Today we’d like to introduce you to RUSSELL MOSS.
Hi RUSSELL, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our story really starts with two people who spent their lives in service to others and one day asked themselves a simple question: What do we want to build? Russell served this country as a United States Air Force veteran, and Zakiya spent her career as a Licensed Paramedic, rushing to emergencies and putting others’ needs first. Service was not just what we did, it was who we were. But after years of giving everything to our careers, we found ourselves at a crossroads, full of purpose and passion with no real outlet for it, and we knew it was time to build something of our own. Drip Queen Coffee was born in 2021, and it did not start with a grand location or a major investment. It started with a tent, a dream, and a product so good that people could not stop talking about it. We created Latte-ish Dessert-Flavored Cold Brew Coffee to reimagine what cold brew coffee could be. Not just a caffeine delivery system, but an experience. A Red Velvet Cheesecake in a bottle. A Honey Lavender moment. A Brown Butter Toffee memory. Flavors that felt like a warm hug and a celebration all at once, crafted for people who believe their coffee should be as intentional as the life they are building. From that tent, we grew into the North Colorado Springs Mall, which gave us our first real home and introduced Drip Queen Coffee to the Colorado Springs community in a meaningful way. People came for the cold brew coffee and stayed because of how it made them feel. That told us everything we needed to know about where we were headed. Four years in, we had outgrown our space in ways that went beyond square footage. We had a vision that was bigger than a retail space could hold. So in the fall of 2025, we opened our Coffee Lounge at 3230 Centennial Boulevard, a full 21-plus jazz lounge and café where guests can slow down, settle in, and actually be present. Smooth jazz plays in the background, Pikes Peak sits in the view, and everything on the menu, from our signature Latte-ish cold brew coffee creations to our unique menu items like crab cake sliders or gouda and bacon stuffed mushrooms, is designed to make you feel like royalty. Because in our world, that is exactly what you are. At the same time the lounge was coming to life, the Latte-ish cold brew coffee line was going national. As a Cold Brew Coffee Manufacturer, we secured distribution through McLane Emerging Brands, US Foods Direct, and Sysco Marketplace, which put Drip Queen Coffee on shelves and in consumers’ hands far beyond Colorado. We are also distributed internationally through Faire and Mable, reaching wholesale partners who want to offer their customers something genuinely different. And here in Colorado Springs, we are proud to be contracted to serve our Latte-ish cold brew coffee to fans attending United States Air Force Academy events, bringing our product full circle to the military community that shaped so much of who we are. We also carry our coffee and tea experience directly to people through our catering vertical, serving events, corporate gatherings, and private celebrations with the same elevated touch that defines everything we do. We hold certifications as a ByBlack Verified business, a Colorado Proud Manufacturer, BBB Accredited, and 1% for the Planet member, and we operate out of an FDA-registered manufacturing facility. Those credentials matter to us because they represent our commitment to doing this the right way, with integrity at every level. We went from a tent to a lounge. From a single product to a nationally distributed line. From Colorado Springs to the world. And we are genuinely just getting started. Drip Queen Coffee was never just about coffee. It has always been about creating a space, a feeling, and a community where people know they belong. We call our customers the Royals, and everything we build is built for them.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth? No. Worth it? Absolutely. Every single step of it. When you decide to build something that has never been done before, you have to make peace early with the fact that the road is going to push back. And it did. Repeatedly. But looking back, every obstacle we faced was actually shaping us into the brand we needed to become. One of our earliest and most persistent challenges was simply being seen. Brand recognition is everything in the beverage industry, and when you are a small Black-owned business launching a premium cold brew coffee line out of Colorado Springs, you are not starting with the visibility that big brands take for granted. We did not have a national marketing budget. We did not have a publicist or a distribution deal on day one. What we had was a product genuinely unlike anything else on the market, and a deep belief that if we could just get it into people’s hands, they would understand. And that brings us to the second wall we kept running into: people’s relationship with what coffee is supposed to be. Coffee culture in America is deeply habitual. People wake up and reach for what they already know: the same chain, the same flavor, the same routine. When we introduced Latte-ish Dessert Flavored Cold Brew Coffee and told people it tasted like Red Velvet Cheesecake or Brown Butter Toffee, the first reaction was often skepticism. We heard things like “that sounds too sweet” or “I’m a black coffee person” before they ever took a sip. The norm had a very strong grip on people, and we were asking them to loosen it. What we learned is that the first sip was almost always the turning point. Once someone actually tasted Latte-ish cold brew coffee, the conversation changed completely. The challenge was creating enough opportunities for that first sip to happen, because we were not just selling a product, we were asking people to expand their entire idea of what coffee could be. That takes time, consistency, and a whole lot of patience. There were also invisible obstacles that nobody talks about when celebrating a small business on social media. The long days where the revenue did not match the effort. The moments of doubt that creep in at 2 in the morning when you are wondering if you are building something real or just chasing a dream