Our Story
2015
FOUNDING
Fresh out of university, our founder Ivanco set out to build an Espresso Bar capable of handling Serious Volume. Driven by a growing obsession with coffee and the challenge of serving it properly at scale, he set up a small space in Ravenhall, Melbourne’s west, called Blackbox Espresso, which quickly became the testing ground for the realities of the hospitality industry.
Within six months it became clear that producing coffee at Serious Volume required a fundamentally different approach from the prevailing specialty coffee model offered by most cafés and roasters.
Read more about Serious Volume - dubbed SV here
SV also demanded usable support and training across three core principles that define us today:
People (Exceptional Service)
Customers, teams, suppliers and growers.
Product (Consistent Quality)
Setup, packaging and process.
Self (Expertise)
Operational knowledge, continued refinement and training.
2017 -2019
DRIVE-THRU
After reaching the limits of the Ravenhall space, Blackbox Espresso moved to a drive thru site in Melton, where it still operates today.
The new format allowed us to rebuild the entire model from the ground up. Customer convenience and simple efficiency became the design brief.
During this period we formally established the operational framework SV, that's now used to systematically evaluate the quality, capacity and performance of any coffee setup.
At the drive thru we identified every inefficiency in our previous layout and redesigned each station, movement path and workflow around capable equipment and supporting technology.
The objective was simple.
Efficiency under speed, pressure and repetition.
At the same time we introduced a made to order bagel menu, a unique offering in the area that would later develop a cult following during the lockdown years.
Within twelve months the Blackbox Espresso drive thru was serving more than 130kg of coffee per week.
2019
EXPANSION
With the Blackbox Espresso growing quickly, opportunities emerged to expand to a second and third site. On paper it was the obvious next step and the numbers justified it. But scaling this way meant accepting that the quality and consistency of our coffee would remain dependent on external roasters.
None we had worked with could match the operational demands of SV or demonstrate the technical depth required to reliably support growth at scale.
After considerable discussions we chose a different path.
Instead of expanding locations, we focused inward and Built Coffee as the foundation of the business, developed under the same performance based criteria that defined the Serious Volume concept.
In hindsight it was not the most financially efficient decision.
During the plandemic Blackbox Espresso drive thru proved uniquely suited to lockdown restrictions, and the planned expansion would likely have tripled the business.
But it was the right decision. It aligned our product with our system and ensured that future growth would rest on standards we controlled rather than variables we tolerated.
2020 - 2021
ROASTING R&D
During lockdowns, while the world slowed, a small sample roaster ran continuously late into the night in Ivanco’s garage.
The hum of the drum and the scent of roasted coffee became constant in the neighbourhood as batch after batch was tested, tasted and refined.
Every roast was evaluated through feedback from the Blackbox Espresso. Profiles were adjusted and repeated until the signature flavour of what would become our House Espresso began to emerge.
Through that repetition, patterns appeared.
The data was captured and preserved and later formed the foundation of the analytical AI system Mimi that now underpins our roasting approach.
2022 - 2024
FROM A ROASTERY TO THE WORLD
With our House Espresso blend established, it was time to step it up.
In a small factory space not far from where the original Blackbox Espresso first opened, our brand new Probat P12III coffee roaster was commissioned.
Garage benches became our Coffee Lab.
Improvisation became process, technology and AI.
During this period came travel.
Italy
Japan
South Korea
Different cultures and philosophies of coffee and hospitality, yet the same pattern of excellence everywhere.
People. Product. Self.
All of these experiences shaped the philosophy behind BAROQ and inspired the development of our Flagship Espresso Blends:
ORGANIC - Decaf Espresso
THE ONE - House Espresso
il PRINCIPE - Specialty x Italian Espresso
(pre production) - Modern Espresso
(pre production) - Wild Espresso
CARAVAGGIO - Masterpiece Espresso
Alongside these blends, we carefully curate a rotating selection of Single Origin and Exotic Coffees, chosen for their clarity, character and seasonal expression. Each lot is selected for how distinctly it represents its origin and processing style, offering a different perspective on what specialty coffee can be.
Together, these coffees represent different interpretations of Espresso and Specialty Coffee, each developed with its own balance of performance, flavour and capability.
2025 - TODAY
BAROQ
Today BAROQ represents the sum of the decade above.
Coffee to us is a Necessary Luxury, not a commodity. It's future depends on sustainability and fair compensation across the entire chain, from growers, processors, transporters, roasters to baristas.
In 2025, as coffee demand accelerated, we moved the roastery moved to a larger facility at 1/60 Katherine Drive, Ravenhall.
The new space significantly increased production capability while allowing deeper integration of technology and process control.
At the same time we formally connected our AI Mainframe - Mimi, a system that tracks and analyses internal production data across roasting, extraction and human sensory evaluation.
As far as we know this is an absolute first in the coffee industry and it stems from our somewhat unpopular opinion that AI is here to help, not to take over.
It will accelerate repetition and data analysis to reveal patterns, but it cannot replace taste, instinct or judgement. It can not replace Human.
Hospitality is Human.
Coffee is Human.
Knowledge is Human.
It's about us and for us. In our Coffee Lab, every decision is still made by people. Our sensory feedback guides the system. Patterns, deviations and subtle shifts are mapped and measured, helping us extract the best possible expression from every coffee we roast.
AI is the instrument.
We are the hand that guides it.