Onyx Coffee Lab - Specialty Coffee Roaster | Unpacking Coffee [ ](https://unpacking.coffee)[ ![Unpacking Coffee Logo](/images/cuppin-logo.svg) Unpacking Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/dashboard) [ Coffees ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees) [ Cuppings ](https://unpacking.coffee/cuppings) [ Recipes ](https://unpacking.coffee/recipes) [ Log in ](https://unpacking.coffee/login) [ ](https://unpacking.coffee/login "Log in") [ Register ](https://unpacking.coffee/register) [ ](https://unpacking.coffee/register "Register") [ Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters) Onyx Coffee Lab Onyx Coffee Lab =============== Arkansas-based award-winning roaster known for transparency, quality, and distinctive design. Multiple US Coffee Championship wins and perfect scores from Coffee Review. Watch Episode Read Transcript - [ Onyx Coffee Lab ](https://onyxcoffeelab.com) - [ Theme Song ](https://brigleb.com/onyx/) - [ Daily Coffee News ](https://dailycoffeenews.com/2018/03/13/unpacking-coffee-with-kandace-and-ray-onyx-coffee-labs/) ![Onyx Coffee Lab](/storage/roaster-profiles/50/featured.jpg) Ray: I'm Ray. Kandace: I'm Kandace. Ray: Welcome to Unpacking Coffee. This week... Kandace: Onyx Coffee Lab from Arkansas. Ray: They were founded in 2012, roasted in the Ozarks. Kandace: Jon and Andrea, a couple, they're known for, not only for their phenomenal coffee, but also just this radical transparency. Just like a ton of side projects. Ray: So we sent our questions to Jon at source. Unfortunately there was some political unrest in Ethiopia so he had to sent back some videos on his cellphone. So while we are visiting source, it's a little bit constrained. What's the best part about being an owner-driven business? Jon: We are in Addis, Ethiopia. My name is Jon Allen. I'm the founder of Onyx Coffee Lab out of northwest Arkansas. I would say the best part about being an owner-driven business, is that we don't really have to answer to anyone. So while I'm here, Kenyan coffee is extremely expensive this year and we can immediately pull the trigger on really nice coffees without budgetary constraints or going through channels. And that allows us, in my opinion to get really some of the best coffees in the world. Because it's my wife and I, it means that we have to have clear lines of delineation. We live and breath Onyx. Myself, I am the coffee buying and the quality control, and then I do some design and conceptual. Look at how handsome he is. It's so good. He's got such a loud slurp. That's how you know the coffee's good. And Andrea is all the operation. Essentially, she makes the company run well. She's the one I answer to, when I spend all our money on green coffee. You know, we get to try to hire people that are better than us at their jobs. Tell us about your branding and packaging. Our brand name and our logo design really came from sort of an old style of tattoo art and a little bit of punk rock. Our branding does change a lot and I think honestly, our company changes a lot. As we grow, we're a company made of new individuals that become part of our culture and take on the culture and make it their own. As a company, we want to adapt not only to just us as owners but to everyone that's involved. So we work with an artist named Jeremy Teff. He works for a company call BLK BOX LABS. He is still our main designer and as a close friend of ours. We've also started encompassing our work from our own stuff since we want it to be about the coffee and we want the coffee to really speak even though we really like branding, we don't have commit to some sort of recognition or equitable mark. We just want to let the coffee speak itself. What does transparency mean to you? This thing right here, is about 90% of sourcing. Sitting in the car with someone that's cooler than you. So right now we are cruising all throughout east Africa. There's a crazy amount of coffee here. So I'm here cupping at METAD Headquarters, which runs the Hambela Estate Coffee and the Buku macro lot that we releases. The real idea about becoming fully transparent really came out of more frustrations on my part when I was learning to buy coffee. There was no one we could talk to for any information on what the pricing structure should be like, what was paid before. Is there a correlation of price to what this coffee is scoring? Does the producer actually know what's being paid? And all things, out of the frustrations came an idea just to start to begin to publish all that information, not only for our own customer's information, but also as a reference guide to other producers that work with us. So the other reason for the transparency is also that we are very proud of the coffees we're bringing in, and not just what they mean to us and what they cup but what we pay for them, the people we work. You know, there's a lot of great people in the field of exporting and importing and we want to give credit where credit's due, and also these people become our friends and our family. And so if we buy this coffee here from Hambela today, and we start to work out the contracts then METAD might export it and Royal Coffee might bring it in for us, into the states. And all those companies should be represented on that lot. Tell us about the Terroir project. So Terroir was really a side project that was sort of born out of traveling around central America. And in 2016, when I really began to notice how many producers were pulling out their coffee trees at lower