Love this place - personalized service and most certainly beats the chains. Heavenly aroma upon opening the door. Love that they roast their own beans. read more

May be the only coffee shop on the north shore that roasts their own beans. I'm a bona fide coffee snob (e.g. Hate intelligentsia and dig metropolis and blue bottle) #alchemy is awesome read more

great little coffee place across from the Linden El station. The chai lattes are great here. Try a dirty chai with a shot of espresso for a change of pace. Only bummer is it's not really a hang out coffee shop. It's too small to meet someone or hang out and work. read more

Home roasted coffee , quite a few kinds , home baked coffee cakes , delicious scones and a few healthy choices ! My favorite spot for good quality coffee house . Friendly staff and frozen scone wheels to go so you could bake scones at home and amaze everyone ! read more

Probably the tiniest coffeehouse I've ever been to. Usually the coffee is pretty good, but very strong. It's nice that he roasts his own beans and makes his own scones. I bought a half pound of the house blend beans recently, the King Cyrus. It's tasty. Located in the 4th and Linden section of Wilmette, a very cute place that has a quaint small town feel to it. There's a small diner, a couple of Chinese restaurants, a comic book store, a resale shop, and is right off of the Linden purple line stop. Up the street is the famous Baha'i Temple. read more

Tiny little shop but with lots of parking, which is nice. We ordered an Americano with an extra shot and a 2% latte. We thought the coffee was smooth and rich, lacking acidity and bitterness, but the latte was not quite hot enough and could have used an extra shot (even though I never order my latte with extra shots anywhere). The Americano was very hot and the perfect strength with the added shot. Make sure to ask for an extra shot and extra hot if you're adding milk to any of your drinks. We also ordered a chocolate cherry scone which had a nice crisp crust and light inside. Not too sweet but could have used more chocolate and cherries. read more

Beans roasted on premises. Delicious, fresh, hot coffees, espressos. Yummy scones baked throughout the day; chocolate chip and cherry our favourites. Chilled scones to take away, heat and eat. Friendly working owner and staff baristas. ~Peter O. and S. read more

Great coffee. Fantastic scones. Engaging and tart baristas. An important player on the Wilmette coffee scene. Wait times can be a bit unpredictable in the morning if there is only one (talented) barista working and everyone is ordering fancy drinks. There is a pretty firm "no electronics" rule enforced here, so don't expect to plop down with your laptop and write a yelp review. If you aren't stationed in the suburbs, a cup of Alchemy and a short walk to the BaHai temple make for a great day trip. read more

Alchemy Coffee House - Front of Alchemy - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

First time visit, love this shop! Barista was incredibly nice. I think I confused her she gave me an iced coffee instead of a smoothie. I didn't know they don't take cards so it worked out ok because I didn't have enough cash. I'll be back for that smoothie! This local shop is a gem. Seating outside is nice for warm months. Iced coffee was delish. read more

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Blair regularly rocks my world with his life-giving espresso creations and fresh cranberry scones. This is a stop I don't make nearly often enough, but always thoroughly enjoy. You can really tell that this man is obsessed with his craft. A great one-two punch is to check in for a table at Mrs. D's diner around the corner, then go grab a coffee at Alchemy and take a walk around the block until your table is ready. read more

the best Coffee shop I've ever been to. I'm not the type of person who like Starbucks and caribou coffee. i tend to prefer the individuality of local coffee houses, which is found in abundance here at alchemy. i highly recommend the vanilla bomber and the blended ice mocha's and vanilla's read more

Delicious fresh roasted (in house) coffee beans. Best coffee in area. Cute Cafe, friendly service. I would give it 5 stars if it wasn't 'cash only'. read more

Alchemy Coffee House - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

I had a negative experience with the staff. I was sitting in the cafe, reading, when another customer comes in and starts talking with an employee. The customer says she smells something floral. The employee looks at me, and says it must be my perfume. I was not a part of the conversation, but I let them both know I am not wearing perfume. The employee continues: "It must be something in your bag." I'm now the object of the cafes's attention when I had no intention of being scrutinized. I tell them both that I have nothing floral scented or citrus scented in my bag. The employee continues by walking over to where I am sitting and sniffing. The customer concludes with this note: "At least I said it was a good smell." As a customer - a black customer dealing with an all white room - I do not like being told I smell and sniffed by employees. I will not be coming back. read more

Best coffee around, probably in the entire world. The vanilla bomber is the bomb and the scones are in the zone.

