Products · Coffee · Counter Culture Coffee
Counter Culture Apollo Organic Medium Roast Whole Bean
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An organic Ethiopian blend whose bags print a roasted-on date, per the maker. USDA lists Apollo as organic. Counter Culture posts no lab results, so mold, pesticide and metal levels are unknown. About $20 for 12 oz.
Best for Shoppers who want an organic, freshly roasted coffee from an established roaster and are comfortable without posted lab results.
- Our quality rating
- Fair (3 of 5)
- Price range
- Mid-range
- Verified marks
- USDA Organic (CCOF)
- Size
- 12 oz whole bean (24 oz and 5 lb also sold)
- Made in
- Ethiopia, washed; a year-round blend whose components change with the harvest
approx. $20 for 12 oz (24 oz is approx. $38.50)
See it on Counter Culture Coffee’s site →We are not affiliated with Counter Culture Coffee. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.
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Your review
Reviews are personal experiences, not research, and they never change our quality ratings. Every review is read by our team before it appears.
How we evaluated it
Why we chose it What put it on our list
- USDA’s Organic Integrity Database lists Counter Culture Coffee (Durham, North Carolina) as certified through CCOF (status effective 16 December 2021, profile updated 19 October 2026). The scope names “Apollo”, its decaf “Slow Motion” and dozens of other coffees.
- The product page lists “Certifications: Organic + Kosher” and “Harvest Process: Washed”. Our mold-toxin guide says washed coffees generally carry less ochratoxin A.
- Counter Culture’s freshness guide says it prints both a “Roasted On” and a “Best By” date on its bags, and tells you to go by the roasted-on date. The product page also lets you look up a batch’s blend by roast date.
- A different Counter Culture coffee, the organic dark roast Forty-Six, ranked among the 16 cleanest of 57 coffees in Clean Label Project’s 2025 test of heavy metals, pesticides, glyphosate, BPA and BPS, phthalates and acrylamide. Apollo itself was not tested.
Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy
- We found no lab results for Apollo, or any Counter Culture coffee, on the company’s site: no mold-toxin, pesticide or heavy-metal report.
- The roasted-on date is the maker’s statement. We have not held a bag.
- Organic does not mean residue-free. Clean Label Project found AMPA, a glyphosate breakdown product, in every organic coffee it tested in 2025.
- Counter Culture sells organic and conventional coffees side by side, and says so in its FAQ. Check the label on the bag you pick.
What to know Details worth knowing first
Counter Culture is a North Carolina roaster that sells organic and conventional coffees side by side, so the label matters. Apollo is one of the organic ones: USDA’s database lists it by name under the company’s CCOF certification, and the product page lists it as organic. It is a washed Ethiopian blend that changes with the harvest.
What it lacks is lab results. We found no mold-toxin, pesticide or heavy-metal report on the company’s site. The nearest independent evidence is Clean Label Project’s 2025 test, where a different Counter Culture coffee, the organic dark roast Forty-Six, ranked among the 16 cleanest of 57 coffees. That says something about the roaster, not about Apollo.
Choose it if you want a mid-priced, organic, freshly roasted bag. For what the organic label does and does not guarantee, see organic vs. conventional. For the mold-toxin question, see our guide to mold toxins.
Quality & testing How it measures up against our checklist
| What we checked | What we found |
|---|---|
| Published lab tests Not verified | None found on Counter Culture’s site. |
| Organic or residue-tested Verified | Listed as USDA Organic: Counter Culture Coffee, NOP ID 5561007139, certified by CCOF Certification Services. The scope names Apollo. |
| A roast date Maker’s claim | The company’s freshness guide says its bags carry both a “Roasted On” and a “Best By” date. We have not held a bag. |
| Independent test of another Counter Culture coffee Verified | Forty-Six (organic dark roast) is in Clean Label Project’s 2025 Clean Sixteen. Apollo was not tested. |
| Hot coffee kept off plastic Maker’s claim | Sold as whole beans only on the company’s site, so nothing hot touches the packaging. |
What the labels mean
- Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
- Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
- Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.
Sources Where our facts come from
- Counter Culture Coffee: Apollo product page. Maker’s page. Open ↗
- Counter Culture Coffee: Coffee Basics, Freshness (roasted-on and best-by dates). Maker’s page. Open ↗
- Counter Culture Coffee FAQ (organic and conventional offerings, whole beans only). Maker’s page. Open ↗
- USDA Organic Integrity Database: Counter Culture Coffee. Certifier or regulator listing. Checked 22 October 2026. The listing names Apollo and Slow Motion. It does not name Forty-Six. Open ↗
- Clean Label Project: Coffee Clean Sixteen, 2025. Test report. Ranks 16 of 57 coffees by combined contamination scores. Includes Counter Culture’s Forty-Six. Open ↗
- Clean Label Project coffee study, August 2025. Test report. Source for the AMPA finding in organic coffees. Open ↗
- Amazon listing: Counter Culture Apollo, 2-pack. Independent source. Seen 22 October 2026 at $33.00; sold by Counter Culture Coffee. Open ↗
Where to buy Other stores and the prices we saw
- Amazon approx. $33 for two 12 oz bags. Sold by Counter Culture’s own Amazon storefront and shipped by Amazon.
Prices as we saw them on October 22, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.
Alternatives Other options to compare
- Counter Culture Slow Motion (decaf) Organic, and described as decaffeinated with the Swiss Water Process, also about $20 for 12 oz. Counter Culture’s organic listing names it.
- Fresh Roasted Coffee Organic Peru Organic with a roast-date sticker for about $16 for 12 oz. Its testing rests on the maker’s word.
- Purity Coffee FLOW Posts a named-lab report for mold toxins, at about $29 for 12 oz.