Georgio's Coffee Roasters opens in Stony Brook

Since 2006, Georgio’s Coffee Roasters has inspired a cult following among Long Island’s coffee cognoscenti. A modest shop in an even more modest strip mall in an industrial area of Farmingdale, it offers no lounge seating, no Wi-Fi, the barest assortment of pastries. Drinkwise, the emphasis is on highlighting the specific qualities of the beans that Georgio and Lydia Testani import from all over the world and roast right there in the store. If talking about the relative merits of Colombia Mateo Bahamon (with its notes of peach, tamarind and candied almond) vs. Colombia Aida Chasoy (giving peach, caramel and honey) is your idea of a good time, this is your coffee shop.

But change is coming to Georgio’s, and you can see the brand’s future at its new location in Stony Brook. With its cream-and-blue paint job, shiplap walls and marble countertops, the shop fits right into the town’s tony Village Center. And while Georgio and Lydia hold down the fort in Farmingdale, their partner Rich Cummins is captaining the new venture.

The shop may be gorgeous, but it's not deviating from Georgio’s mission. "It’s all about staying true to the bean," Cummins said. "We want to show people that they can buy some of the best, rarest coffees in the world and prepare them at home cheaper than buying your coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts, let alone Starbucks."

Right now the 10 featured single-origin beans include Papua New Guinea Nebilyer Valley ($20 a pound), Ethiopia Hamasho Honey Special Prep ($24) and Bolivia Finca Senda Salvaje Geisha ($45). You’ll always find nine house blends ($16 a pound) including Testa d’Oro espresso, Sumatra Mandheling FTO and Brazilian Bourbon.

No matter what equipment customers have at home — drip, French press, Moka, espresso machine — Georgio’s has the right bean and can advise on the right grind. This expansive view of the coffee-making landscape has a limit though: Cummins urges people to "ditch the Keurig," whose attendant K-Cups, he believes, just don’t cut it. (It’s an irony not lost on him that this very store was, from 2017 until April 2024, the home of Village Coffee Market, which specialized in K-Cups, stocking more than 150 varieties of them.)

Georgio’s bean-centrism doesn’t mean they don’t make a mean cup of coffee to savor on the spot. Testa d’Oro espresso is pulled into the familiar lineup of espresso, macchiato, cortado and cappuccino, plus seasonal concoctions such as Elder Merry Bliss, espresso with rosemary-infused elderberry syrup. There’s drip coffee and cold brew (always served with "ice" cubes made of coffee) and the chance to sample four of the special beans in a pour-over, the method that Cummins believes expresses them best.

Cummins found his way to Georgio’s around 2012. A Starbucks veteran, he was working at another local coffee chain when he heard that Georgio’s was brewing with a siphon — an elaborate vacuum-based method whose setup looks like something out of a Victorian laboratory. "Georgio made me a cup of Costa Rica Finca Las Lajas Perla Negra," he recalled, "and that experience changed my life forever." He perceived not only "the inherent sweetness and fruit-forwardness" but also "a structured acidity that didn’t get in its way."

He didn’t ask Georgio for a job, but he started helping out on his days off. "They paid me in green coffee beans."

Gradually, the stars of partnership began to align. Cummins had taken a job in Manhattan but was tired of the commute; Lydia had a grandchild in her native Colombia and started spending more time there; Georgio was growing tired of the day-to-day drudgery of running a small business and was ready to hand over some of the reins. In 2016 Cummins came aboard full time (and for money, not beans).

In 2021, Georgio was approached by a customer-turned-disciple, Charles Reich, who, with a longtime coffee-loving friend, Eric Harris, was looking for a business opportunity. "They decided they wanted to expand the Georgio brand," Cummins said.

Last year, the landlord of Stony Brook Village Center reached out to inquire whether Georgio’s might want to take over its now-empty coffee space. The partners, Cummins said, felt strongly that one shop would not be able to support their vision of "creating careers for people who want to preserve what is magical about coffee" and that Stony Brook would be a perfect first step toward expansion.

So far, Cummins said, the response has been enthusiastic, with a combination of existing Georgio’s customers happy to find the wares closer to home, and a whole cadre of new customers ready to learn how to love coffee even more.

Georgio’s Coffee Roaster, 131 Main St., Stony Brook, 631-847-1700, georgioscoffee.com. Open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.