A locally owned coffee shop’s opening in former Hi-Top location in Fresno’s Tower District
A new coffee shop is slated to open in the former Hi-Top Coffee spot in Fresno’s Tower District.
It will be called Alchemist Coffee Lab and run by a local roaster in the spot on Wishon Avenue, north of Olive Avenue.
Hamzeh Mahmoud is Alchemist’s owner. He’s a 2004 Bullard High grad who founded Q29 Roastery. He’s aiming to open the coffee shop Dec. 17 if all goes as planned and have a grand opening next year.
You may have had his coffee before.
Besides an online subscription service that ships beans, Q29 does mostly wholesale business.
Its Fresno roastery provides coffee shops and other businesses with coffee beans. Local businesses that carry or serve his coffee include Collect Coffee Bar at Campus Pointe, Yava Bakery, The Waffle Shop, Daddy Waffles and the store Zaytoona in River Park.
He’s also sold his coffee at various farmers markets, including River Park, in the past.
The coffee shop in the Tower District itself has undergone some changes, mostly to give it more of a scientific, chemistry vibe.
Its predecessor, Hi-Top Coffee, closed last summer citing a variety of reasons, with former baristas weighing in with some of their own.
Alchemist’s coffee
Alchemist will be a specialty coffee shop that’s a bit different than a standard coffee spot, Mahmoud said.
The name is a nod to the science behind brewing a good cup of coffee, he said.
“It is chemistry if you look at it — it’s the way you grow the bean, the way you grind it” and brew it, he said.
“Its going to be a specialty coffee shop. We’re going to focus on higher-end coffee beans,” he said. “You’ll be able to order anything and everything basically, but we will have a focus on that specialty coffee.”
Beans come from around the world, including the Middle East.
They may have flavors you don’t always find in coffee. Think: Fewer chocolate notes and more peach, plum, pomegranate and honey flavors.
They’ll brew the coffee using various methods that best bring out those flavors.
They’ll offer pour overs, for example, but also siphon-brewed coffee. That’s a system that uses glass bulbs and flame and looks more like it belongs in a lab than a coffee shop.
You’ll still be able to order a regular latte, of course, but they may ask you if you want the espresso in it to be a light, medium or dark roast.
“There’s different ways to grind, brew, the water temperatures,” Mahmoud said. “When you find a place to do it for you and you see how it’s done, it becomes more an experience.”
Alchemist is hiring employees. It will hold open interviews from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10 at the shop at 1306 N. Wishon Ave.
This story was originally published December 5, 2022 at 3:23 PM.
