A bowl of stew might be more nourishing. A bacon cheeseburger might be more satisfying. But huddling over a cup of coffee still ranks as one of the most comforting consolations of the winter season. And when that cup of coffee is truly exceptional, its pleasures can rank alongside the very best wine and chocolate.

But just how exceptional a cup of joe can you get in New York? We’ve never been more surrounded by coffee than we are now: Not only is Starbucks on every block, but it is now rivaled by Dunkin’ Donuts. Street vendor trucks still keep their loyal fans, and office machines have moved into serious gadgetry. But while the average New Yorker may be adept at ordering a double tall mocha skim latte – or a large “light and sweet” – are we actually drinking terrific coffee?

Darlene Scherer, owner and roaster at Park Slope’s Gorilla Coffee, doesn’t think so: “There’s such a huge coffee movement on the West Coast, and I’m just surprised that it hasn’t happened here, that the coffee culture isn’t better, that the expectations aren’t harsher.”

All too often, coffee in New York is too weak, too bitter, or merely good rather than great. And though Starbucks put gourmet coffee on the map, it certainly hasn’t written the book on it. Across the country, “microroasters” are busily turning out coffee with nuanced character and flavor. By sourcing beans from small farms, roasting in small batches, and selling coffee that’s only a day or two out of the roaster, this new wave of coffee roasters is discovering uncharted frontiers in coffee.

Duane Sorenson, coffee buyer and roaster at Portland, Oregon’s Stumptown Coffee, spends most of his year in countries like El Salvador, Kenya, and Honduras – searching for what he calls “real unique artisan farms” with the ideal coffee growing microclimates and a precise sense of terroir.

“People are beginning to think of coffee as they do wines. People are connecting a sense of taste to a sense of place,” the vice president of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, Ted Lingle, said.

Many coffeemakers talk like winemakers these days – Mr. Sorenson describes his Kenyan Pegu coffee as having “flavors of cranberry pomegranate, black currant, and red wine” while the El Salvadoran Las Nubitas is redolent of “red apple, cashew, and caramel.”

But the nuances that separate the good cup from the great are usually burned away in the dark west-coast style roast favored by chains like Starbucks and Peet’s. Many small roasters believe a darker roast masks inferior beans and fails to make the most of superior ones. With a lighter roast, good beans can even taste sweet.

“The ones in the know are turning away from the darkest roast,” co-owner and roaster at Espresso Vivace in Seattle, David Schomer, said. Instead, Mr. Schomer believes a lighter “sweet northern Italian roast” preserves the natural caramelized sugars of the coffee. This more judicious roasting style creates a flavor that doesn’t need to be drowned in sugar, syrup, and milk in order to be palatable.

Barth Anderson, roaster at Barrington Coffee Roasting Company, also believes coffee deserves a more gentle touch. “We want the coffee to shine through, not the hand of the roaster,” he said.

Many roasters believe that there is one perfect degree of doneness for each batch of beans. “It’s like an egg,” Mr. Anderson said. “You can carefully coax the proteins with a gentle treatment like a lovingly prepared omelette.”

But some roasters like their “eggs” over hard. At Park Slope’s Gorilla Coffee, Ms. Scherer goes for a darker roast (though still not as dark as Starbucks), but is careful to select beans that can stand up to treatment. “It’s just a personal preference. When I make coffee at home, I always make it strong,” she said.

But no amount of careful sourcing or savvy roasting can compare to the most important virtue that small-scale roasting offer – freshness. “The greatest thing that the little roaster gives the consumer is the born-on date,” Mr. Lingle said. Small roasters regard their beans as a fresh food that is at its peak during the 7 to 10 days after roasting, so they sell and ship their coffees with lightning speed.

James Freeman, roaster at Blue Bottle Coffee in Oakland, Calif., is uncompromising. “We sell what we roast in bean form within 48 hours – because that’s when it’s good. If we sell coffee that’s six days old, its best days are behind it,” he said.

