Gumption By Coffee Alchemy

Modern stylish interiors of stained glass and brass fittings against a mint canvas are only surpassed by the quality of the coffee. Even though there’s a range of beans to choose from, I can’t go past the house blend. Best coffee in the city.

I had this place bookmarked forever and finally had a chance to stop by and try their coffee on 30^th Dec. It was PACKED with tourists/​shoppers etc. The line was about 8 people deep but an efficient cashier, I didnt have to wait long for my order to be taken.
The wait for my coffee was slightly longer (10 mins?). With three barista working their butt off, I would say they are pretty efficient.
I LOVE the coffee! Though I had a latte, it was quite strong and flavorful. I was a happy camper :)
I would definitely be back!

We stopped by to grab some coffee. A very cute little coffee shot. I got the iced coffee, which I thought was one of the best I had in Sydney. You sit in the middle of the boutique mall while sipping your coffee. A must do during your busy stay in Sydney.

There’s a reason this place is always busy and that’s due to the excellent coffee. There are a few tables outside which is a good spot to people watch in the middle of the Strand Arcade. Coffee is served in relatively small cups and there is an endless stream of orders beihg processed. I like the coffee as it is fragrant and not diluted with too much milk.

Ok the coffee is amazing — but I don’t like the wanky pottery cups they’re served in and I found the seating uncomfortable. But like I said the coffee is amazing! Service is slow — because it’s busy!

Judged solely by one coffee (flat white, one size fits most) I think it’s good. Not great, no amazing flavours of the coffee (sweet?choc?caramel?) combined with the milk.
Would come again to try some of the other beans, but found the lack of signs or prices for the alternative blends leaving me to think it’s more for show than consumption.

Really great coffee in a beautiful location. We went mid-​morning so it wasn’t too busy.

Gumption is summed up by the phrases ‘all good things take time’ and ‘you can’t rush art’- the coffee here is simply divine, however it takes a while to be made.
In one of the ritziest and flashest looking arcades in sydney, this little coffee store gives off the impression that a cup of coffee will require you to dip into your life savings– however a double shot cap only cost me $ 3.50! (that’s good).
Most importantly, this is a top cup of coffee. Smooth and tasty it ticks all my boxes. Seriously, if you don’t like this coffee just stick to Nescafé.
The staff are all lovely and always ask your name to written on the cup. Biggest complaint would be the time it takes for the coffee to be made, but honestly it’s more or less the same time you’d wait in the burbs– I’m just comparing it to city time limits (and as I said– good things take time)
So do yourself a favour and try the coffee place named after that stuff you use to clean your shoes– as I said, it’s worth the wait.

In the city I often run into the dilemma of which café to go to next. What will be open? What is close? What is worth the walk? At least a few times a week the answer to these questions tends to be followed with a visit to Gumption.
This is yet another café that I can simply walk into an be served whatever the baristas think is «delicious coffee», and most times, it is actually delicious!
One thing to know about Coffee Alchemy coffee is that much of it tends to be a little darker than your average roast. As such, always be sure to let it cool down a bit to allow the fruits and other characteristics to appear. You’ll thank me if you do.
Passion: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Crema: ⁹⁄₁₀
Coffee: Coffee Alchemy

I love this tiny coffee shop inside The Strand Arcade. They have consistently served me with great cup of coffee, either takeaway or not. I tried to be more adventurous by trying their single origin coffee and it was fantastic.

I usually love this place, and whenever we are in the city, it usually involves a stop here for a delicious coffee.
One of my favourite summer coffee drinks is a cold drip. That delicious intense flavour, and the caffeine hit that can make you shake, awesome!
Imagine the surprise, when they they handed me my take away cold drip yesterday, and it was barely half full, AND that was thanks to some massive ice cubes. I felt betrayed, devastated, swindled, etc. $ 5 for a speciality coffee is no rarity in Sydney, but this was ridiculous.
I gave them the second star, as the two sips I had were delicious. Stick to the basics here though, and you’ll be leaving 4 and 5 star reviews.

Best coffee in Sydney by a long way! Love the personalised service too. Sometimes the wait can be a little long but it’s definitely worth the short wait.

Coffee alchemy coffee with a fantastic location. Barista’s improving so looking forward to the future with this one

Been seeing a lot of people come here, but because the coffee place doesn’t open before 8 and I usually have my coffee around 7 or 7:30, I don’t normally get too many chances.
Fortunately, they open on weekends which is a good bonus because the coffee here seems on par (if not better than Single Origin) — which is a win because its city based.
If they were to open before 8, I’d definitely give this place 5 stars.

