A Taste of the Future: Award-Winning Coffee Roaster Opens New Location, Ditching Dairy And Testing Mechanized And Traditional Service Options
BENTONVILLE, Ark. – February 22, 2020 – Onyx Coffee Lab opens its fourth location here today, featuring Pacific Foods Barista Series™ Oat Original Plant-Based Beverage as the standard base for all drinks. The new café, located inside the brand-new contemporary art space the Momentary, illustrates both brands’ commitment to sustainability. While consumers can still get dairy-based milk drinks at the new café, Onyx will add an upcharge “carbon tax”, an intentional spin on the common dairy-free “tax” practiced in most U.S. coffee shops.
Whether ordered from the “Stay” barista-made menu or the “Take Away” mechanical pour-over menu, each espresso-based order begins with ethically-sourced and mindfully-roasted Onyx Coffee and Pacific Food’s Barista Series™ Oat Original Plant-Based Beverage.
“As roasters and baristas, we’re constantly exploring fresh ways to enhance our beverages, and without fail, the Pacific Oat Beverage heats, froths and flows to perfection – arguably better than traditional dairy milk,” said Jon Allen, Onyx Coffee Lab co-owner and coffee buyer. “When you add in their passion for quality ingredients and sustaining the environment, teaming up with Pacific Foods felt like the right match for our mission.”
The new Onyx Coffee Lab location can be found on the east side of the Momentary building. Formerly a decommissioned cheese factory, the Momentary is a new contemporary art space for visual, performing, and culinary arts and a satellite to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Creativity flows throughout the galleries, performance, and social spaces, and into the new café, where patrons are met with an avant-garde take on coffee consumption through sustainable commentary, performance art and quality ingredients.
“Onyx Coffee Lab is known for their extraordinary pairing of quality and innovation – and using our Oat as the main beverage option exemplifies that,” said Nathanael May, Pacific Foods Barista Series customer marketing manager for specialty coffee. “The emphasis on plant-based beverages and the unique service possibilities with a mechanized to-go option is exciting, and we’re thrilled to be part of it. Onyx, like Pacific, is never satisfied with good enough. They’re always pushing the industry forward.”
The new Onyx Coffee Lab has capacity for 30 patrons with indoor seating, for 18 behind the barista bar and outdoor patio seating for 12. As of February 22, it is open on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10am to 7pm, and Thursdays through Saturdays from 10am to 10pm. The café is closed on Mondays.
About Pacific Foods Barista Series™ Beverages
Founded in 1987 in Tualatin, Ore., Pacific Foods is dedicated to sourcing simple ingredients cultivated through sustainable practices, making products that nourish and increasing access to healthy, wholesome foods. Pacific’s delicious, nutritious foods are inspired by traditional recipes made convenient for busy, health-conscious consumers. In 2002, Pacific Foods began the Barista Series™ and since, Pacific Foods has partnered with the specialty coffee industry to grow and develop the careers of coffee professionals, support coffee events, and strengthen coffee communities. With the help of baristas, roasters, and educators around the country, Pacific Foods Barista Series™ has become a beloved part of thousands of coffee shops in North America. For more information, visit www.pacificfoodservice.com.
About Onyx Coffee Lab
Brewed from a dream to enhance and highlight flavors through roasting, Onyx Coffee Lab is an owner-driven business with four locations in Arkansas. At the forefront of Onyx’s offerings are its employees, sustainability and quality customer service. Every Onyx beverage starts with green coffee and is curated with consumers in mind. For more information, visit www.onyxcoffeelab.com.
