negociable) es inigualable. Por pocos dólares tus estándares van a cambiar y el resto de café que pruebes ya no va a ser el mismo (para bien o para mal). Los horarios en lo que esa experiencia es posible son: de Lunes a Viernes de 7 a 7 y los Sábados y Domingos de 9 a 7.
Directions from BDFM subways:
Exiting from the subway, follow signs that read «24-​hour booth and 49^th street.» After heading through the turnstile, stay right through the revolving doors. At Hallmark, take the right tunnel. At the end of the hall, stay to the right, where you will see the ice-​skating rink and a large seating area, with chairs and tables. We are located to the upper left corner of the seating area. Look for the blue bottle!

Sometimes when there is a lot of hype, it is easy to be disappointed when actually trying the food/​drink. This may be the case with Blue Bottle. Hugely popular in the Bay area, and now popping up elsewhere, I was excited to try it on my last trip to NYC.
Down in the Rockefeller building, Blue Bottle is a bit inconspicuous. The layout was nice and the baristas were very sweet and helpful. The cappuccino foam art was perfection. Their logo is so cute and simple too. Their backstory of using freshly roasted beans, responsibly sourced, and getting back to the basics of true coffee is worth noting.
The 3 stars really has to do with the taste to me. I was not impressed. It was bitter and lacked the flavor I’m accustomed to with quality capps. I’m not a coffee slurping aficionado, so maybe it’s just not ‘my cup of coffee.’ I would try them again, but it is hard to compete with the well known coffee places in the area (no, not referring to Starbucks, haha).

Absolutely love this place. Amazing coffee across the board. My only issue is that the lattes come out lukewarm! I Several of the baristas get it, and make mine extra-​hot upon request, and double-​cup it for more insulation. However, if you don’t ask — your latte will be cold by the time you get out of the shop and get ready to have it.
Besides that — absolutely amazing, delicious, and wonderful. Try the cortados — they are to die for.

I went all the way to NYC from San Francisco and Blue Bottle was the best coffee I could find… and it still wasn’t very good. I got the Ethiopia single origin. It was ok. The beau go the same thing and he had about ¼ cup more coffee than me. Mine was about ²⁄₃ full. It was really strange. It was not nearly as good as blue bottle in SF.

After Birch, only the second coffee shop I found in NYC that does not burn their coffee!
They also serve drip coffee & you can buy their beans.
Loved how my cookie was served in a paper coffee filter. :)

Un coffee shop qui se vante de servir un meilleur café qu’ailleurs alors qu’il est simplement imbuvable et vous en coûtera le double de celui du starbucks…

I love Blue Bottle! Got the New Orleans cold brew and it was light and refreshing at the same time. Definitely an ideal pick me up for a hot summer day!
The Rockefeller location is a little small tho. I’d suggest going to the other locations (eg: Chelsea) for better ambience and in-​store experience.

This shop is small but serves great coffee and snacks, I enjoyed a nice iced tea here in the middle of the afternoon after walking around all day!

Excellent drip coffee from SF in NY. I come here every morning from Friday — Sunday to get my coffee. Great staff!

Blue Bottle is one of the places I keep going to again and again. Somehow I always walk away feeling not completely satisfied. I’ve tried the drip, cold brew, and latte. By no means am I a coffee connoisseur, so this is basically just based on my not at all refined taste buds.
I’ve tried a couple of the drips. Unfortunately can’t give any names since they are always different. Most of the time, the taste is very dark and bitter with a hint of sour after note. I don’t particularly enjoyed that since I like more of a blonde roast and nothing too dark. I like watching them brew the drink though which is probably why I keep ordering it though being disappointed time after time.
NOLA cold brew. I’ve ordered this a few times, I think of it as a treat when I need to be extra awake. They serve it out of a keg/​on draft. It is definitely really strong and I think it’s pre-​sweetened with sugar cane so no need to add any additional sugar. They always serve it with milk. I like the taste of this much better than the drip. Compared to other cold brews this one is definitely stronger. However, they don’t fill the milk all the way to the top. For something that tastes kind of strong, I need a bit more to balance the flavor out.
Latte. I was disappointed in the latte because the milk basically masked the flavor of the coffee. It was really hard to gauge the flavor profile of the coffee beans because it was lost under the milk. The barista did draw some nice latte art though.
In terms of the store, there is definitely high traffic here. Sometimes the wait for the drip can be very long because the baristas are multitasking. But given the location, it’s expected. The baristas are always really friendly.

Gotta dock them some stars. Today is the second time in recent weeks where I’ve been made a cold brew with off milk – as in tastes expired. Blech. Logged into Unilocal to get their number to call and tell them but alas, they are incognito.
And the Nola iced is poured out of a thermos. Was it always? I don’t know… For almost $ 5 that’s a pretty lame combo.

SO glad I finally got to try Blue Bottle! The Rockefeller location has super efficient service, and a really well-​decorated store.
I’m not usually too picky with my coffee beans/​coffee drinks, but I was shocked at how good Blue Bottle’s coffee is. I had the New Orleans coffee and it was AMAZING. The chicory flavor is unique and compliments the coffee beautifully!
I loved the atmosphere of Blue Bottle, and their coffee definitely kept me coming back for more! The New Orleans is flavorful, balanced and not too sweet! YUM!

As introduced by my friend as one of the best cold brewed coffee in town, I went again on a burning Monday afternoon and got its signature New Orleans cold brewed coffee. Even though they have run out of skim milk and substitute with soy milk, I still liked it a lot. The coffee could also be served in a paper box so that you can preserve it and enjoy later in the day.
Waiting line was as long as I can imagine and they forgot my order at first. But tasty flavor made everything else perfect.

So, spending time in Korea and talking to the professional baristas there, I get wind that Blue Bottle is the ‘it’ roaster of the moment. So when I get some work here in NYC, I seized the chance to give this place a try. I was staying close to Rockefeller so I made my way to the tiny space at the terrace level of NBC Studios. Mind you, I got lost the first time because I was looking for it on the streets of Rockefeller. So be sure to head IN to the NBC building and then seek the aid of the directory.
The coffee is… good. I mean quite good, but not sure it was great. I had the iced version since it was hot outside, but I wasn’t overly impressed by it. Now, I love coffee but I have my distinct preference on the taste, so if it doesn’t display that specific taste then I’m not super enthused. That was the case here. From a quality standpoint, it is full of flavor, no bitterness, and deep taste that indicates it’s not too over– or under-​brewed. So from that angle, I would say it is superior coffee. And at $ 4 for a 12 oz of iced coffee, it better be.

Love this place! It is a bit of a walk from where I work and I get no reception in this underground store… But it has the best coffee ever!
I don’t know how they make their coffee taste so fresh and so good. It is about $ 4 for a small cappuccino but it is a worthy treat.
The store has two registers and one can order the same items from both. I think it was designed that way to effectively manage the line in this small tidy space.
I have tried the wheat free cookies. They are amazing. Other baked goods look good too but being gluten free I haven’t tried them. A friend of mine is addicted to their ham and cheese sandwiches.
I mainly go for the tasty coffee and the beautiful designs they draw with milk foam in my cup. If you haven’t been — it’s a nice little coffee jam underground in Rockefeller Center.