Not feeling the love.
This is probably a 3.5 star coffee place, but I honestly couldn’t give it a 4, so it’s getting a 3.
Negatives:
— Not open before 8am, at which point a queue has already formed 6 or 7 deep.
— Only one size, small, when other shops have at least 2 and sometimes 3.
— The location is kind’ve in limbo. If you get off at Town Hall it’s 2 blocks away (there’s a dozen coffee shops in closer vicinity). If you are at Wynyard it’s not even worth contemplating.
Positives:
— The coffee is excellent. On par with the better coffee shops in the city.
— It’s in the Strand which somehow gives you a touch of «the elegance» about your day.
Would I come here again. Absolutely, but only if I was walking past, and never in the morning when I need a big coffee, not a kid’s version.
Get the extra size and open before 8 and I’d consider the extra hike to visit as a fair trade off.

When I lived in Sydney the Strand Arcade was one of my favourite places to shop. I loved the architecture and that the stores inside were mostly unusual, bespoke and of a high quality. What was lacking all those years ago was a quality coffee stop and so it was with great pleasure that I found that Coffee Alchemy had come to the aid of energy-​sapped shoppers and had opened Gumption on the lower level.
Gumption is tiny and this means that ordering and waiting around for your coffee can be a squishy affair. There’s loads of staff behind a tiny counter but everything seems to chug along smoothly.
After five minutes my name and coffee order was called out «Trez! Soy flat white!»… umm, what? Soy? That’s not my coffee order.
I almost had a melt down because after being up at 6am for my flight to Sydney I was literally ready to hurl myself over the counter and put my mouth under the coffee groups, that’s how badly I needed coffee. I think they saw the panic in my eyes when I calmly said «umm no I asked for a strong flat white» and reassuringly said «don’t worry, we’ll fix this right away». Sure enough, within moments my real coffee order was placed in front of me.
I can’t really remember what it tasted like. It was gone in about 20 seconds flat before my tastebuds could really dicern or register the «notes». Let’s just say it hit the spot and next time I find myself in the Sydney CBD I’ll be heading to Gumption for a coffee… and carefully enunciating my order.

Amazing coffee! I am so glad I found this place. I would go to coffee alchemy on weekends in Marrickville. But now I can get this awesome coffee in the city. We warned they just serve coffee. Nothing else. But if you’re good at something why do anything else?! The only problem is they only have one size.

A dark rich coffee nestled in the strand arcade. The taste sets this place apart.
The first taste will make your mouth move. Your brain won’t know what hit it. It will panic «maybe I don’t like this, what is this, how is this doing this» and then you will settle. Your brain will relax and your taste buds will bathe in liquid gold.
EDIT (after many visits): Staff are friendly, dedicated and accommodating odd orders. Open 7 days a week, unlike most coffee shops in the city too.
The coffee has to be escalated to 5 out of 5 on the dark rich coffee bean scale.
However, the shop needs a few more things on the walls as the interior is bland. I’m void of interest as I wait for my takeaway.
4.95÷5 taste buds bathing in liquid gold. Almost 5, just up the décor.

Here goes — my first 5 star review of a coffee shop. I debated giving it only 4 as that’s what I gave my other fave caffeine stops, but this place deserves that extra star.
Gumption by Café Alchemy is new and shiny. And I like shiny things. It’s still very much a secret spot — I walk by the other cafés in the Strand with barely a spare table and I breeze right up to the till at Gumption. They started remembering me — or at least my lack of sugar — after the first visit. Today I had to wait in a two person long «line» for the first time — but it was 8.30 on a Monday.
Everyone has different coffee tastes. I’m a long blacker (my North American roots). I take it straight up, and I like it strong — like, have-​to-​fight-​against-​pulling-​a-​face-​strong. I’ve been to Gumption thrice now, and have received a beautiful caffeine hit each time. My heart has been won.
I have to mention that I wouldn’t have found out about this place if Peter C’s amazing review hadn’t shown up in my Unilocal feed, so thanks, Peter. I owe you one.

(evoking Schoolhouse Rock!)
Q: Gumption Gumption, what’s your function?
A: WHO CARES, when your coffee is that good.
I don’t believe I have ever written an update review (shame on me …). There are too many places to review, and not enough time. But I will make time (and words) for you, Coffee Alchemy.
This place still feels like an undiscovered treasure, mainly because of the unassuming exterior (no mention of Coffee Alchemy that I could see) and the bare interior. Little do passersby realize that they are missing out on some of the consistently best coffee in Australia. Don’t be one of them.
For the Gump (tion) in all of us:
Anyway, like I was sayin’, coffee is the fruit of the rainforest. You can pressurize it, boil it, steep it. Dey’s uh, filtered coffee, instant coffee, pressed coffee, espresso coffee. Cappuccinos, flat whites, lattes, cortados, piccolo lattes, macchiatos, iced coffee. There’s coffee ice cream, affogatos, mochas, coffee cake, coffee cupcakes, coffee cookies, coffee brownies, coffee macarons, coffee eclairs. There’s chocolate-​covered coffee beans, coffee liqueur, coffee creamer, coffee mousse, coffee jellies, coffee candies. That– that’s about it.