that is too big. The reality of being a veteran and a paramedic trying to learn an entirely new industry from the inside out, navigating food manufacturing regulations, distribution logistics, wholesale pricing, and brand positioning all at the same time, often simultaneously and often without a roadmap. We bootstrapped more than people know and depended on close family for assistance. We figured things out in real time. We made decisions under pressure and learned from those that did not go as planned. And through all of it, we held onto the core belief that Drip Queen Coffee was filling a real gap in the market and that the community we were building around it was worth every hard moment. What kept us moving was our people. Our Royals showed up for us before we had a lounge, before we had national distribution, before we had any of the credentials and contracts we carry today. They drove across town to the north side for a cold brew coffee at a mall. They tagged us in posts and brought their friends. They became the proof of concept that no pitch deck could have manufactured. When the road got hard, we looked at them and remembered exactly why we started. The struggles are still real. But they are also the very things that make Drip Queen Coffee impossible to replicate, because everything we built was earned, and that gives it a foundation that no shortcut could ever create.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Drip Queen Coffee is NOT a “coffee shop”. We want to be very clear about that, because the moment you walk through our doors and see the velvet seating or open a bottle of Latte-ish Dessert Flavored Cold Brew Coffee, you will understand exactly what we mean. We are a coffee destination, a manufacturing brand, a wholesale partner, a catering experience, and a community gathering place all operating under one name with one unified mission: to make people feel like royalty through every sip, every visit, and every interaction they have with us. What we specialize in is transformation. We took cold-brew coffee, which most people associate with a plain, bitter, grab-and-go beverage, and reimagined it entirely. Latte-ish Dessert Flavored Cold Brew Coffee is our signature product line and the heartbeat of everything Drip Queen Coffee represents. These are not syrups added to a base. These are slow-brewed, small-batch, dessert-inspired cold brew coffee creations made in our FDA-registered manufacturing facility right here in Colorado. Every flavor tells a story. Each one is crafted to deliver an experience that feels indulgent and intentional, and every bottle is lactose-friendly, making it accessible to a much wider audience than traditional coffee drinks ever reached. We are Colorado’s only Black-owned dessert-inspired cold brew coffee manufacturer, and we carry that distinction with enormous pride because it represents not just who we are but what we are proving is possible. We hold certifications as a ByBlack Verified business, a Colorado Proud Manufacturer, a BBB Accredited company, an FDA Registered manufacturer, and a 1% for the Planet member. Those are not just credentials on a website. They are proof of our commitment to operating at the highest standard across every dimension of this business. On the distribution side, Latte-ish cold brew coffee is available nationally through McLane Emerging Brands, US Foods Direct, and Sysco Marketplace, and we reach wholesale partners internationally through Faire and Mable. We are also proudly contracted to serve our cold brew coffee to fans attending United States Air Force Academy events here in Colorado Springs, which is a partnership that carries deep personal meaning for us as a veteran-led business. Russell served this country in uniform, and now Drip Queen Coffee serves the community that surrounds that same mission. That full-circle moment is one we do not take lightly. Then there is our Coffee Lounge, our 21-plus jazz lounge and café at 3230 Centennial Boulevard in Colorado Springs, and this is where the brand truly comes alive in three dimensions. We designed this space because we believed the world needed a place where adults could actually exhale. Not a drive-through. Not a place where you are quietly encouraged to grab your order and clear the table. A genuine lounge where smooth jazz plays, Pikes Peak Mountain sits in your sightline, and every detail, from the gold-accented presentation to the curated menu, is designed to signal to you that you are somewhere special. The menu at our Coffee Lounge reflects the same boldness that defines our cold brew coffee line. We serve Southern-inspired small bites alongside our Latte-ish cold brew coffee creations, including crab cake sliders, lobster risotto puffs, savory shareables, desserts, and handcrafted herbal teas. Coffee and seafood are not a combination most people expect, and that is exactly the point. We have never been interested in giving people what they expected. We are interested in giving them something better. Our catering vertical extends the Drip Queen Coffee experience beyond our four walls, bringing our premium cold brew coffee and tea service directly to private events, corporate gatherings, and celebrations throughout the Colorado Springs area. Every setup we bring to an event carries the same intentionality and elevated presentation that guests experience inside the lounge. What sets us apart from every other coffee brand is that we operate at the intersection of culture, community, and craft. We are a veteran family business. We are deeply rooted in Colorado Springs while simultaneously building a national footprint. We call our customers the Royals because that is genuinely how we see them, and every product we make, every space we design, and every partnership we pursue is built around honoring that relationship. What are we most proud of? Honestly, it is the fact that we built something real. We did not follow a template. There was no blueprint for a Black-owned, veteran-led, dessert-inspired cold-brew coffee manufacturer with a jazz lounge, national distribution, an Air Force Academy contract, and an international wholesale presence, all growing simultaneously out of Colorado Springs. We wrote that blueprint ourselves, one hard-earned milestone at a time.
