Recess Coffee

What Recess Coffee does

Recess Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster and cafe operator headquartered in Syracuse, NY, founded in 2007. The company operates three retail cafe locations across the Westcott, Downtown, and Tipperary Hill neighborhoods of Syracuse, serving a local community base of students, scholars, artists, families, and professionals. Beyond retail, Recess runs a wholesale coffee program supplying restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores with signature blends such as the Westcott Blend, house espresso, single origin coffees, and cold brew, along with custom blend creation services. The company also operates an e-commerce store for bulk coffee and merchandise, an event catering service offering mobile espresso bars and trained baristas, and a mobile ordering platform for in-store pickup.

Recess Coffee's core technology is the Hive Café Brewer system, for which it serves as the East Coast home. The Hive Café Brewer is a commercial brewing system available in Cafe 3 and Cafe 6 models that produces high-concentration cold brew in 20-30 minutes, compared to 12-24 hours for traditional bucket immersion brewing. The system features self-filtering technology that eliminates brew sediment and extends shelf life, and the Hive Cafe 6 model can produce output equivalent to 18 immersion buckets in an 8-hour cycle. Recess also acts as a dealer for major commercial coffee equipment manufacturers including LaMarzocco, Nuova Simonelli, Mazzer, Mahlkonig, and Bunn, providing wholesale partners with integrated equipment sourcing alongside coffee supply.

The company operates as a privately held, founder-owned, bootstrapped business with no external institutional investment, no parent company, and no disclosed funding rounds. Its revenue model is diversified across retail cafe sales, wholesale distribution, direct-to-consumer e-commerce, event catering, and equipment brokerage through brand partnerships. Customer acquisition is driven primarily through organic social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), email newsletters, and the company website. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company sources fairly traded beans direct from farms with sustainability missions and roasts in its custom production facility.

Name

Recess Coffee

Website

https://recesscoffee.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Recess Coffee is a Syracuse, NY-based specialty coffee roaster founded in 2007 that operates three retail cafes, a wholesale coffee and equipment distribution business, event catering, and an e-commerce store, serving local consumers, restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Shops

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920), Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Roasters with Cafe (Roastery Cafes) (THAFADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Independent Neighborhood Cafes (THAFADAC), Instant Coffee & Coffee Extract Manufacturing (AFAFADAD), Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee roasting
• Retail coffee cafes
• Wholesale coffee distribution
• Event coffee catering
• Commercial brewing equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Syracuse

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Cafe Sales: In-person coffee and beverage sales at three Syracuse locations targeting local community members including students, families, artists, and professionals.
2. Wholesale Coffee Distribution: Bulk coffee sales to restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores. Offers classic blends like Westcott Blend, house espresso, single origin coffees, cold brew, and vegan cookies. Also provides custom blend creation services.
3. E-commerce Sales: Online store selling bulk coffee and merchandise delivered to customers' doors.
4. Catering Services: Event catering with pickup options, mobile espresso service, and trained baristas for weddings, office parties, graduations, and special events.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Recess Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster founded in 2007 and based in Syracuse, NY, operating three retail cafe locations and a custom roasting production facility. The company sells roasted coffee (signature blends, espresso, single origins, cold brew) wholesale to restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores, and represents the Hive Café Brewer commercial brewing system on the East Coast. They also offer mobile ordering, an online store, catering services for events, and equipment dealer partnerships with major commercial coffee equipment brands.

