Our Story
Two couples. One kitchen table. A pandemic, and a decision to build something worth having on the other side. That's Apocalypse Coffee.
Built by four.
Lisa
With more than 21,000 hours roasting coffee, Lisa creates roast profiles that bring out the best flavor in every bean. As CEO and CFO, she's also our head BEAN COUNTER—pun intended.
Mike
With over 25 years in customer service and sales, Mike believes the quality of service and work environment should match the quality of the coffee and food we serve.
Christine
An artist by training, Christine shapes the look and feel of everything ACR touches, keeping the visual world of the brand every bit as bold as the coffee inside the bag.
Justin
A decade designing immersive museum installations taught Justin how to build worlds. Now he designs the destinations, murals and rooms that make every visit feel like an experience.
Six years, briefly.
Before any of this, Mike and Lisa ran a beloved music venue and coffee lounge in Melbourne. He kept the room running; she went hunting for a coffee good enough to serve their guests. When nothing measured up, Lisa bought a drum roaster and taught herself — logging more than 21,000 hours behind it.
In late 2019, Mike's sister Christine and her husband Justin moved home from Los Angeles. Then March 2020 hit. The four sat across a kitchen table and bet on the coffee — if the world was changing anyway, they'd build something worth having on the other side.
The first café opened that July, in the middle of a global shutdown. People came back, then brought friends. A second destination followed in 2023. Six years on: two cafés, twelve roasts shipping nationwide, and a roaster still hand-tuned every morning.
See how we roast →
From farm tocup.
Shade-grown on partner farms from Bali to the rainforests of Costa Rica. Cherries ripen slowly under the canopy, then beans are hand-selected and sun-dried before processing.
Conventional coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed crops on earth. We source only the purest certified third-party organic beans — no shortcuts, no compromise.
Small-batch and dialed to the second across 21,000+ hours of experience. We roast and package using only eco-friendly technology.
Coarse
French press + cold brewCoarse grinds are chunky. Similar to coarse sea salt.
Medium
Drip coffee maker + pour oversIn between coarse and medium. Looks like rough sand.
Fine
Espresso + moka potMost pre-ground coffee comes like this. Finer than table salt.