The Story
In 2012, the first Onyx Coffee Lab was born. Situated in their hometown of Northwest Arkansas, the aim was to bring better coffee to the region – and transparency was going to be at its core.
Jon & Andrea Allen, who has worked in coffee since she was 18, were surprised at the secrecy of the specialty coffee community. “My husband, Jon, and I were working in coffee together, which was really fun,” she tells me. “And after a time, we decided to run some coffee shops locally.
Back in 2011, specialty coffee was a closely guarded secret. Many in the sector were reluctant to share their expertise, leaving those with ambitions to launch their own specialty coffee companies more or less in the dark. For Andrea Allen, who has worked in coffee since she was 18, this seemed odd. Making a latte or a cappuccino wasn’t a secret, so why should other aspects of the coffee supply chain be? The Allens started with a simple question that became their driving philosophy: “When we started, we said, ‘If anyone asks us a question, we’re just going to answer it.’”
Founded in 2012, Onyx is also Rogers-based. Their most dramatic evolution came with the opening of their stunning headquarters, 1907. Named after the year in which the site was built, 1907 is a sprawling 30,000-square-foot café and roasting lab located in downtown Rogers, Arkansas.
As of early 2026, the company operates eight retail cafes in Northwest Arkansas, with locations throughout Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Springdale.
In 2026, Onyx Coffee Lab was awarded the title of “best coffee shop in the world”, the first time an American cafe secured the top spot on the global ranking.
Sourcing & Relationships
Onyx’s sourcing philosophy centers on direct relationships and radical transparency. “We started travelling to farms all over the world, selecting coffees that score 86 and above, and paying farmers directly,” she says.
We do not currently purchase any Fair Trade certified coffees. Fair Trade guarantees producers $1.80 per pound of coffee. We always pay guaranteed double Fair Trade and more often 3-5 times more.
Direct trade for us means we visited, viewed the operation, approved of the ethics and treatment of staff. It also means, we cupped the coffees and they scored to our standards. Then we paid what the coffee was worth, which is always at least double Fair Trade price and usually even more. We then add a premium on top of the price to go towards social projects in the area or give back some how to the community at large to help cultivate a real relationship with the producer and region.
What sets Onyx apart is their unprecedented transparency in publishing trade data. On their newly launched website overhaul, the Arkansas-based roaster lists the price they paid for each coffee currently for sale. Below that, though, is a new level of consumer-facing transparency, including FOB price, their cupping score, amount purchased, any premiums they included to go toward social projects on the farm, and commodity coffee and Fair Trade prices at the time they purchased the coffee.
Each coffee we have is accompanied by its pricing and trade data, meaning you can see what we paid for it, what it scored at, who we bought it from, and other details right on its product page. This is not only something we are very proud of but is also a practice that is rare to see in coffee. We want you to see exactly how this coffee came to be one of our offerings.
Roasting Philosophy
His roasting philosophy focuses on precision, clarity, and maximizing sweetness. Together, Andrea and Jon built a brand that has become synonymous with quality, ethics, and innovation.
There are many ways (infinite) to heat a coffee, and our general approach to roasting our coffees is to balance bright acidity and sweetness. This approach sees us often adjusting roasts by half a degree or seconds.
Their roasting operation reflects their commitment to quality over efficiency. We have more roasters than we technically need. We roast in small batch size, meaning we don’t max out the capacity of our roasting machines. This translates into us roasting more actual batches and necessitates more time. This concept is driven by our desire for quality.
I approached the coffee with a traditional Diedrich method; air at 50% at around 265-70 and air at 100% at around 365-370. I stretched out the carmalization stage to highlight the sweetness.
Another place we are highly invested in labor is in our coffee quality control. Our QC manager literally cups every single batch of coffee that we roast, scores it, makes notes, gives feedback. These records can be found in Find My Roast. This is essentially a full time job. This is something that we technically don’t have to do, but in chasing our goal of having the world’s best coffee we can’t know exactly how each roast measures up without cupping it.
“each coffee is tasted at 2, 5, and 10 days to learn how it ages.”
What to Try
Onyx’s signature blends showcase their roasting philosophy and sourcing expertise. Southern Weather embodies everything Onyx loves about specialty coffee and has evolved into a foundational blend. They brew this in their own cafes as a “House” filter option and love how it balances the relationship between modern citric acidity flavors with full bodied chocolates. This comfortable, yet surprisingly complex and sophisticated coffee is approachable to all. It performs well on its own for the purist or with fats such as dairy or plant-based beverages, making it a true answer for all coffee needs.
Geometry has been defined as “describing spaces that lie beyond the normal range of human experience.” Soon it will also be defined as “that coffee from Onyx that I am in love with and completely redefined my relationship with coffee.” It’s Onyx’s answer for everything and has two of their favorite coffees—a washed processed Ethiopian & Colombian. They love it as a filter coffee, and we love it as espresso.
Tropical Weather is a seasonal blend that celebrates coffees from Onyx’s favorite coffee producing country: Ethiopia. They take a fresh washed offering that provides delicate florals and juicy texture, while incorporating a processed coffee that promotes pungent fruits and sugars.
For those seeking their most developed offering, Monarch is Onyx’s most developed roast that conveys a flavor profile that they intentionally designed to work well with milk. Cream and plant-based beverages mix with ease, creating a rich, decadent flavor. It involves a natural, sugar-dense coffee that binds to the fats and creates multiple complex caramelized notes during the roasting process. Look for dark chocolate and undertones of thick winey berries. Enjoy as drip or espresso. Beyond their blends, Onyx continuously rotates single-origin offerings, with new single origins each week that come from all around the world , focusing on high-scoring microlots that showcase their commitment to never settling for good enough.