Founded in 2019, Now or Never has always been dedicated to sharing coffee, creativity, and community.

 

 

 We serve a variety of customers who depend upon our daily coffee: creators, thinkers, educators, experts, visitors, residents, coaches, thinkers, designers, and doers. Greeting you with empathy and joy, we are always ready to offer a positive environment for what endeavor you are looking to pursue. We are here to serve you in the spirit of ‘Now or Never,’ to decide for better. What will be your Now or Never moment?

 

 

 

What is a Now or Never Moment?

Have you ever thought back on a moment that changed the trajectory of your life? Have you thought that a particular moment could impact your future in a positive way? Will that decision propel you towards what you’ve been intending all along? A new opportunity? A choice you would or wouldn’t have made? What would happen otherwise if you didn’t make that choice?

We could say it is a moment written in the stars, one you’ve been waiting to make. Or maybe it was a choice in a time of urgency, in hesitancy, thoughtfulness, or spontaneity. Regardless of when we leap into a moment, these choices shape who we are. 

Whether our employees, owner, or customers have different definitions of what their personal ‘Now or Never’ moment looks like, we all agree on one phrase: to decide for better. These actions, chosen for betterment and for opportunity, are how we define a Now or Never moment. 

In attempts to answer questions about our lives and to have courage in the choices we make, Now or Never is a dedication in leading our lives with the resolve to do good for ourselves, our families, and our community. 

Create a Now or Never Moment with us!

 

 

Our History

Now or Never is the product of long years of experimentation, sweat, and passion for Sehwan’s coffee dreams to flourish. Sehwan, founder of Now or Never Coffee, decided to quit his corporate job and start his passion in specialty coffee. 

In the Winter of 2014, Sehwan found himself in a local coffee shop in Astoria, Queens. While initially expecting to work on his job hunt, he had his first macchiato; love at first taste. With this eagerness to pursue specialty coffee, he began working at the same coffee shop. Eventually, his desire to learn more led him to join Blue Bottle Coffee in Summer of 2015, leading his curiosity to see coffee as more than just a bean, but a journey of taste, opportunity, and inspiration. 

While working at Blue Bottle Coffee, Sehwan met a barista by the name of David O’Nyon, who was a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. Sharing with Sehwan his dreams of writing a children’s book, that passion pushed him to publish his first book called “The Seventh Star.” David encouraged Sehwan to pursue his own aspirations.

With the goal to eventually open his own coffee shop, Sehwan worked on bringing specialty coffee to companies by operating in a mobile coffee cart. The Beakers Coffee Lab was born by experimentation with a variety of ideas to showcase specialty coffee, share knowledge to coffee lovers, and make one’s coffee journey unique throughout 2017 to 2019. 

One day in early 2019, Sehwan was watching the Cars 3 Movie with his son, and a line encouraging the main character, Cruz Ramirez, stuck out to him. To seize the moment, “It’s now or never.” Having made many career transitions in his life (Navy, News Anchor, Spokesperson, Sushi man, Grad School, Real Estate Agent, Corporate finance, Barista, Beakers Coffee Lab), this attitude of resilience and opportunity would be the perfect name to embody the values Sehwan wanted to share with the world. 

On April 17th, 2019, Sehwan officially opened Now or Never Coffee. Since opening, it has been our mission to nurture, welcome, and create a space in which our customers can play, show, teach, and sell their passions. In doing so, we celebrate these Now or Never moments. 

Turning around ownership and opening within 7 days, Sehwan has always led with heart, passion, and conviction. This passion enabled him to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading different efforts to bring coffee to all 218 firehouses in New York City, remodeling the shop through the slowness, and having the community give back to the shop through the form of a go-fund-me. Taking risks, staying hopeful, and always believing that Now or Never would survive led the shop to its most fruitful year of 2022. It will always be Now or Never, and to lead with hope, empathy, love and courage, will guarantee that the choices we make will give us a chance to change for better.