Fantastic little coffee shop - I ended up getting the Vanilla Bomber and Caramel Espresso cake, which both surpassed my expectations! Great customer service too :D Would love to come back here again when I'm in the area. read more

Small batch roaster. Very fresh. Great beans. Harrar is our go-to. Some seating outside.

I'm so lucky to live right by this place. I always know my bag of beans is fresh because I can smell the roasting and this is pure bliss. These guys are wonderful, personable, and the coffee speaks for itself. It's tiny, though, and if you don't time it right, there can be a little crowd inside. But to me, it's worth it. Don't forget, cash only. read more

Great coffee(came in for the coffee, so glad that we did), good scones(they don't load up with flavor extracts, very clean taste) and good people. Cool retro minimalist ambience. Truly happy to find a place like this in Wilmette. We will be back for more! read more

While the scones here are very good, the coffee is mediocre. The service is also quite mediocre and I find the owners to be fairly unfriendly. For example, the last (and final) time I went there was one scone remaining. When I asked for it, I was told it was "spoken for." I was told there would be some ready in 10 minutes. I waited 15 and was essentially ignored and then left. This place is walking distance from my home but I will not plan on visiting again. If you prefer friendly treatment and decent coffee, look elsewhere. read more

The coffee and mango smoothie was fantastic, but I just loved the ambience. I can't explain why exactly. Great place to grab a quick coffee for sure. read more

fresh roasted coffee that morning........best coffee since leaving the city. Try expresso over ice. read more

Blair runs a great local coffee shop with lots of local color and personality. Always an eclectic collection of music is playing. The coffee is great but the scones are to die for... read more

Really cool little place but not a ton of seating. Have a whole range of drinks from coffee to smoothies. Would definitely recommend the vanilla bomber which was a vanilla smoothie with iced coffee! read more

Coffee made from his freshly roasted beans is excellent; or buy the beans and grind them at home. He gets beans from all the best growing countries. The scones are superb; try the ones baked and ready to go,or buy a wheel of the dough and bake them at home (we have gone through 30 or 40 wheels). Their telephone has been disconnected temporarily but I bought a sack of beans there a few days ago. read more

Memorable coffee and scones but also unbelievably unfriendly service. Had to pay for a cup of coffee spilled on the counter. Stay away. read more

This is the best espresso on the Northside. Blair roasts his own daily and the Harrar/Malabar blend he has really are the best espresso beans I've been able to find in Chicago. We've tried almost every roaster in Chicago but always come back for these. You can somewhat reliably get a good shot in-house from places like "Streets" but it is a different story when you carry out those beans and pull a shot at home. Alchemy's espresso beans come out dark, sweet, syrupy and do not have any lingering after taste. You might have to go to Italy to get comparable beans. Thanks for your continuous effort, Blair. read more

All I can say is ever since Demas shut down, I've had fantasy after fantasy of Alchemy moving next door, putting in some wood floors and comfy couches, serving all sorts of foamy coffee creations in giant mugs. I admit, while I'm closer to Alchemy so I go there a lot, I still prefer the variety and ambience of Kafein when it comes to local coffee businesses. The people who work here are awesome. And even though it's teeny tiny, there's still a "crowd"; some of us who politely smile at each other because we recognize one another from unintentionally coordinated coffee runs. Some people are chatting with each other and with people who are coming in; these folks come all the time and know everyone who cares to stop to chat. The coffee is good (ok the pumpkin spice latte is disgusting, but everything else is amazing), and the scones are delicious. I hope, even if its only for the sake of it being a local business, this place stays in existence for ever. read more

Great coffee and scones! Not many seating. This isn't a kind of place you bring your laptop and sit down to work.

