Onyx Coffee Lab

Onyx Coffee Lab is a famous roaster from the land of not only art punk music, but also selected coffee, led by this roaster. A world-famous Arkansas roastery with embossed boxes and a typical skull in its logo.

In 2012, the first cafe and roaster Onyx Coffee Lab was born. Its goal was to bring better coffee and transparency to the region. Its founders were the duo Andrea and Jon Allen. Their roastery is housed in a 101-year-old red brick building. Stocking 12 to 20 bags of coffee at a time, priced from $15 to $100, Onyx is one of the few coffee roasters that is transparent about where the coffee comes from, how much it pays for it, and how the coffee is “scored” ( its quality). For green coffee, which comes from East Africa and South and Central America, Onyx pays on average three times more than fair trade (an organized social movement and market approach that seeks to help producers in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and promote sustainability ). In addition to roasting selected coffee, Onyx also organizes courses for the public, from informative value and introduction to the world of coffee to barista courses.

The main goals of this roaster can be summed up in a few words: sustainability, transparency and ecological impact. So you won’t be surprised if we tell you that they pack their coffee in recycled compostable packages, whether they are coffee packages intended for retail shelves or as part of wholesale cooperation. They pay higher rates of remuneration to their importers and the farmers they work with to provide financial stability and improve their living conditions. Last but not least, their approach to sustainability also lies in the roasting itself, where they use solar energy and thus eliminate the impact of their business on the environment.

The popularity of these proud Americans is also proven by the various awards they have collected throughout the years since 2014. Among the most important of these awards, it is worth mentioning the 1st place in the US Roaster Championship, which went to their roaster Mark Michaelson in 2017, and also 1 .place at the US Brewers Cup Championship and the US Barista Championship, which were taken by Elika Liftee and Andrea Allen. They took home these awards in 2020.