ABOUT US
We’re Aimee and Jack, the founders of Recluse Roasting Project, a small-batch coffee roasting business driven by our commitment to quality and integrity. Our mission is to bring you exceptional coffee while supporting the hands that grow it. Through direct relationships with coffee producers, partners we’ve met on our travels and grown to trust, we ensure they’re paid prices that allow them to sustain and grow their business. Unlike coffee priced against the C-Market, we either pay the price our producers set or work together to determine a rate well above their cost of production for that year. This support empowers farmers to embrace sustainable practices, provide education and food security for their workers, and improve living conditions on their farms.
As we expand our partnerships, we’re working toward a future where every coffee we offer is sourced through direct relationships with producers and importers who share our values. For us, great coffee is about more than taste, it’s about fostering community and supporting meaningful change in the coffee industry.
When we're not roasting, you can find us hiking with our dogs, camping, playing board games, gardening, or exploring nearby cities in search of great food.
DIRECT RELATIONSHIPS
Coffee is complex. It deserves more than being treated like an afterthought.
While wine and beer have long claimed their spot in the world of flavor and origin stories, coffee still has catching up to do. Many restaurants can speak to their wine list. Few can tell you anything about their coffee beyond the roaster.
That’s where we come in. We build direct relationships with producers we’ve met, people we’ve shared meals with, walked farms with, and learned from. These relationships allow us to pay prices that support better wages and more sustainable practices. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Every farm is different, and every coffee tells a story worth hearing.
If the future of specialty coffee is going to mean anything, it has to start with real connection.
Check out our Transparency Reports from 2018-2023 here and 2024 here.
NOT A COFFEE SHOP
We’re not a coffee shop.
Recluse is a wholesale coffee roastery based in Richmond, Virginia. During the pandemic, we ran weekend pop-ups just to keep the lights on. Word spread fast and lines wrapped around the block for slushies, cortados, and drip. The community showed up for us in a big way.
Once wholesale picked back up, we packed up the pop-up. These days, we’re back to doing what we set out to do: source and roast great coffee for great people.