If pairing wine with food is an art, then so is the pairing of coffee beans with preparation method. Ring up a good roaster, and you’ll get advice on which beans work best for you, whether you favor French press, filter drip, espresso machine, or mokka pot. “We start by asking, ‘How do you make your coffee at home?’ Coffee is all about context,” Mr. Freeman said. Some coffees pair with milk to create a naturally caramelized sweetness; others shine on their own but drown when mixed with milk.

Whatever method you choose, forget about that clunky, complicated appliance, the drip coffee maker. Most drip coffee makers don’t heat the water to boiling, and merely hot water fails to release the full flavor of the coffee. Thankfully, the French press and carafe methods are easy – as long as you get the grind right: For a French press, the grind should look like kosher salt, and for the carafe, like table salt. As for espresso, many roasters are reluctant to endorse machines scaled for the home. The pressure and high temperature needed to pull a proper shot of espresso are difficult to attain without a full-size machine.

Even coffee drinkers who want to avoid caffeine now have a new option to explore. The Hausbrandt company imports a caffeine-free “coffee” made from roasted barley called Orzespresso, which can be brewed in a coffee maker or espresso machine just like coffee. Its flavor and color are slightly milder, but orzo coffee still has a rich, nutty, slightly bitter flavor that’s reminiscent of java. The taste will perk you up in the morning, and it’s toasty enough to be an appealing bedtime drink, too. It comes pre-ground and pre-portioned in filter pods – toss five or six in the coffee maker basket to make American-style coffee, or brew one shot at a time in an espresso machine to yield an “espresso” with a rich crema.

The trend towards lighter beans hearkens back to the roasting style that New Yorkers have traditionally preferred. According to Donald Schoenholt, whose family founded Brooklyn-based Gillie’s Coffee in 1840, New Yorkers traditionally favored the “Full City” roast, which is lighter than the West Coast roast. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is one example of this style, but their mass-produced beans don’t have much character. The flavors waiting in a cup of truly good coffee harken back to the days when the five boroughs were crowded with small batch roasters. D’Amico in Brooklyn and Porto Rico in Manhattan still do a great job of roasting their own beans.

Yes, coffee might be simply a caffeine-imbued morning jolt, or a convenient vehicle for whipped cream, syrups, and fluffy foamed milk. But fresh beans from a passionate roaster introduce a third possibility – coffee can also be so delicious it knocks your socks off. Mr. Freeman explains, “When you have a great cup, it just permeates the rest of your day. All those chemicals are in your blood for hours. You think back about it, you reflect about it … the right coffee will just change your day.”

A Roster of Small Roasters

BARRINGTON COFFEE COMPANY
Supplies the acclaimed coffee at Joe in the West Village. 800-528-0998 www.barringtoncoffee.com.

BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE CO.
A true micro-roaster, roasting coffee in 7-pound batches. Quirky descriptions of the coffees offered (“this organic Yirgacheffe is to hearty robust fudginess as Rickie Lee Jones is to impeccable diction”) 510-653-3394 www.bluebottlecoffee.net.

ESPRESSO VIVACE
This company focuses on two pungent but lighter roasts: Espresso Dolce (best for straight espresso shots and black coffee) and Espresso Vita (sweet when combined with foamed milk or cream). 206-860-5869 www.espressovivace.com.

GORILLA COFFEE
Park Slope coffeehouse that roasts fair trade coffee to a dark richness. 97 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn 718-230-2343 www.gorillacoffee.com.

HAUSBRANDT USA
Importers of caffeine-free, barley based Orzespresso pods. 215-820-0407 www.hausbrandtusa.com.

SMALL WORLD COFFEE
Notable for their original blends, with whimsical names like “Black and Tan” and “Organic Love.” 609-924-4377 www.smallworldcoffee.com.

STUMPTOWN COFFEE ROASTERS
A renowned sourcer and roaster of coffee, mainly from small sustainable farms. 503-230-7797 www.stumptowncoffee.com.