Coffee Alchemy

The best coffee shop in Sydney. I could end there but don’t go here for food as there isn’t any just quality coffee! Try the cold brew, cold sparkling and all other wonderful general coffee!!!

Deservedly famous coffee. You can’t get anything else because it’s all about the coffee. You need to focus!
Simple and austere interior in an industrial location. Great, friendly staff who all totally know what they are doing.

Hands down best tasting beans in the inner west. I buy 1kg of beans every month and grind them at home.
$ 25 gets you 500gm of varieties like «Hairy chest» which is guaranteed (by me) to knock your socks off when you need a morning kick start.
Yes, it is hipster as f*ck, but if you can get past that youll experience the best coffee this side of the equator.

After hearing much hype over Coffee Alchemy, I was excited to try it for myself. and thoroughly disappointed. Yes their coffee is good, but nothing else won me over. I found the staff very disconcerting — couldn’t figure out if they just didn’t care about their customers, or that they were just very pretentious after all the acalades. Still, in my opinion, you need to have good service, no matter how great your coffee is.
The opening hours are also very limited, and not a great atmosphere inside. There are so many other great places in Marrickville with much better service!

They close to early but the coffee is really good… Parking hard to find.
Friendly staff

Still one of the best places for a coffee in the inner west. Their coffee is spectacular and staff are very friendly

Best coffee and roasters anywhere, full stop! Just the smell walking past will draw you in. But remember this is THE place for coffee, not sweets or munchies, just the best damned coffee beans you’ll find this side of Melbourne!

The best coffee in Sydney. I am a coffee connoisseur, and this place is definitely on top of my chart. It beats Single Origin and Campos Newtown.

Great coffee. Probably the best coffee I’ve had in NSW. But that’s what they do. So no lunch or anything else. If you want a good cup of coffee or coffee beans this is the place to come to. Sitting is limited so be prepared to get take away. Also they only do one size of coffee.

In a pretty nondescript part of town sits an extraordinary café. Serving up all manner of coffee to drink in or take home, the kids at Coffee Alchemy seem to know their stuff.
The cold drip is on tap, like beer! It’s slightly sparkly and served on ice which makes it a terrific option on a hot day. Filters are well made, but served in the ugliest cup I have ever laid eyes on. I’m sure it’s supposed to be ergonomic or something but I spent so much time lamenting it’s awful design that I almost overlooked the delicious Ethiopian coffee inside my cup.

The best coffee in Sydney. Hazel and her staff really know their coffee. In fact, Hazel is a former barista champion. I have been frequenting this place for their roasted whole beans for a few years and have not found anywhere else that comes close. The beans you get are always roasted within the last 2 days. ‘Goodness Galileo’ is my favourite blend and this is what they serve to their café patrons. They also have a good selection of single origin and also other techniques of making coffee — eg: drip.

Coffee: Alchemy
Passion: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Crema: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Last time I came here I was reviewing the café for another site and ordered a mac at every place I went (as a commonality to by-​pass the issues with many cafes I tried only having a house blend), but this time espressos were the only way to move forward. On a side note, there is something magical about drinking coffee in a room tinged with acrid smell of roasting coffee. Kind of like drinking single malt in a room tinged with cigar smoke… but I digress…
I started off with an Indonesian single origin from Sulawesi (Toarco Jaya) and it was fan-​bloody-​tastic. Normally I would expect the Indonesian coffees to be quite timid, and yet this one was robust, warm, with a hint of spice and an awesome smooth finish. If nothing else this first espresso shows roasters how they should be letting the coffee speak for itself, and avoiding over roasting the beans.
Next up, on the advice of the barista (and one should always take advice from their barista), I went for a Honduras (Las Golondrinas) espresso, and it was equally delicious. Much more citrusy and a bit brighter, but still just as smooth and delicious.
It is a great café that can whack out coffee like this, so I guess this must be an awesome café.
N.B.
There is #powerwhoring available at the table opposite the scales, but seating is very limited.
No public WiFi is available
There is a toilet out the back (ask staff)
(via
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This place has church pews inside.
Where you go to wait for your dark elixir.
And my oh my is it an elixir and a half!
It’s always busy which is always a good sign. The only issue I have and the reason it got 4 stars instead of 5 was the fact that they only serve a regular size coffee.
There are no munchies here, no nibbles, it’s pure coffee and coffee only.
So for caffine holics like me, it’s like heaven.

