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Years ago, we started saying it to each other behind the bar. It sounded like a slogan. Over time it became the way we work.
We started Onyx in Northwest Arkansas in 2012 to serve the specialty coffee industry and to challenge it. Since then we've grown into one of the most awarded roasters in the world, and the standard hasn't moved. It applies to how we pay as much as how we roast, and to how we train people as much as how we serve you.
The world's 100 best coffee shops. Only one could be first.
The world's 100 best coffee shops
Only one could be first
Onyx Coffee LabNorthwest Arkansas
number one in the world
#100
Number one
Coffee shop in the world
World's 100 Best Coffee Shops, 2026
We still don't think we've arrived.
what we do
One standard, five places it has to hold. Onyx is a sourcing company, a roastery, a wholesale partner, a group of cafes, and an online shop. Here they are in the order the coffee moves through them, from the farm to your cup.
01Sourcing
22
Coffee-growing countries
Sourcing
Direct, long-term relationships with producers who share our values. We're involved at harvest and processing, where our feedback can still change the coffee.
02Roasting
100,000+
Roasts on record
Roasting
Small, measured adjustments, informed by every roast that came before. Every batch is tracked, cupped, and scored before it ships.
03Wholesale
000+
Wholesale partners
Wholesale
Coffee, training, and ongoing support for cafes and restaurants across the U.S. and abroad, so the standard holds outside our own walls.
04Cafes
8
Cafes in Northwest Arkansas
Cafes
The last step in the supply chain, where years of work at origin are handed across a counter.
Photo: a subscription box at home
05Digital
00K
Subscribers
Digital
Subscriptions, brew guides, and tools like Find My Roast, so the lab goes wherever you brew.
our pillars
Five pillars, one standard at the center. Every pillar connects back to excellence. They're the guiding lights behind the decisions we make, and each one below comes with its proof.
Photo: a coffee page's trade data, or producer and buyer at origin
Photo: an Agtron reading, or Cafe Expressions on the line
Photo: training lab, hands on a portafilter
Photo: a guest being served at the bar
Photo: drying beds at origin, or the solar array on HQ
Transparency01 / 05
transparency
Every coffee we sell is listed with what we paid for it and who grew it. That's still rare in specialty coffee. Producers deserve credit by name, and vague pricing is where unfair trade hides. Every roaster who publishes makes it harder for the rest of the industry to stay vague.
PriceWhat we paid, on every coffee page
ProducerWho grew it, credited by name
ProfileEvery roast tracked and published, then put to work in Find My Roast
Innovation is how we avoid getting comfortable. We ask better questions and answer them with measurements. How do we make a ready-to-drink coffee that tastes like it came from our bar? How do we expand access without lowering the standard?
AgtronRoast color measured on every batch, not eyeballed
QCEvery batch cupped and scored before it ships
TestedThird-party tested for heavy metals, mycotoxins, and refined sugars
ExpressionsCafe Expressions skip the double pasteurization most canned coffee goes through
Coffee is complex, and complexity gets intimidating when knowledge is treated like a gate. So we teach at every level, starting with our own team, because a company can't claim excellence without investing in the people delivering it.
Our teamClasses, hands-on skills work, and repetition in our training lab before anyone serves a guest
PartnersTraining and ongoing support so the coffee tastes right in your cafe
EveryonePublic classes, brew guides, and a grind size calculator
Our cafes are the final step in the supply chain, and hospitality is what makes all that craft legible. Every detail is intentional, from the interior to the menu, and each location has a menu built for its room and its neighborhood.
MenusExample: what's only on the menu at The Preserve
EveryoneElevated without being exclusive. If you're new to coffee, you're who we're here for
Coffee's future isn't guaranteed, ecologically or economically. We pay premiums above production costs, reward exceptional quality, and make volume commitments that give our partners certainty beyond a single harvest.
ProducersPremiums for drying beds and organic fertilizer, and more natural and honey processes, which mean less acidic runoff
SolarRoastery running on solar power since early 2020
60%Estimated drop in natural gas use from our infrared roasters
PackagingBags made from renewable film layers, 60% compostable