What began as a humble hole-in-the-wall coffee bar in Emerald Garden has grown into one of Singapore’s most recognisable specialty coffee spots.
Once nestled at 6 Ann Siang Hill, Maxi Coffee Bar has built a loyal following that outlasts its physical locations — thanks to founders Joy Cheng and Denise Lum’s passion for coffee, hospitality, and community.
The two have been friends since secondary school. Denise, a former lawyer, first opened Maxi Coffee Bar in 2018 as a tiny coffee counter. In 2020, Joy—once an aspiring academic who decided she didn’t want a life behind a desk and was working as a barista at various cafés for years—joined her to launch a bigger iteration at Ann Siang Hill.
In June, the coffee bar was allegedly given two days notice to vacate its premises, sparking speculation among netizens and regulars about the sudden closure.
However, it seems like the founders aren’t throwing in the towel just yet.
We spoke with Joy to learn to learn how Maxi Coffee Bar has navigated Singapore’s competitive F&B market while staying true to their craft.
A space for warmth and connection
From day one, the duo envisioned Maxi Coffee Bar as more than just a caffeine stop. They wanted it to be a warm, inviting space where people could relax and feel at home.
While ‘bar’ in Italian means “coffee shop,” Joy and Denise chose the word deliberately to set themselves apart from the sea of cafés in Singapore. For them, Maxi Coffee Bar is a “sacred space” that reflects their identity in the coffee scene — one they are committed to protecting without compromise.
“Consumers sometimes have very fixed expectations when they hear the word ‘café’ — scrambled eggs on toast, that sort of thing,” Joy explained. “We wanted people to imagine something different.”
The term “bar” also nods to Maxi’s origins in a compact space, where intimacy and connection are key.
Coffee for everyone
Despite its humble space, Maxi Coffee Bar has been serving two types of customers: those who pop in for a quick coffee, and those who linger for hours. Whichever camp you’re in, the staff make it a point to chat with you — asking about your day, your work, or your life.
“I find great meaning in talking to customers about what’s going on in their lives,” Joy said. “From customers, they’ve become friends. That’s how we retain them.”
Their dream is a dual service model of their new space: fast-paced at the front for busy patrons, and slow, relaxed service inside for those who want to savour their coffee and the atmosphere.
While their former place at Ann Siang Hill was small, it was still a cosy spot that was bustling with coffee lovers.
From bean to cup
For the first two years, Maxi Coffee Bar sourced beans from international artisanal roasters whose values aligned with theirs. Eventually, Joy and Denise decided to express their own coffee vision. Drawing on years of experience, they began sourcing green coffee directly from smallholder farmers in countries like Panama and Ethiopia— beans that are ethically grown and offer distinctive flavour profiles.
For the past four years, Maxi Coffee has been roasting these beans in-house at co-roasting spaces like Community Coffee and Tai Seng, importing them through trusted partners such as Nordic Approach and Glyph Supply. Each green coffee is selected through rigorous tasting before committing to a steady supply.
Their preference is for light roasts that highlight coffee’s natural fruity notes, reflecting its origins as the seed of a fruit. Coffee, after all, is the seed of a fruit—and factors like soil, climate, and altitude in its growing region influence its aroma, acidity, and sweetness.
Since 2023, roasting their own beans has given them full control over flavour and quality, as well as the chance to offer roles beyond barista work—in sourcing and roasting.
The food menu is designed to complement their drinks, from artisanal bakes by small local bakers to their house-made sandwiches, which have been a fan-favourite over the years.
Staying true without chasing trends
Maxi Coffee Bar’s marketing is almost entirely organic, with the team sharing authentic snippets of their day rather than chasing fads.
“We don’t enjoy chasing trends for the sake of it,” Joy said. “We’d rather focus on what we believe in.”
They also maintain strict hiring standards, looking for staff who share their passion for both coffee and people. This approach has paid off, with a consistently high staff retention rate.
Their coffees have become so well-known that they’ve launched a line of canned filter coffee for customers to enjoy anywhere. Maxi’s canned coffee is still available for purchase, together with their house-roasted retail coffee bags on their website.
Learning beyond borders
The duo’s commitment to their craft extends far beyond Singapore. They travel to coffee origins — most recently Colombia — to taste, study, and bring back flavour inspiration.
Joy is also active in coffee competitions, not just to win awards but to learn from other baristas and techniques. They host guest brewers from abroad, like Switzerland’s Rose Coffee Roasters, and run occasional pop-ups with local F&B such as UgliSabi to keep their food menu fresh for customers.
To them, they want to make the experience of going to their bar as rewarding as consuming the intricacies of specialty coffee that they serve, natural and experiential.
Weathering storms
As a small bootstrapped business, Maxi Coffee Bar has weathered its share of challenges — from its early days in a condominium corner to surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. For Joy and Denise, making it through those difficult years remains one of their proudest achievements, and they take heart in how far the business has come.
In Singapore’s competitive F&B scene, keeping specialty coffee both accessible and high-quality is an ongoing balancing act. They are grateful to have managed costs without compromising on ethical sourcing, flavour standards, or the joy of the experience.
The sudden closure of their Ann Siang Hill outlet sparked curiosity among loyal customers. Joy shared that Maxi Coffee Bar became collateral damage in a dispute between their main tenant and the landlord, despite paying their rent on time.
As sub-tenants, their lease agreement was only with the main tenant. When the latter defaulted on rent and broke their lease, the landlord—in response—required the Maxi Coffee team to vacate the premises.
Despite the sudden closure, Maxi Coffee isn’t giving up yet. They are set to open their new coffee bar in September. For now, customers can catch them at Wildcard, a bar run by Denise, on weekends in the same neighbourhood serving Maxi’s coffee.
Maxi Coffee Bar continues to look ahead
In a café scene often filled with cookie-cutter concepts, Maxi Coffee Bar continues to stand out by keeping coffee at the centre and community at its heart. Whether for a quick takeaway or a lingering afternoon chat, Maxi has shown it’s here to stay—wherever it sets up next.
Joy’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple but sobering: one has to be ready to pay the price for their dreams.
“You have to be totally convinced by your ‘why’. Because the journey is so hard, any rational person would give up. Those who don’t, do it because they love it.”
Looking forward, the duo hopes to keep serving exceptional coffee with single-minded focus, deepen their craft, and broaden their product range to share great coffee with even more people.
- Find out more about Maxi Coffee Bar here.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Maxi Coffee Bar
