THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
COMMUNITY
PAGE 7A
Local coffee shop uses science to brew better cup
JOSE MEDRANO jmedrano@kansan.com
An array of scales, funnels and decanters fill the shelves while a large filtration system slowly drips a dark solution into a beaker, but this is not a chemistry lab. This is Alchemy Coffee, a small shop located on the corner of 19th Street and Massachusetts Street.
A mixture of knowledge about science and coffee is used at the shop to make every cup.
Alchemy Coffee does not fit the corporate mold of a coffee shop. The coffee
is brewed through a meticulous pour over procedure that takes four minutes to complete.
"We've calculated everything and know what makes the perfect cup of coffee," barista and University graduate Blake Romine said about the process.
According to Romine, the long brew process allows him to talk to customers while they are waiting for their cup.
Ben Farmer, owner of the Alchemy Coffee shop, came up with the idea after tinkering around with small sets similar to the current equipment at the shop.
The idea to name it came from wanting to encompass the scientific approach we take to making coffee," Farmer said.
"We've calculated everything and know what makes the perfect cup of coffee."
He said that he wanted people to feel and taste a finer grade of
coffee that was crafted precisely and meant more than just a caffeine rush.
"When the name 'alchemy' came to mind, it just fit perfectly," Farmer said.
The menu consists of pour overs, flash brews, a French press for faster service, iced tea and Alchemy's signature cold brew.
BLAKE ROMINE barista
For people looking for a snack with their drink the shop also carries an assortment of local treats from Chelsea's Bakehouses of Kansas City.
"My philosophy is to keep it as local as possible." Farmer said about
the products and ingredients that are used.
The shop also carries a series of four beans that customers can choose from for their pour over. One it currently carries is an Ethiopian Wote Konga, a coffee bean that has a blueberry and black walnut flavoring. The beans are rotated periodically in order to give diversity to the coffee brews available.
"We are pretty unique compared to other coffee shops," Romine said. Alchemy Coffee, located at 1901 Massachusetts St., is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
Edited by Sarah Kramer
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MOVIES
'Blue Jasmine:' Woody Allen bores with recycled storyline
To say director Woody Allen's past two movies have been Oscar worthy is a bit
of an overstatement. In actuality, they've been a little bland. "Midnight in Paris" and "To Rome With Love" are nearly the same, focusing on the simultaneous love lives of many characters as they wander around one European capital or another cheating on their loved ones and meeting Jazz Age writers by happenstance. That's why his most recent movie "Blue Jasmine" was a little worrying: One's alright, two's troubling, and three's just downright obnoxious. Outwardly, though, "Blue Jasmine" seems to take a different approach.
"Jasmine" follows the story of Jeanette (Cate Blanchett), a former socialite whose favorite pastimes include narcissism and conversing with thin air. Jeanette, who goes
by Jasmine, is forced to leave her opulent home in New York City after her husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) gets sent to the slammer for a whole slew of white-collar crimes. Jasmine's only hope is to turn to her estranged sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) and try to get her life back on track.
With acting heavyweights Blanchett and Baldwin onboard, it seems that "Jasmine" has the possibility of breaking out of the redundant new Allen formula.
Blanchett never gives a bad performance and Baldwin can usually scrape together a passable one.
Somewhere around the hour and a half marker a little Woody Allen déjà vu starts happening. Suddenly, the movie switches gears from focusing on the broken relationship between two sisters and turns into the dual love story we've come to expect. Significant others are being cheated on and lied to and we're left wondering when our favorite expatriate authors are going to show up.
This jarring switch from an intriguing, character-driven film to an overly dramatic plot-driven one is the final nail in this movie's coffin. Jasmine's mental instability is still there, yes, but now it's being overshadowed by a rushed relationship with a man whose house she's decorating. Her sister
Ginger's affair with Louis C.K. totally detracts from Jasmine's struggles, even her relationship ones. By the (abrupt) end, "Blue Jasmine" has completely deviated from its original purpose and ventured deeper and deeper into "soap opera" territory.
Blanchett is the one person who manages to save this movie. Her stunning performance is the one shining light through "Blue Jasmine" and makes it more enjoyable than it would be otherwise. She gives Jasmine her all, realistically portraying a woman who's down on her luck and trying to find her place in the world twenty years too late.
—Edited by Ashleigh Tidwell
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