The Sensuous Bean

Awesome variety of different roasts and flavors… right out where you can pull off the lids and take a whiff of the magic. Very cramped and no space really to hang around inside to have your coffee, but great little spot to get some fun beans and grab a cup on the go.
The iced coffee came in three different roasts/​flavors, too — most places you just get the one iced coffee option. I had the medium roast with a splash of cream and it was very good.

I moved to New York a year ago and was excited to discover this coffee shop. I usually come by once a month stock up on ground coffee beans for my stove top percolator at home. So far my favorite is a medium roast called The Haitian. I also enjoyed a Mocha Java medium roast and am currently sipping a very robust and flavorful Venezuelan coffee. Delicious!
The staff has always been very friendly and helpful. I often tell them what I enjoyed and ask them for recommendations and they are accommodating. Just yesterday they were scooping out various dark roasts for me to smell as well as discussing my preferred acidity level. They have never seemed annoyed or put out by my interest in exploring each coffee. I settled on a dark roast called Venezuela Maracata that they recommended to me. It is a great place to explore a wide variety of coffee.
They use a punch card system and I look forward to filling it up over the next few months.

This is an incredibly quirky store. I love it. So the protection gate is halfway up. The lights are off. I walk up anticipating the opening. The worker pops out his head and says Hey, I will probably open at 8:30 today. I let him know that I was camped out at the Muffin store across the street, waiting to get a pound of Butter Rum. O well then. Just watch your head. It’s 8 am, or thereabout. In seconds, he grinds the beans, punches my loyalty card, and reminds me again to ‘watch my head.’ And went back to doing whatever he was doing. That would never happen at a Starbucks.

Aromatic, flavorful without over baked burning taste! Finally find my espresso spot in NYC.

Best Soy Chai in the Upper West Side. I think there was only one time where it wasn’t yummy but one time out of the 30 times I’ve been here isn’t too bad at all. Iced or hot, it’s amazing.
My husband is a fan of Starbucks Coffee and sometimes tries to get me to get their Soy Chai instead of strolling over to The Sensuous Bean but I always refuse it. The Soy Chai at The Sensuous Bean shits on the one at Starbucks in my opinion.
The staff is always very friendly and mellow which is my kind of crowd. Even the customers are friendly. Sometimes there’s a little bit of a wait but I’m cool with that because the Soy Chai is well worth it. Plus it smells so delicious inside.

Best hazelnut coffee I’ve ever had. Wish it would stay open later, hard to get here during the work day for beans. But I’m now a loyal customer.

If you’re serious about coffee, this place is not for you. They have a huge variety of flavored beans that assault your nose when you walk in; cream was unrefrigerated on the counter; the (friendly and welcoming) guy made a sub-​par latte with bubbles up top when I asked for a cappuccino. This may be the first coffee place I’ve been where the espresso machine is in the back rather than where you can see it. I’ve now lost my faith in the subway coffee map and zagat, which both reviewed this place well. One star each for friendliness and having (probably stale) Swiss water decaf.

Friendly staff. Great coffee. We by our beans here. Please go and keep our local neighborhood operators in business.

Just love my cup of coffee home when I can’t be in the upper West side. take a bag with you… The staff is extremely nice and helpful next time you’re in need for a cuppa coffee on the upper West side check them out shop small shop local skip the Starbucks

After reading the reviews on Unilocal,I hopped on the bus in the pouring rain, endured listening to a bratty, entitled, spoiled, screaming kid (best birth control ever!) who punched his sister in the nose while other riders watched in horror and repeatedly told his nanny that he was going to get her fired in rain to buy some coffee beans to give as Christmas gifts. Stressed from the bus ride, I walked into the wonderful aroma of coffee beans and the most knowledgeable and patient man who gave the most wonderful suggestions on what to give as gifts (a blend of venezuelan and italian roast) and lady hannah tea. And he even understood what grind the coffee need with my wild gesturing of trying to explain a stovetop percolator my old school italian friends use. I can’t wait to go back.

This place feels like a truly hidden gem on the UWS amidst the multitude of chain coffee shops. Upon opening the door the rich coffee smell engulfs you and at least for me drew me inside.
It is tiny — everywhere you look are barrels are coffee beans. I had wanted to try one of their roasts there instead of at home and discovered you can get a self serve cup of drip coffee — they brew 3 – 4 varieties each day. I had the hazelnut which was lovely, rich coffee notes with a sweet hazelnut flavor and an overall buttery quality. I also tried the amaretto which was surprisingly very almondy. I didn’t get beans that day but plan to come back and buy some. I really like that you can smell each of the options and how knowledgable the staff is.
Only downside is that it is very, very small and there’s sadly no room, except two small stools, to enjoy the coffee inside, so it’s really only a to go option.