Staff are not interested in making the coffee the way you want it. They’re only interested in keeping it «pure». The shop was virtually empty and I still had to wait 15 minutes for my take away coffee. Not good enough.

Probably the best coffee in Sydney… and only the best coffee, nothing else.
Barely more than a hole in a wall, this is a place to get your coffee (or your beans, of which they have an excellent selection of both house blends and single origin) on your way to wherever you’re going.
Also one of the few place around that sells cold drip coffee, and even a cold drip served through a beer tap (so it comes out slightly bubbly).
If what you want is coffee, and only coffee, you can’t beat Coffee Alchemy.

All about the coffee. No food. Hardcore caffeine addicts (like us!) or locals would be the main clientele here. Recommended by a Barista friend to visit this place and the 40 minute cross town drive was worth it. Although I’d probably suggest having other things to do in the area as downing a macchiato only takes a minute!
Coffee is smooth velvety and just awesome. Hubby rates this as the best in Sydney and I’d have to agree.

Cut little place!
Just a little walk from my bestie’s place and I popped in for a coffee before pancakes… They only do coffee!
Currently I’m undecided about the actual result. I’ve got a soy flat white next to me… the soy is super smooth but I’m not sure if the shot was strong enough for my taste?
Place is great though. Good staff. They found me and gave my my coffee straight up — none of this yelling shit. Don’t know about the peeps vibe. Sydneysiders are always a little suspicious.

SIT IN … the warehouse from Reservoir Dogs. This is categorically not the Central Perk from Friends. Seating is provided principally for people waiting for their drink orders to be called, and the occasional 10-​minute dine-​in coffee drinker. Another words: no one brings their laptops here, orders an iced tea, and sits at a 2-​top for 4 hours working on a course paper. This is a selling point these days in my book.
NIBBLE … STOP. Do not pass go. There is no food to be had here, unless you count the sugar added to the drinks. That is how seriously Coffee Alchemy takes its coffee. It does nothing else. See «SIT IN … Reservoir Dogs», above.
IMBIBE FROM … a wonderfully curated selection of coffees made from beans roasted on the premises. Take a peak behind the production counter and you can see huge bags of beans in the back room, ready for roasting and grinding. Order a soy cappuccino, or skim flat white, or short black, and realize how smooth and exceptional coffee really can be when done right. No joke about Coffee Alchemy being the best in Sydney, maybe Australia even.
SPEAK TO … the insanely efficient baristas, always ready (when they’re not twenty orders deep…) to chat about the beans, roasting process, and philosophical approach to coffee preparation. But don’t, if I’m in that queue, as you’ll just delay when I get my coffee, and when I haven’t had my morning caffeine, you’ll be in earshot of my bark.

Coffee coffee coffee. That’s all these guys and gals care about. Go here for good coffee, rivaling anywhere I’ve been before. It’s an interesting setup inside, as if they focused entirely on the coffee and then thought, «Hey, we should get some seats for people to try the coffee». It’s on a busy part of Addison Rd, Marrickville, virtually in the industrial area so it’s not atmospheric — more noisy, busy and a working neighbourhood. But if you want good coffee, take it away to the nearby park and enjoy. Oh, and forget the food, it’s not part of the experience. If you get the opportunity to see the back area behind the curtains you can view the machines where the magic happens.

How is it that I’ve not reviewed Coffee Alchemy yet? It is the best coffee I’ve had in Sydney. Probably anywhere.
It’s a warehouse-​conversion type of place. Don’t expect an atmospheric, hang-​out, chatty sort of café. It’s a counter where they make and sell coffee and beans, a few benches to wait or sit at, a couple of seats outside, and that’s it. The coffee production area is in rooms in the back, or concealed behind a curtained-​off area.
There is no food to order. There are no sweets. There’s no music. No newspapers. Coffees come in one size only. It’s just coffee, to have in or take away. But it’s roasted and brewed with such attention to detail, such care and love for the bean, that it’ll blow your socks off.
I treat myself here about once a week or so (the queues can be long). And I always buy their beans for my own coffee-​making at home. Fantastic.
It’s a pure coffee hit, and the best one I know. It’s also won Best Coffee in Sydney in the SMH for the last two years. That’s not luck.