Product overview

Recess Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster and cafe operator based in Syracuse, NY, founded in 2007. The company operates three cafe locations and a wholesale program. Their product portfolio centers on the Hive Café Brewer (commercial brewing equipment available in Cafe 3 and Cafe 6 models), their roasted coffee offerings (including Westcott Blend, House Espresso, Single Origin coffees, and Cold Brew), plus catering and wholesale services for restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores. They also offer mobile ordering and an online store for direct-to-consumer sales of bulk coffee and merchandise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hive Café Brewer Commercial brewing system available in Cafe 3 and Cafe 6 models that produces high-concentration cold brew in 20-30 minutes compared to 12-24 hours with traditional bucket immersion brewing. Features a self-filtering system that eliminates brew sediment, streamlines workflow, and extends shelf life. The Hive Cafe 6 produces equivalent to 18 immersion buckets in 8 hours; the Hive Cafe 3 produces equivalent to 8 buckets. Concentrate can serve as espresso replacement or be diluted to ready-to-drink format.
• Roasted Coffee Products Signature and seasonal roasted coffee offerings including Westcott Blend, House Espresso, Single Origin Coffees, and Cold Brew. Beans are fairly traded and sourced direct from farms with sustainability and ethical practices missions. Available through cafe locations, wholesale distribution to restaurants/cafes/grocery stores, and the online store.
• Catering Services Mobile espresso and trained barista services for events including weddings, office parties, graduations, and special events. Pickup joe-to-go and mobile espresso options available, with trained baristas to operate the caffeination station on-site.
• Wholesale Coffee Distribution B2B wholesale program supplying roasted coffee products to restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores. Includes custom blend creation services and equipment dealer relationships with LaMarzocco, Nuova Simonelli, Mazzer, Mahlkonig, Bunn, Hive Brewer, and Brewbomb, allowing wholesale partners to source coffee and equipment together.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• LaMarzoccocoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment dealer partnership. Recess Coffee is a dealer for LaMarzocco coffee equipment, offering wholesale partners access to professional espresso machines with pricing that can beat online prices.
• Nuova SimonellicoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment dealer partnership providing Nuova Simonelli commercial coffee equipment to wholesale partners.
• MazzercoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment dealer partnership providing Mazzer commercial grinders to wholesale partners.
• MahlkonigcoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment dealer partnership providing Mahlkonig commercial grinders to wholesale partners.
• BunncoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment dealer partnership providing Bunn commercial coffee equipment to wholesale partners.
• Hive BrewercoreTechnology or IntegrationRecess Coffee is the East Coast home of The Hive Café Brewer, representing this brewing technology and offering both Cafe 3 and Cafe 6 models for commercial use.
• Syracuse Trivia CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Monday trivia nights at the Ulster Street location, starting at 7pm.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Verve Coffee Roasters: Specialty roaster operating neighborhood cafes plus wholesale and DTC channels. Closely mirrors Recess's combination of locally rooted cafes, signature blends, single-origin program and direct-to-consumer e-commerce.
• Onyx Coffee Lab: Specialty roaster with cafes and a strong wholesale program competing in the third-wave / single-origin segment. Comparable to Recess on product positioning and reliance on community-driven cafe retail.
• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster with multiple cafes, wholesale distribution and an integrated cold brew line. Closely comparable to Recess across product mix (roasted coffee, cold brew, single origin) and multi-channel retail + wholesale + DTC model, though at significantly larger scale.
• Counter Culture Coffee: Specialty roaster that sells wholesale to cafes and grocery and runs training/cupping programs for partners. Directly comparable to Recess's wholesale-led, education- and community-oriented specialty roaster model.
• Blue Bottle Coffee: Specialty roaster with neighborhood cafes, wholesale accounts and DTC e-commerce. Comparable offering to Recess, but operating at significantly larger scale and with corporate backing (Nestlé).
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Specialty roaster with direct-trade sourcing, cafes and a national wholesale program. Comparable to Recess on the roasting-plus-cafe-plus-wholesale bundle and emphasis on direct-trade, sustainably sourced beans.
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Specialty roaster with cafes, wholesale distribution and a strong draft latte / RTD cold brew line. Directly comparable to Recess on roasted coffee + cold brew portfolio and cafe + wholesale + DTC channels, with more emphasis on bottled RTD.

Broad incumbents

• Peet's Coffee: Established specialty coffee company with broad retail, grocery and foodservice distribution. Overlaps with Recess in wholesale/grocery coffee and cafes, but operates as a much larger national incumbent with mass-market positioning.
• Dunkin': Mass-market coffee and donut chain with extensive U.S. retail and grocery packaged-coffee presence. Adjacent incumbent to Recess in Syracuse retail coffee and grocery coffee competition, though positioned at a very different price/quality tier.
• Starbucks: Largest coffee chain operator and roaster with national cafe footprint and grocery packaged-coffee line. Overlaps with Recess in cafe operations and wholesale/retail packaged coffee, but at radically different scale and price positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/recessco?lang=en
• Facebookfacebook.com/Recesscoffee
• Instagraminstagram.com/recesscoffee/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Recess Coffee