THE
AGORA
COFFEEHAUS &
EVENT VENUE
Located in Historic Downtown Red Oak
Recent Updates
We’re a young business with a lot in motion — and we think you should know about it. Running a coffeehaus is a community affair.
The Agora is a place to slow down, connect, and enjoy fresh in-house roasted organic coffee made with clean, quality ingredients. Good coffee is the start. Community is the point.
Established in 2024
What is The Agora and what does it mean?
During Ancient Greek times, the agora was a market and a place for assembly.
The Agora in Red Oak, Iowa is designed to be a community hub; a place where people can gather, share conversation over coffees and teas, and/or find a cozy nook to read a book, get some work done, or study for personal advancement. The space is also available to rent for private events.
When are you open?
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM
As we continue fine tuning our operations, we will continue to expand upon our hours.
Where is The Agora located?
The Agora is located next door to the Red Oak Grand Theatre – just off “The Square” – in Historic Downtown Red Oak at 404 E Coolbaugh Street.
The Coffeehaus & Event Venue occupies a 5400 sq. ft. Classical Revival brick building built in 1901. The building historically was occupied by furniture stores up until 2014 when previous owners converted the main floor into an event venue and the upstairs was converted into an eclectic living space.
The front exterior of The Agora on its opening day for the coffeehaus; Saturday, November 29th, 2025. The warmth from the inside peers through the storefront windows on the cold Saturday morning. A light dusting of snow covered the community but didn’t stop people from stopping by for their first freshly roasted cup of coffee in The Agora.
What makes The Agora different?
We strive to craft high quality products, utilize and offer clean foods and ingredients, and provide a welcoming and comfortable sit-down experience for all to enjoy.
- We source organic specialty coffee beans and roast the beans on-site.
- We try the best we can to utilize clean and organic ingredients in our drinks.
- We offer gluten-free snacks and other options for those with sensitivities.
- We provide high-speed secure internet for those who want to get some work done.
- We have a strong rooted passion for this community and want to succeed.
What events can be hosted at The Agora?
The venue has been used for many common event types like graduation parties, celebration of life lunches, wedding receptions, bridal / baby showers, birthday parties, business meetings, and more.
Follow The Agora on Facebook for updates.
An Anna post! Ethiopian Cortado is the subject 🤗
Ask me what my favorite roast style is I’ll say blonde/light roast. I enjoy the lighter, brighter, more tea like flavor of a lighter roasting technique. Favorite bean? an Ethiopian, so far… Ethiopian beans taste bright, fruity, floral (“pink” in my words).
This Organic Ethiopian bean is also Grade 1 (G1 specialty). G1 means it’s passed all the standards for minimum defects and proper drying requirements, uniformly.
•no mold •minimal insect damage •uniform ripeness🫶
Natural drying process
This bean was dried naturally in the sun for weeks, until reaching its required moisture content. This allows the bean to soak in its shells natural sugars and acid flavors, for yet again, a more fruity bean. 🌞 I just enjoy thinking about soaking up some Ethiopian sunshine while I sip.
Anyways that was a lot about the bean, as you can tell I’m clearly excited about it! But I really wanted to share my favorite way to enjoy a bean like this. Because while straight espresso or a pour over is one way, I still prefer a little milk to cut the coffee. Key words being here little and cut. Making cortado the perfect favorite drink. Cortado deriving from cortar meaning to cut in Spanish.
Cortado - a 1:1 ratio of espresso and steamed milk.
This is a small drink, but really allows you to enjoy the flavor of the natural bean, no sugars added, just alittle bit of warmed milk to add a base layer to enjoy the beans flavor with. I’ve come to enjoy the “sweetness” of the beans in place of the sweetness of sugar.
I think this bean arrived just in time for us to enjoy alongside this spring fever we’re about to have. 😊
If you made it this far in the post, I hope you come try an Ethiopian Cortado. 😅🫶💕
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📝 Noting recent changes at the Coffeehaus:
1. We’ve switched our PoS system away from PayPal to Square. PayPal had lower fees for us, but we started to run into limitations. Plus, how Square handles variations and modifiers for drinks is SO much better. Plus plus, this should enable better online integration for future ideas.
2. We added bookshelves to the back wall! Our fragmented library finally has a place to call home. You’ll find quite the collection of books ranging from philosophy, gardening, education, self improvement, and more. Feel free to grab a book and read some pages in one of our nooks.
3. You’ll notice another, more colorful, piano in our space. We’re the temporary home for this piano before it makes it way outdoors to Fountain Square Park - where it’ll be setup for anyone to play throughout the warmer seasons.
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☯️ Duality. Yin and yang. Light and dark.
That’s the roasting theme this week. Let me elaborate and share some thoughts.
🇭🇳A few weeks ago we received a shipment of Honduras beans. It has been a struggle roasting this bean; it’s been coming out flat and unexciting. So, this week we’re exploring dark roast territory. Behind the bar we’re going to test this bean as a pour over, espresso shot, and as cold brew to see how it fairs. You may hear us talking about it this weekend.
🇪🇹 Per Anna’s request, we’re bringing back a light roast Ethiopian bean. This one is pretty exciting, and already smells amazing after the first roast. Here’s the flavor profile to look forward to: Strawberry, Star Fruit, Watermelon, Honey, Orange Blossom … extremely fruity! More so positioned as a pour over, but behind the bar we’re going test how it handles the espresso machine and the cold brew method.
🇵🇪We have completely sold out of our medium Peruvian inventory - which ended up being a great medium roast bean, especially for cold brew! We have a stock for our espresso machine, but need to quickly figure out the next candidate for shots. We still have decaf Peruvian beans which you can substitute in your lattes anytime.
🌍 The idea of “exploring the world through coffee” is neat, and really challenges us to improve our roasting skills, but as an operating business, consistency is key. Moving forward we will change our approach and establish our “house” blend that we use on a regular basis, and then explore new coffees in smaller batches here and there. It’s probably the way it should have been to begin with, but we needed to do some exploring to find our footing.
📣 We’d love to hear your feedback regarding the beans you’ve purchased from us. Did you like the previous light roast Ethiopian, or the more recent medium Peruvian more? Are you excited for a dark roast?
🐈 Lastly, enjoy this photo of our cat with an angry face while coffee roasting was in progress. 😆
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