Students are always on the hunt for an after school study spot. Well, they can look no further than Alchemy Coffee, which is creating gold standard coffee and foods.
The cafe, located on the corner of Hualapai and Russel, diagonal from the school, is cozy, filled with earthy decorations surrounding a mix of small tables, and a couch. The owner, Rita Sopi, has fostered the perfect environment for top quality service and products.
Sopi was inspired to start this cafe based on her passions for her heritage, and for baking. Sopi stated “I’m Albanian, and a lot of the food we sell is typical to our culture.” More cultures such as Greece, Turkey, and other Eastern European countries are also prevalent in the products she creates. She also expressed that her desserts were where the idea for the cafe stemmed from, stating, “The desserts are where my passion is. I used to make custom cakes.”
Walking up to the counter, where different foods and desserts for sale are displayed, we ordered a baklava sampler, cannoli, a piece of cheesecake, a pumpkin spice chai latte, and a crème brûlée latte, which is an Alchemy original.
The first baklava we tried was called the traditional baklava, which is Sopi’s favorite dessert. She described it as homemade, with 60 layers of phyllo dough. It was also soaked in a sweet syrup. It was very delicious. The crunch of the walnuts contrasted really well with the flaky phyllo dough. We agreed that overall, the taste was smooth, sweet, and resounding. It really left us wanting even more.
The second baklava we tried was the modern baklava. “Rather than walnuts, it is made with pistachios,” Sopi stated. It is slightly firmer and more crunchy, but with the same sweetness as the traditional baklava. Ava Smith ‘25 stated, “I love the richness of the pistachio, as well as the especially crunchy texture.”
The third baklava we tried was called the baklava roll. Unlike the first two, this one opened on the top and bottom, rather than the sides. It was made with kataifi dough, and included pistachios and shredded phyllo dough inside. “It was airy and sweet,” Smith stated.
The tulumba is a small Turkish dessert that resembles a churro. It is fried, and then soaked in a syrup. It should also be noted that this dessert is best enjoyed at a cool temperature. The tulumba was very sweet and had a chewy texture. Eleana Locatelli ‘25 specifically enjoyed this one, “It has a very unique taste that invites you to explore Turkish culture.”
The cannoli and the cheesecake both resembled the baklavas in their crunchy and flaky crusts, but were different in having rich cream fillings, which had nice vanilla flavorings. The cannoli had a flaky bottom as well, and was decorated with flowers. The cheesecake was soft but still had a crunchy crust. “The texture of these desserts are unmatched” Locatelli stated.
Next, we got to try two lattes. Smith got an autumn staple: a pumpkin flavored coffee. “I had the pumpkin spice chai latte. It’s a seasonal offering. It was exactly what I love from a coffee. It is very sweet, and has a rich pumpkin flavor that makes it stand out from all of the other pumpkin lattes I’ve ever had. It’s so much higher quality than most mainstream coffee places,” Smith stated, “It’s way better than Starbucks! The pumpkin and cinnamon are strong enough not to overpower the coffee and still taste true to their name.”
Locatelli got the crème brûlée latte. “I don’t normally drink coffee, but I really enjoyed the rich and creamy flavor of this one!” This drink was recently added to the coffee menu and is already a hit.
While most well known coffee shops have their coffees tasting more like milkshakes, Alchemy has not lost the delicious, rich coffee taste that many appreciate. The flavors are all unique, with even commonly seen flavors having some sort of Alchemy spin on them. This is because of the special way the coffee is roasted, and the strength of it. “Unlike a lot of other cafes out there, our coffee is roasted in Switzerland. That’s why it tastes like coffee and it’s not milked or watered down,” Sopi stated.
The owner expressed wanting to see students come to the cafe. “We’re open to offering products that you guys might like!” Sopi said. She’s decided to offer a ten percent discount all year round to any student or staff who shows their Gorman ID.
