Nestled in a cozy nook on the corner of 19th and Massachusetts, Alchemy Coffee and Bake House employees open shop at seven o’clock in the morning and begin grounding fresh coffee beans and setting out pastries for customers.
Taking time out of his busy morning, Alchemy co-owner Benjamin Farmer describes how he selects his barista team to represent his expanding coffee and bake café.
He explains, “My wife and I mainly hire from personality. They don’t need prior barista experience; I can teach them everything from baking and coffee making. I just want my employees to demonstrate my work ethic.”
Soap bubbles crawling up her arms from behind the counter, current Alchemy employee Amanda Haigh explains what it’s like working for Ben and his wife.
“Ben and Joni inspire me because they work so hard and they’re also parents. I used to be a teacher, so I respect how Ben and Joni balance work with family. It’s really awesome to see them open this new shop and see how much they worked for this opportunity.”
Springhill Kansas native Benjamin Farmer, who previously occupied multiple odd-end jobs before pursuing self-employment, gained inspiration to create Alchemy’s famous cold-brew drip coffee after running into a Colorado cold-brew coffee shop.
“I spent nine months perfecting the art of cold-brew coffee before opening Alchemy in 2013. I saw Lawrence needed this shop; there were no cold drip coffee shops around at the time.” Farmer says.
Commuting for eight years from Kansas City to Lawrence gave Farmer the incentive to find “a way of living in Lawrence permanently.” Not only was Lawrence in need of a cold-drip coffee café, Farmer also noticed the value in raising his growing family in a close-knit, small-town culture like Lawrence.
Sipping on his iced latte, Farmer explains how he was inspired to name the coffee shop from the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a book he read during college.
“I spent several months coming up with a name (I’m not going to say) that didn’t really make sense. One day, it struck me. What was I trying to do with this shop, what was I trying to create? I read the Alchemist in college and I found the thought interesting, creating base elements and thought it would be a great metaphor for my life.”
When Farmer opened his cold brew coffee shop in March of 2013, he opened Alchemy Coffee House. It wasn’t until he met his wife, Joni Alexander in 2014 that he filed for a name change, Alchemy Coffee and Bake House.
“I was looking for someone to bake for the shop, and my wife had been baking for almost fifteen years. We tried some of her stuff here and it sold great. Then we decided to launch the bakery and she took the whole company in a new direction. She hates the restrictions that menus put on her bakery creations. Instead, she amazes me every day by her dedication to design every customer’s order from scratch. Without her, I would still be a barista working behind the counter and not selling the product in eighty stores across the states.”
After five successful years influencing the Lawrence community in the art of cold-drip coffee and baked goods, Farmer and Alexander are excited to announce the opening of their new Alchemy café located in a more central position on Massachusetts Street.
“We’ve been searching for a bigger shop for the last three years. We finally found a great situation with a great landlord.” Farmer says with pride. “We’re ready to launch a real [physical] menu at the new Alchemy location to create more of a picture for customers of what we can really offer to the Lawrence community.”
