A Cup Of Joe With An Apostate

There are many other “ex-Mo” entrepreneurs. Melissa mentions a candle company that gives its products names you’d have to be an apostate to truly appreciate, and there are even distilleries crafting very-against-the-rules libations these days. A cursory glance makes it seem as though all these companies appeal to their consumers with branding that speaks to the ridiculous nature of the many prohibitions from the church. At Apostate’s the mission reads, “We invite others to come to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the importance of coffee and how it can bless us and strengthen and nourish our bodies.” It’s ostensibly something current Mormons would find sacrilegious, and it gets the point across enough for outsiders. This sensibility is all over the text on Apostate’s website. The most popular roast incorporates a riff on Joseph Smith’s “modesty” with sleekly hilarious design. One of the bundles sold is called “Eternal Companions” and the team that put Apostate together are in on the joke.

Closing out 2022, Melissa has seen an uptick in business with demand sometimes outweighing her roasted-by-order production limits. In the future she anticipates catching up on the scale for all the bean thirsty ex-Mormons out there. She’d even like to branch out and take on Apostate as full-time career. Melissa envisions opening a brick-and-mortar coffee shop in the future, perhaps in Utah, where, naturally, the largest contingent of “ex-Mo’s” are found.

Apostate is a reprisal of the Mormon experience created by folks with skin in the game. That it’s catching on reflects the power of communities to proliferate and become self-sustaining in the modern world. Of course, it’s also a world of connectivity that allows for things like Mormonism to proliferate, but the tide is turning, and more and more people may just relax and smell the coffee.