elevations on their farm or the mountains, due to either diversifying their crops or climate change. They were no longer able to grow specialty at this lower altitudes. One was just wanting to work with these producers on all their different agricultural products and to kind of figure out a way that we could do that and actually succeed with it to create some kind of sustainable revenue. And the other is really more of a sensory exploration of, do these different products ... You know we sort of relate to each other especially cacao and coffee and sugar cane, maybe. With the same organic acids and the sensory components come through in the final product to create these really powerful chocolate bars. Our work around Terroir is mainly around complexity and so Zane took this kind of mystical illuminati feel and really did just the must amazing geometric line work and we were all really, really excited about it. I think the word that kept popping up throughout the entire project was just complexity. You know flavor, visually, a complex market and trying to actually get the product made. Complexity has been the story from the beginning for Terroir Chocolate and I think will probably always be that way. That's a Wrap Ray: We spoke a little about the packaging. They fill it with design and they keep it, keep the colors black and white with just like kind of gold or yellow accents. The packing is just really fun. There's a lot of layers to it. There's these cool skulls. Onyx Coffee Lab of Arkansas. Watch the Show https://vimeo.com/259739035 Ray: I'm Ray. Kandace: I'm Kandace. Ray: Welcome to Unpacking Coffee. This week... Kandace: Onyx Coffee Lab from Arkansas. Ray: They were founded in 2012, roasted in the Ozarks. Kandace: Jon and Andrea, a couple, they're known for, not only for their phenomenal coffee, but also just this radical transparency. Just like a ton of side projects. Ray: So we sent our questions to Jon at source. Unfortunately there was some political unrest in Ethiopia so he had to sent back some videos on his cellphone. So while we are visiting source, it's a little bit constrained. What's the best part about being an owner-driven business? Jon: We are in Addis, Ethiopia. My name is Jon Allen. I'm the founder of Onyx Coffee Lab out of northwest Arkansas. I would say the best part about being an owner-driven business, is that we don't really have to answer to anyone. So while I'm here, Kenyan coffee is extremely expensive this year and we can immediately pull the trigger on really nice coffees without budgetary constraints or going through channels. And that allows us, in my opinion to get really some of the best coffees in the world. Because it's my wife and I, it means that we have to have clear lines of delineation. We live and breath Onyx. Myself, I am the coffee buying and the quality control, and then I do some design and conceptual. Look at how handsome he is. It's so good. He's got such a loud slurp. That's how you know the coffee's good. And Andrea is all the operation. Essentially, she makes the company run well. She's the one I answer to, when I spend all our money on green coffee. You know, we get to try to hire people that are better than us at their jobs. Tell us about your branding and packaging. Our brand name and our logo design really came from sort of an old style of tattoo art and a little bit of punk rock. Our branding does change a lot and I think honestly, our company changes a lot. As we grow, we're a company made of new individuals that become part of our culture and take on the culture and make it their own. As a company, we want to adapt not only to just us as owners but to everyone that's involved. So we work with an artist named Jeremy Teff. He works for a company call BLK BOX LABS. He is still our main designer and as a close friend of ours. We've also started encompassing our work from our own stuff since we want it to be about the coffee and we want the coffee to really speak even though we really like branding, we don't have commit to some sort of recognition or equitable mark. We just want to let the coffee speak itself. What does transparency mean to you? This thing right here, is about 90% of sourcing. Sitting in the car with someone that's cooler than you. So right now we are cruising all throughout east Africa. There's a crazy amount of coffee here. So I'm here cupping at METAD Headquarters, which runs the Hambela Estate Coffee and the Buku macro lot that we releases. The real idea about becoming fully transparent really came out of more frustrations on my part when I was learning to buy coffee. There was no one we could talk to for any information on what the pricing structure should be like, what was paid before. Is there a correlation of price to what this coffee is scoring? Does the producer actually know what's being paid? And all things, out of the frustrations came an idea just to start to begin to publish all that information, not only for our own customer's information, but also as a reference guide to other producers that work with us. So the other reason for the transparency is also that we are very proud of the coffees we're bringing in, and not just what they mean to us and what they cup but what we pay for them, the people we work. You know, there's a lot of great people in the field of exporting and importing and we want to give credit where credit's due, and also these people become our friends and our family. And so if we buy this coffee here from Hambela today, and we start to