We want Voyage Magazine readers to know that Drip Queen Coffee is a brand built with intention and growing with purpose. Whether you discover us through a bottle of Latte-ish cold brew coffee on a shelf, a seat in our lounge, a catered event, or a wholesale partnership, you are stepping into something created to make you feel something. That is what we do. That is what we will always do. Come sit with us. The jazz is smooth, the coffee is extraordinary, and there is always a seat at the table for a Royal.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
If you want to understand Drip Queen Coffee, you have to understand the two people who built it, because this brand is not a business strategy. It is a biography. Russell grew up with a natural pull toward structure, precision, and showing up when it counted. The kind of person who did not just talk about doing things but actually did them, quietly, completely, and with a standard that most people around him were still working up to. That is the personality that leads a person into military service, and it is the same personality that carries a business through the moments when everything feels uncertain. The Air Force did not create that discipline in Russell. It recognized it. It gave it a framework. And when the uniform came off, that same precision transferred directly into how Drip Queen Coffee operates, how we manufacture, how we fulfill orders, how we show up for wholesale partners, and how we hold ourselves accountable to every commitment we make. When you are contract-bound to serve cold brew coffee at United States Air Force Academy events, when you are a supplier inside the McLane Emerging Brands network, when Sysco and US Foods carry your product, there is no room for inconsistency. Russell’s whole life prepared him for exactly that level of expectation. Zakiya grew up as a connector. The person who could walk into any room and immediately understand what people needed, not just what they were asking for, but what was underneath the ask. That is what makes an exceptional paramedic. You do not just treat the surface. You read the whole situation. You stay calm when the environment is not. You find a way to help even when the resources are limited. Those instincts are woven into every layer of Drip Queen Coffee. The way we designed the lounge was not based on a hospitality textbook. It was based on Zakiya’s lifelong understanding of what human beings need on a heavy day. They need to feel safe. They need to feel seen. They need a moment to breathe. That is what Drip Queen Coffee Lounge was built to deliver, and it is why guests walk in for the first time and immediately feel like they have been there before. Together, we brought two very different but deeply complementary skill sets into this business. Russell brought the systems, the standards, and the operational backbone that a scaling brand requires. Zakiya brought the emotional intelligence, the community instinct, and the creative vision that make people fall in love with what we are building. And neither of us knew how to run a coffee manufacturing company when we started. What we knew was how to work hard, how to serve people well, and how to keep going when the circumstances were not in our favor. That combination turned out to be exactly the right foundation. There is something else worth saying here. Both of us spent our careers in professions where the stakes were real. Russell in the military, Zakiya in emergency medicine. When you have operated in environments where the margin for error is genuinely small, you develop a tolerance for pressure that most entrepreneurial situations simply cannot match. The hard days of building Drip Queen Coffee were hard, but they were a different kind of hard. Nobody was in danger. Nobody needed saving in the way we had each experienced before. That perspective kept us grounded when the business felt overwhelming, because we had both already proven to ourselves that we could handle what was truly difficult. Building a brand, fighting for shelf space, learning an industry from scratch, those challenges were real, but they were also workable. We had the receipts on ourselves that said we could figure it out. We also both grew up understanding the value of community. Russell’s military life meant building trust quickly with people from every background imaginable. Zakiya’s paramedic career meant showing up for strangers on their worst days without judgment. Those experiences gave us a genuine, non-performative love for people. When we call our customers the Royals, it is not a marketing device. It is a reflection of how we were both raised to treat the people around us, with dignity, with care, and with the kind of attention that makes someone feel like they matter. That is ultimately what Drip Queen Coffee is. It is two people who spent their whole lives serving others who finally built a place and a product where that service could take on an entirely new form. We brought everything we were into everything we built, and the brand that emerged on the other side is one that could not have been created by anyone else, because no one else had lived the exact combination of experiences, values, and determination that made it possible. The business grew the way we grew. Through discipline. Through empathy. Through an unwillingness to quit. And through an absolute refusal to believe that the vision was too big for the people holding it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dripqueencoffee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dripqueencoffee
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/dripqueencoffee
