In a region obsessed with taking coffee and molding it into the latest masterpiece, one purveyor is going back to the basics and taking coffee-drinking students with it.

Onyx Coffee Lab in Bellingham, Washington, is one lab I wouldn’t mind hanging out in. Far from being just another Seattle-area coffeehouse, Onyx is the kind of place coffee professionals go to learn about coffee. Think of it as coffee school.

And just like school, sometimes you have to go back to the basics to learn more. The lab hosts cupping courses, demonstrations on brew methods, acts as a coffee broker, and hosts seed to cup presentations.

Most of Onyx’s clients are coffee retailers, but owner Edwin Martinez told the Bellingham Herald that he plans to open the lab to the public this summer for one day a week. His hope is to change the way people experience coffee.

You won’t find mochas, lattes, or any “coffee-based” drinks being studied at the lab. Onyx is all about purity. So much so that Martinez won’t even feature a dark roast among the line up of coffees the lab promotes.

This one had me scratching my head a little, but Martinez explained that while dark roasts produce a consistent flavor, what you taste is the roast and not the coffee itself. Coffee is a fruit, and Martinez believes it should taste like one. That kind of “Oh, I see” realization is what Martinez is after when coffee lovers enter the lab.

“It’s hard to find a simple, good cup of coffee,” Martinez said.

Break out the lab coats

So what makes Martinez such an expert himself? To begin with, he and his wife Nina are licensed Q coffee graders by the Coffee Quality Institute, which means they’ve both passed certification to evaluate a coffee’s quality based on aroma and flavor. A Q-certified coffee is one that’s met the minimum standards for roast and cup quality as outlined by the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

You might also say coffee cultivation is in Martinez’s blood. Some of the coffee Onyx Coffee helps broker comes from his family’s farm in northwest Guatemala. Martinez purchases their coffee and others to sell to roasters around the world.

The latest fresh cup coffee suggestion on Onyx’s website is a Guatemalan called Finca Villaure. According to the site, it has a “candied grapefruit taste with a jasmine fragrance and crisp clean finish.” It was also the 2002 Cup of Excellence winner and was rated #1 for Illy espresso back in 2003.

If you live in the Northwest and want to check out the upcoming courses at the lab, keep checking back at Martinez’s blog for updates.

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