Java Coffee & Tea Co.

Java Coffee & Tea Co. has been roasting in Houston since the 1980s, when Bill started serving his own beans at the original Rice Village shop. Today it's a small bean shop on Fondren, in a strip-style block that can take a minute to find the first time. Inside, it's cozier than it looks from the street.

They roast small batches daily. Julio, the owner in recent years, will hand you samples and walk you through them before you pick a bag. La Minita and T Peaberry are the long-running favorites people buy by the pound, the Java Estate is the everyday house coffee, and there's an organic Veracruz if you want a certified Mexican single origin. On the tea side, a hibiscus raspberry blend has a following.

There's no café seating. You come in to talk coffee, get beans ground for your brewer, and take them home.