work out the contracts then METAD might export it and Royal Coffee might bring it in for us, into the states. And all those companies should be represented on that lot. Tell us about the Terroir project. So Terroir was really a side project that was sort of born out of traveling around central America. And in 2016, when I really began to notice how many producers were pulling out their coffee trees at lower elevations on their farm or the mountains, due to either diversifying their crops or climate change. They were no longer able to grow specialty at this lower altitudes. One was just wanting to work with these producers on all their different agricultural products and to kind of figure out a way that we could do that and actually succeed with it to create some kind of sustainable revenue. And the other is really more of a sensory exploration of, do these different products ... You know we sort of relate to each other especially cacao and coffee and sugar cane, maybe. With the same organic acids and the sensory components come through in the final product to create these really powerful chocolate bars. Our work around Terroir is mainly around complexity and so Zane took this kind of mystical illuminati feel and really did just the must amazing geometric line work and we were all really, really excited about it. I think the word that kept popping up throughout the entire project was just complexity. You know flavor, visually, a complex market and trying to actually get the product made. Complexity has been the story from the beginning for Terroir Chocolate and I think will probably always be that way. That's a Wrap Ray: We spoke a little about the packaging. They fill it with design and they keep it, keep the colors black and white with just like kind of gold or yellow accents. The packing is just really fun. There's a lot of layers to it. There's these cool skulls. Onyx Coffee Lab of Arkansas. Watch the Show https://vimeo.com/259739035 Coffee Offerings ------------------ ### [ Jairo Arcila Lychee ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/38-jairo-arcila-lychee) Process Washed Species Arabica Varieties Castillo Country Colombia Region Quindío First noted Aug 08, 2025 Last tasted Aug 08, 2025 1 cupping [ lychee ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/120 "lychee") [ lime ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/19 "lime") [ blueberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/8 "blueberry") [ rose ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/56 "rose") Log In to Cup Log in to your account Enter your email and password to continue Email address Password Remember me Cancel Log in Need an account? [Sign up](https://unpacking.coffee/register) 1 Coffee Offerings 1 Total Cuppings 9.8 Average Score Added 10 months ago Use filters or recent searches to refine your results. Press Esc to close. Filters 12 showing Users 0 Coffees 0 Roasters 0 Recipes 0 Explore featured coffees Start typing to search across the entire database. [ ### [ El Naranjo, Colombia ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/128-el-naranjo-colombia) by [ Ritual Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/180-ritual-coffee-roasters) Process Washed Varieties Caturra Country Colombia Region Nariño First noted Apr 04, 2026 Last tasted Apr 04, 2026 1 cupping [ plum ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/10 "plum") [ passion fruit ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/104 "passion fruit") [ cocoa butter ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/191 "cocoa butter") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/128-el-naranjo-colombia) [ ### [ Sitio Da Torre ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/127-sitio-da-torre) by [ Square Mile Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/196-square-mile-coffee-roasters) Process Natural Varieties Yellow Bourbon Country Brazil Region Minas Gerais Source Álvaro Coli First noted Mar 30, 2026 Last tasted Mar 30, 2026 1 cupping [ cherry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/5 "cherry") [ raspberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/6 "raspberry") [ black cherry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/176 "black cherry") [ chocolate ganache ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/190 "chocolate ganache") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/127-sitio-da-torre) [ ### [ San Jerónimo Tecoatl ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/126-san-jeronimo-tecoatl) by [ Paloma Craft Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/253-paloma-craft-coffee) Process Washed Varieties Bourbon, Typica Country Mexico Region Oaxaca Elevation 1600 - 1800m Source Sierra Mazateca First noted Mar 28, 2026 Last tasted Mar 28, 2026 1 cupping [ peach ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/3 "peach") [ key lime ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/188 "key lime") [ green mango ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/189 "green mango") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/126-san-jeronimo-tecoatl) [ ### [ La Gladiola ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/125-la-gladiola) by [ Marigold Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/252-marigold-coffee) Process Washed Country Costa Rica Region Tarrazú First noted Mar 25, 2026 Last tasted Mar 25, 2026 1 cupping [ cinnamon ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/45 "cinnamon") [ chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/108 "chocolate") [ nectarine ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/126 "nectarine") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/125-la-gladiola) [ ### [ Honduras Ramon Hernandez ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/124-honduras-ramon-hernandez) by [ Heart Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/47-heart-coffee-roasters) Process Washed Varieties Pacas Country Honduras Region Santa Barbara Elevation 1820m First noted Mar 23, 2026 Last tasted Mar 23, 2026 1 cupping [ jasmine ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/55 "jasmine") [ currant ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/137 "currant") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/124-honduras-ramon-hernandez) [ ### [ Honduras Benjamin Paz Gesha - Limited Release ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/123-honduras-benjamin-paz-gesha-limited-release) by [ Heart Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/47-heart-coffee-roasters) Process Washed Varieties Geisha Country Honduras Region El Cedral Elevation 1680-1730mm First noted Mar 15, 2026 Last tasted Mar 15, 2026 1 cupping [ orange ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/17 "orange") [ jasmine ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/55 "jasmine") [ honeycomb ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/114 "honeycomb") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/123-honduras-benjamin-paz-gesha-limited-release) [ ### [ Colombia Diego Bermudez Cardamom Cloud ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/122-colombia-diego-bermudez-cardamom-cloud) by [ Driftaway Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/251-driftaway-coffee) Process Double Fermentation/Soaking Varieties Castillo Country Colombia Region Huila Elevation 1960m Harvest 2025 Source Finca El Paraíso First noted Mar 13, 2026 Last tasted Mar 13, 2026 1 cupping [ cherry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/5 "cherry") [ cardamom ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/48 "cardamom") [ butter ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/85 "butter") [ pistachio ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/187 "pistachio") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/122-colombia-diego-bermudez-cardamom-cloud) [ ### [ Nelin Guzman Honduras ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/121-nelin-guzman-honduras) by [ Cat & Cloud Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/44-cat-cloud-coffee) Process Anaerobic Natural Country Honduras Region Santa Barbara Source Nelin Guzman First noted Mar 10, 2026 Last tasted Mar 10, 2026 1 cupping [ dark chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/34 "dark chocolate") [ berry wine ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/185 "berry wine") [ skittles ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/186 "skittles") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/121-nelin-guzman-honduras) [ ### [ Remera ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/120-remera) by [ FLOWER CHILD COFFEE ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/248-flower-child-coffee) Process Washed Varieties Red Bourbon Country Burundi Region Kayanza Elevation 1,850-2,100m Harvest July 2025 Source Remera Washing Station First noted Mar 01, 2026 Last tasted Mar 01, 2026 1 cupping [ mixed berries ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/181 "mixed berries") [ whipped cream ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/182 "whipped cream") [ pink lady apple ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/183 "pink lady apple") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/120-remera) [ ### [ fruit-forward flavor ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/119-fruit-forward-flavor) by [ 94 Celcius ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/250-94-celcius) First noted Mar 01, 2026 Last tasted Mar 01, 2026 1 cupping ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/119-fruit-forward-flavor) [ ### [ Evin Moreno Gesha ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/118-evin-moreno-gesha) by [ Ritual Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/180-ritual-coffee-roasters) Varieties Geisha Country Honduras Region Santa Barbara Harvest July 2025 Source Evin Joel Moreno Reyes First noted Feb 26, 2026 Last tasted Feb 26, 2026 1 cupping [ elderflower ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/58 "elderflower") [ melon ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/180 "melon") [ meyer lemon ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/103 "meyer lemon") [ butterscotch ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/32 "butterscotch") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/118-evin-moreno-gesha) [ ### [ Diego Horta – El Rincón ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/117-diego-horta-el-rincon) by [ Kafiex Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/249-kafiex-roasters) Process Anaerobic Natural Varieties Colombia Country Colombia Region Huila Source El Rincón First noted Feb 24, 2026 Last tasted Feb 24, 2026 1 cupping [ raspberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/6 "raspberry") [ dark chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/34 "dark chocolate") [ cherry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/5 "cherry") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/117-diego-horta-el-rincon)