This is my favorite coffee store in the world :)
for the past 3+ years this in the only place I buy my beans (blueberry is my favorite!) unless I just cant get there in time and must go elsewhere (sigh…). I even had some shipped to me while working in Eastern Europe last year :) plus the staff is great!

I can only speak for the espresso… basically threw it out and went to buy another one from a store across the street

«Where everybody knows your name» This is THAT coffee shop. Adorable little place, with different selections everyday, great treats and fantastic teas.
Sharon, Mark & Tom are so friendly, make great suggestions for you when you can’t decide and always offer my dog a treat
Great place and a staple in the neighborhood :)

This tiny shop on the upper west side can make a proper espresso or latte, serves coffee, lets you indulge in some tasty cookies, or buy any one of a zillion flavors of tea or coffee in bulk. Sitting here to hang out is not the idea though. While there are three stools and a tiny bench, you are in the way of the next customer to drop by. So, get your coffee and go! That’s what we did!

I’ll admit it, the only reason I chose this coffee shop is because I think the name is sexy as hell. The Sensuous Bean. I feel dirty just saying it. Rawr
Okay anyways, these guys serve up some pretty decent coffee. Sadly I only got to try their hazelnut coffee since they shut down their machinery at a certain point of the day, so no lattes for Sean. Kinda sucked that it was from a dispenser, which is why it’s only a 4 star shop for me, but at least it was hot and fresh, since the worker there replaced it right as we came in.
Love that they’ve got a huge variety of different coffees select from. If I was a coffee connoisseur I’d definitely be in heaven over here. It’s almost intimidating walking in here and seeing their level of inventory.
Their shop is super tiny though. I feel like I’ve been in cars with more space than they’ve got in here. Almost every nook and cranny is filled with some sort of coffee device. Felt like I was gonna clumsily knock something over every move I made.
Anyways, it’s a solid stop for either a quick cup of coffee or if you’re a coffee collector elitist.

Great coffee. Great pastries. I’ll definitely be returning when I make my way up to the UWS again.
Upon walking in you’re slapped in the face with the aroma of coffee, or should I say caressed? From a simple glance it appears like the place focuses on roasting or simply the selling of beans. However, they do keep 4 roasts of coffee in dispensers for the folks that have the itch to scratch.
The pastries and cookies are amazing! I was not expecting them to be as good as they were – definitely snag a few or 10 while you’re there.
I will be returning!

This place feels like it has been in the neighborhood forever. It also has a snobby uws vibe to it.
It’s impossible to move once you step inside, especially if there are any other customers in there with you. The place is really the size of a walk-​in closet filled with boxes of different types of coffee beans for you to purchase.
In the center they have a table set up with 5 different types of pre-​brewed coffee for you to serve yourself. The staff is usually eating or talking amongst themselves and does not seem friendly to new faces.
It’s also one of these places that has a minimum for credit card purchases, which is a joke for a place like this where on average people are spending no more than $ 7. So bring cash.

Wife: l want to stop by the Sensuous Bean while we are in the UWS
Me: um, with the baby?!
Wife: yes, what else would we do with her?
Me: (maybe it’s an LL Bean apparel place but strictly lingerie, no idea… but the baby? O well)
Wife: I just want to get a cup of coffee before we drive back downtown
Me:(so this place sells coffee and lingerie… ok I guess that makes sense)
Sure no problem
(Drive and park close by, walking to front door)
Me: O, ok (not sure what I was thinking, nice it’s Zagat rated though — must be good)
(Inside store)
Wife: here try this
Me: what is this?
Wife: coffee, a few different blends
Me: *sip, *sip (taste) *chug, *chug *chug…awesome
I’ll take a box of the taxi shortbread cookies as well.
Wife: when we get downtown I want to stop by Victoria’s Secret
Me: um, with the baby?!
Wife: yes, what else would we do with her?

So at first I was a bit skeptical of this place with its little «pour yourself» set-​up, that looks more like a cute meeting room than a coffee shop, but the coffee is GREAT. We’re here all the time, it’s our first stop on our dog walk.
Friendly service, good coffee.