On a Thursday morning in May, a man and a woman roll into a midtown Manhattan office with two James Bond–looking suitcases. They slither over to the company's communal gathering area where they unload the tools of their trade: sharp-edged grinders, precise scales, a variety of specialized heating devices, and four bags of highly prized beans. These coffee missionaries have been sent in by Joyride, a Queens, New York–based distribution company that is trying to retrain the coffee-drinking palates of corporate America. In its three years, Joyride has forged relationships with "the big four"--the high-end coffee industry's most respected roasters, which include Stumptown, Intelligentsia,...
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