There is something appealing about a cocktail bar that manages to make you feel like you've stepped somewhere a little more sophisticated than wherever you were before. Alchemy, located on the fifth floor of the JW Marriott in Edmonton's ICE District, certainly looks the part. The lighting, decor and overall atmosphere give the impression that considerable thought went into making the place look good.
Unfortunately, whoever was responsible for the furniture seems to have stopped thinking about halfway through the project.
We settled in and began working our way through the cocktail menu, which turned out to be considerably more successful than the seating arrangements. The tables are low. Not low in the charming, intimate sense of the word, but low enough that getting your legs underneath them becomes an exercise in spatial negotiation. This leaves you leaning forward to put down your drinks, retrieve your food or generally interact with anything on the tabletop. It's a peculiar way to enjoy cocktails, particularly when the furniture seems designed to encourage you to stay awhile.
The round tables don't help matters. Circles on circles might look aesthetically pleasing, but once you've accounted for the drinks, food, menu and decorative lighting, there is precious little room left for anything else. At some point, a table needs to function as a table rather than simply exist as a decorative circle.
And the chairs. What are these chairs?
I don't know who approved these things, but I'd love to hear the justification. The tables are already too low, and the chairs somehow manage to make the situation worse. The barstools were the most functional seating in the entire place, which tells you everything you need to know about the rest of the furniture. If the best place to sit is at the bar, perhaps the rest of the seating should be reconsidered before someone mistakes a cocktail lounge for a chiropractor's referral program.
Thankfully, there were cocktails to distract us from our increasingly questionable seating arrangements.
The Monocane was a good example of why tropical cocktails don't need to be complicated to work. Coconut and pineapple are familiar companions, but the trick is keeping one from drowning out the other. Here, neither flavour tried to take over the drink. The pineapple brought its fruity character while the coconut held its own, resulting in a combination that felt cohesive rather than like two ingredients fighting for custody of the glass. It was refreshing in concept and nicely restrained in execution. Nothing groundbreaking, but I appreciated that it knew what it wanted to be and didn't try to do too much.
The Star Sign had a little more personality, largely because it managed to tap into some questionable college-era drinking habits. The horchata made for a booze-forward opening, but the amaretto gradually became more prominent as I worked my way through the drink. That developing flavour was what made it interesting to me. I have a history with amaretto, having spent a considerable portion of my college years treating Disaronno and orange juice as though it were a perfectly respectable dietary staple. My tastes have matured somewhat since then, although I will happily defend amaretto over ice as a perfectly good drink in its own right. The Star Sign reminded me why I liked it in the first place, with the amaretto becoming more apparent as the horchata gave way. Of the four, this was the one that connected most directly with my personal tastes.
The Green Fairy, meanwhile, made absolutely no attempt to be mysterious. It tasted like green Jolly Ranchers. Not vaguely reminiscent of them, not a sophisticated interpretation of a childhood sweet, but the unmistakable flavour of those little green candies translated into cocktail form.
The presentation added a little interaction to the experience, with the server getting me to catch a smoke bubble in the glass. It required a bit of concentration, turning the arrival of a cocktail into a small exercise in coordination before I could get down to the actual drinking. Sometimes a cocktail gives you layers of botanicals, subtle aromatics and a finish that requires a paragraph of explanation. Sometimes it tastes like something you'd happily find at the bottom of a Halloween bag. The Green Fairy belongs firmly in the latter category, with a little smoke-filled ceremony thrown in for good measure.
Then came the Cigar Lounge, which made the strongest impression visually. The cocktail arrived with a smoke chamber, giving it a bit of theatrical flair before we even got to the actual drinking. We asked if we could leave the cloche over the board a little longer to let the drink absorb more of the smoke, but our server seemed rather keen to get it back. This left me wondering whether they only had one or two cloches available for the entire bar and needed to keep them circulating. Understandable if that's the case, but it did rather put a timer on how long we could let the drink sit in its little smoke-filled bubble.
The flavour offered its own surprise. I picked up an almost citrus-like aftertaste despite there being no obvious citrus addition to account for it. That unexpected finish was more interesting than simply having a smoky presentation for the sake of appearances. It gave the drink a little mystery of its own, even if I would have liked more time to let the smoke do its thing.
The cocktails struck a nice balance, with the alcohol present without overwhelming everything else. More importantly, each offered something different: the Monocane kept its tropical flavours in check, the Star Sign developed into a more amaretto-forward drink, the Green Fairy leaned unapologetically into candy territory, and the Cigar Lounge paired its theatrical presentation with an unexpected finish. None left me desperate to order another immediately, but at least they weren't four variations of the same cocktail wearing different outfits.
The service had a few thoughtful touches worth mentioning. Servers weren't restricted to specific zones, which meant there was no awkward game of determining whether the person standing nearby was actually permitted to help you. It's a small operational detail, but one that makes a place feel less rigid.
The bill was similarly straightforward. For anyone who prefers not to sit around waiting for a payment terminal, the option to pay through Apple Pay or Google Pay was available directly on the bill. It's convenient, efficient and exactly the sort of small detail that makes leaving a little less of an ordeal.
The water service, on the other hand, was a little puzzling. We were served water without ice, accompanied by coasters. Now, I'm no authority on the ceremonial presentation of drinking water, but without ice there is considerably less condensation forming on the glass. So why the coaster? Perhaps there's a decorative purpose I'm missing. Perhaps the coaster simply felt left out.
One of the more entertaining touches was the not-so-secret drinks menu. Asking your server for the keys to the bookshelf gets you access to another menu, which adds a bit of personality to the experience. There's something enjoyable about having to ask for a key to discover what else is available, even if the secret becomes considerably less secret once you know to ask.
One small visual observation: the washrooms are located outside the main lounge, meaning guests have to exit through the same giant bookshelf used as the entrance. If someone is leaving for the facilities just as another guest is arriving, it takes away from the novelty of discovering the secret entrance. It's hardly a major issue, but there's something slightly less magical about watching someone emerge from the secret bookcase while you're waiting to enter through it.
The fifth-floor location also offers outdoor seating, including rooftop-style seating, which is worth considering when Edmonton's weather decides to behave itself. It's an appealing alternative to the indoor setup, where the furniture seems determined to make enjoying a cocktail more physically demanding than necessary.
Alchemy clearly puts effort into its presentation, both in the glass and around the room. The cocktails were thoughtfully balanced, and the Star Sign and Cigar Lounge offered the most distinctive experiences for me. The bigger frustration was that the physical space didn't always support the experience the bar was trying to create. Beautiful surroundings are a bonus, but they become less impressive when you're constantly negotiating with your chair.
I'd consider visiting for a drink and the novelty of the bookshelf menu, particularly if you're already in the ICE District. Just choose your seat carefully. Your back may thank you.