Quaint little shop with great decor, friendly employees, and excellent FRESH coffee. The scones, which I was told are made in-house, are exceptional. Pricing is honest, but it is cash only which is somewhat of a bummer. A total gem. read more

Great coffee and desserts, nice area around to take a walk with the coffee as we like

This is one of those cool little places that you have to try. The owner built the interior himself, out of wood, and roasts coffee right there in a giant roaster behind the counter. He's serious about good coffee, so try it! read more

Came by for a Mother's Day scone, but they were sold out! Did grab a mocha and it was amazing! Went to the Artesian specialty grocery next door for an Alfrejore and was happy as a clam. You must try if you are in the neighborhood! read more

If you love coffee, why go anywhere else? Blair roasts his own, blends his own, and is a really nice guy. You know its good because who else has a reel-to-reel tape player in their business? That is good karma. We buy by the pound. No coffee anywhere else is as good. Period. Recently ordered a dozen and a half scones for the office. Everyone absolutely loved them! read more

Awesome coffee, cute little place, totally friendly guy working behind the counter, great music spinning on a sideways turntable....What's not to love? read more

Owner Blair runs an impressive place: a small, peachy (literally) coffee shop in the space of a former nail salon that serves fresh-roasted coffee. The pride and joy at Alchemy is indeed the roaster, which produces the bagged whole beans you see on the counter with stickers attesting to the date and time of their roasting. African blends are common here. The "bakehouse" aspect of Alchemy features delicacies baked by the owner's wife, including the aforementioned delicious scones that are actually baked the traditional British way. Alchemy is like the restaurant that offers one fixed menu a night for patrons: limited choice but fresh ingredients. The small space is not necessarily conducive to frittering away a lazyafternoon, but it could be done. read more

DO NOT GO HERE. My fiancé and I thought it would be fun to explore a non-chain coffee establishment one weekend morning. We ordered 2 smoothies, and when they were brought out I presented the man with my credit card. He then said, "Umm, we don't take plastic...." in a tone so condescending I was sure he was joking. When I realized he wasn't, I replied, "Well, I don't have any cash on me" at which point a very kind woman in line behind me offered to pay. The man then said "Ma'am, that's not necessary, there's an ATM right around the corner." I felt uncomfortable accepting this woman's offer (especially after the man tried to talk her out of it) so I went to the ATM and paid the fee to get some cash. There was no indication of this place being cash only anywhere, but even that wouldn't have bothered me so much if the man hadn't been so rude about it. He seemed so irritated that we weren't regular customers right from the start and seemed almost delighted in the opportunity to deliver the news that they don't take credit cards after our drinks had already been made. He seemed to want to inconvenience us and was annoyed when a kind stranger offered to give us an easy way out. I'm sorry that we didn't know the rules, but that's only because we were trying to support an independent business. This is the first yelp review I've ever written so it's clear that this experience really affected me in a negative way and ruined a morning with my fiancé on his one day off after an 80 hour (busy season accounting) work week. Next time I'll go to Starbucks read more

They roast their own coffee and it's great. The scones are unbelievable, didn't even know I liked scones but now I'm ruined because I don't believe scones get better than this. Great coffee house. read more

Best coffee ever. And I'm not even a coffee fan. Atmosphere is small and quaint. Lovely little cafe! -1 order took a while (not sure if understaffed?) but coffee made to perfection. Also got scones. While it was good, the bottom was burnt ): is that how it's supposed to be? Def recommended and would come back again and again! read more

Great coffee and nice, friendly staff.

Best coffee anywhere! If ever there were a coffee shop owner worthy of film noir, it's Alchemy's Blair who opened his neighborhood hub coffee shop with refreshing gravitas and depth after, among other things, a stint as a crime beat reporter. Balanced by his lovely wife Julie, the talented Katrina, and devoted child labor, Blair roasts his own coffee, serves great coffee drinks and smoothies, bakes scones, and insists everything be only the finest. He is also a great source of local neighborhood news and political insight. read more