December 2, 2021
Q: Greetings, Your Royal Highness! What a pleasure it is to interview the great and powerful Andrea Allen! Not only are you the co-founder of Onyx Coffee Lab, but last February, you were named the Best Barista in the country! Hail to the Queen! And just last week, you ranked #2 in the 2021 World Barista Championships in Milan! Congratulations.
How and where do you train for these competitions?
A: Wow, great question! I train at our Headquarters in Rogers, Arkansas. We have a training lab there, and in the lab, we have a competition setup. I train in multiple different ways- I fully write out my script and memorize it word for word. I practice the coffee skillset parts separately, choosing coffees, dialing them in, tasting them, refining all my processes. Then I put it all together and do the whole thing hundreds of times until it’s perfect.
Q: What goes into the creation of your competition-winning drinks? You have a lot of tricks. I understand you sometimes layer different beans together in your portafilter!
A: There’s a lot of experimentation that goes into the drinks. Every year, we work to innovate in coffee, in espresso technique and execution, and in flavor, body, mouthfeel, and in creativity. All of that is done to make the drinks taste GREAT, like the greatest drinks in the world. For each course- espresso, espresso and milk, and signature courses, we go to great links to prepare every single component to curate the absolute best drinks we can.
Q: Onyx has so many great coffees. Do you ever source-specific coffees at origin to be used as a secret weapon in your competitions?
A: Yes! We specifically bring in coffees for the competition. We source many of them on-site at the farms. Others are from producers we trust and sample them in the states before we buy them. We have a whole program built around competition quality coffees, and we offer those coffees to the public periodically throughout the year.
Q: Besides barista championships, what do you drink and do at home on the weekend?
A: Well, I’m not super fancy. I drink our Southern Weather on my coffee maker at home every day. It’s a beautiful coffee, easy to drink, so enjoyable.
Q: How has Onyx been able to grow to 4 locations in the great state of Arkansas since establishing your brand in 2012? Was there a market for artisan coffee?
A: We now have 5 locations!! Yay! The NWA community is hungry for all things coffee and excellence. We’ve been able to grow our footprint thanks to our baristas creating incredible coffee and offering exceptional hospitality, along with our community’s desire to support such efforts.
Q: Tell us about your motto: Kindness produces purpose.
A: Anything you do over and over can begin to feel tedious. The thought behind kindness creating purpose is aimed at bringing more intentionality to the service of coffee or to drinking coffee. Using coffee as a medium to show real human kindness to each other is such a huge endeavor and platform to creating real community. Using coffee as a way to make your investment in this community count by searching out reputable roasters creates kindness down the supply chain putting real investment back into the producers and their work.
Q: Onyx is the brainchild of you and your husband. How did you and Jon meet? Love at first sight or sip? Was it a love story set against coffee?
A: Wow, well, we met in high school over rock music. The classic high school love story, haha. We started working in coffee together and just fell in love with it. We love making things that others enjoy. Coffee is the greatest industry in the world, and we are happy to work in it together.
Q: Can you share a fun recipe for the holidays using Onyx with the GoCoffeeGo customer base?
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