Birch Coffee opened its first shop in 2009. Jeremy Lyman and Paul Schlader, “the Birch Guys”, met in a 12-step programme in 2005 and bonded over hospitality, human connection and coffee. The first shop was paid for with loans from friends and family and a bar mitzvah bond Jeremy cashed early, and it was “just chaotic enough to convince them they were onto something”. Paul travels to origin to build relationships with farmers and follow processing methods; Jeremy looks after the rooms and the customer experience, and would rather talk about his dogs.

Since 2015 Birch has roasted its coffee in Long Island City, giving each coffee its own roast profile, from the florals of Ethiopia to the chocolate of Guatemala and Brazil. Coffee stays on the shop shelves for 60 days and is then pulled, a standard the company has kept for years. The Bully Blend, created in early 2019, sends all of its profits to pit bull rescue through Angel City Pitbulls in Los Angeles, and every shop shows the dogs of the Muddy Paws rescue who are up for adoption. Birch also works with Coffee Fest and with people opening their own coffee shops around the country, sharing what it learned the hard way.

The cafés are in Murray Hill, on the Upper East Side, on the Upper West Side, in Hell’s Kitchen, the Financial District, Moynihan Train Hall, the West Village, Tribeca, Midtown East, Vanderbilt and Yorkville, with one at Court Square in Long Island City, a takeaway counter at LaGuardia Airport run by OTG and a store in Seoul. A JFK Airport café is announced for 2026. Birch’s bags are also sold at Whole Foods stores across the city, and the shops stock Chemex and V60 filters, a gooseneck kettle, French presses and Birch’s own instant coffee.

Locations

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  1. Birch Coffee Murray Hill432 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10016Murray HillOpen in Google Maps
  2. Birch Coffee Upper East Side134 1/2 East 62nd Street, New York, NY 10062Upper East SideOpen in Google Maps
  3. Birch Coffee East 88th Street171 East 88th Street, New York, NY 10128Upper East SideOpen in Google Maps
  4. Birch Coffee Upper West Side750 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10025Upper West SideOpen in Google Maps
  5. Birch Coffee Hell's Kitchen884 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10019Hell's KitchenOpen in Google Maps
  6. Birch Coffee FiDi8 Spruce Street, New York, NY 10038Financial DistrictOpen in Google Maps
  7. Birch Coffee Moynihan Train HallMoynihan Train Hall, New York, NY 10001Midtown WestOpen in Google Maps
  8. Birch Coffee West Village56 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10011West VillageOpen in Google Maps
  9. Birch Coffee Tribeca136 Church Street, New York, NY 10007TribecaOpen in Google Maps
  10. Birch Coffee Midtown East240 East 54th Street, New York, NY 10022Midtown EastOpen in Google Maps
  11. Birch Coffee Vanderbilt230 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10169Midtown EastOpen in Google Maps
  12. Birch Coffee Yorkville1501 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10075YorkvilleOpen in Google Maps

Elsewhere

  1. Birch Coffee Court Square1 Court Square, Long Island City, NY 11101Court Square, Long Island City
  2. Birch Coffee LaGuardia AirportLaGuardia Airport, Terminal D, Queens, NY 11371LaGuardia Airport, QueensOpen in Google Maps
  3. Birch Coffee JFK AirportJFK Airport, Queens, NY 11430JFK Airport, Queens
  4. Birch Coffee Seoul3F, 26 Daesagwan-ro 34-gil, Yongsan District, Seoul 04402Yongsan, Seoul

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Birch Coffee