How Onyx Built the #1 Coffee Shop in the World | ANDREA ALLEN!

Onyx Coffee Lab was just voted the best coffee shop in the world! Not in New York, Copenhagen or Melbourne. In Arkansas. Andrea Allen and her husband Jon opened Onyx in 2012 with a wildly ambitious idea: one day, they would serve the best coffee in the world. At the time, success meant paying the bills, the staff and the rent. Fourteen years later, Onyx sits at number one on the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops list and has become a James Beard nominee for Outstanding Bar. Andrea joins us to unpack how they built a hometown coffee company into one of specialty coffee’s most influential brands, without losing the point of view that made it special. We talk about creating destination cafés, why every Onyx venue is completely different, the failed ideas nobody sees on Instagram and how their newest location, The Preserve, evolved from the slightly unhinged idea of building a bike path through a café. Andrea also shares how a cold DM eventually led to working with Jimmy Butler and BIGFACE, why Doyenne grew far beyond expectations and what genuine transparency should look like across the coffee supply chain. Plus, Hugh Grant, Elon Musk, broken robot baristas and Andrea’s defence of the humble mocha. If you’re opening a café, building a brand or trying to create something people genuinely care about, this one is packed. CHAPTERS! 00:00 Meet Andrea Allen 01:56 Winning World’s Best Coffee Shop 04:19 Hugh Grant, Elon Musk and George Howell 07:04 Building the Onyx Brand 09:13 Why Arkansas? 12:36 Opening a Café Outside a Major City 14:58 Teaching Customers About Specialty Coffee 18:23 Working With Jimmy Butler and BIGFACE 23:47 Why Every Onyx Café Is Different 26:10 The Onyx Ideas That Failed 29:28 Inside Onyx at The Preserve 33:11 Coffee as an Accessible Luxury 36:05 How to Create Better Hospitality 39:49 Doyenne and Women Coffee Producers 47:17 Onyx Becomes a James Beard Nominee 50:24 Changing the World Through Coffee 51:28 What Coffee Transparency Really Means 59:34 Andrea’s Advice for New Café Owners 01:02:06 Andrea’s Favourite Coffee Shops 01:04:31 Hot Take: The Mocha Is a Pro Move 01:07:31 Industry Shout-Out: Niki Weegens If you're new here (welcome), our show dives into some of the best coffee conversations on the internet, but we will always remind ourselves that at the end of the day, it’s just coffee! Find Andrea and Onyx here: Onyx Coffee Lab: https://onyxcoffeelab.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onyxcoffeelab/ Want more coffee content? IT'S JUST COFFEE: https://linktr.ee/itsjustcoffeepod?utm_source=linktree_profile_share Want to get in touch? Hit us up at hello@itsjustcoffeepod.com for any questions or comments. Proudly sponsored by APAX LAB: https://apaxlab.com/ Condesa Co.Lab: https://condesacolab.com.au/ Riverina Fresh: https://www.riverinafresh.com.au/ Thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices