When I walked into Alchemy Cocktail Lounge, in the heart of Edmond’s historic downtown, I was almost blinded by darkness. Moody and dimly lit, a reprieve from the glaring sun, the lounge conjures an immediate sense of intrigue. Once I removed my sunglasses, I discovered a captivating brick-lined parlor filled with chandeliers, candelabras, vintage furniture and Mia Goth horror movie posters. A lone disco ball sent rogue shimmers along the swanky bar and intimate booths, only adding to the mystique.
It’s all part of the allure of Alchemy Cocktail Lounge, which opened in June from Mical George and Liz Warren, partners in life and business who wanted to open the perfect cocktail bar near their home. After going out to other spots, and traveling to places like New York and San Francisco for inspiration, they honed in on a concept—equal parts transformational and transportive—that checked all their boxes.
“There’s been so much growth in OKC, and it’s coming up into Edmond as well,” Warren explained of the metro’s fast-diversifying bar scene. “We’re seeing touches of that here; something that feels like you might find in New York City. So we wanted to bring a touch of that here in Edmond.”
Influenced by other bars they love, George and Warren designed Alchemy Cocktail Lounge to be curated and intentional, from the enchanting decor to the name.
“The name was almost immediate,” George recalled. “The idea of transforming something into something else, and creating things. Not just with drinks, but the decor, and taking our love of movies and music and art, and throwing it into a space.”
The name inspired the aesthetic, which opts for a vintage antique vibe over ultra-modernity, reflected in its gothic and Victorian-style furnishings. It also inspired the tone of the space, which the pair described as “good music where you can still sit and have a conversation without having to yell at each other across the table.”
And of course, that alchemist approach wove its way through the cocktail menu, riffing on classics that feel familiar yet new. There’s The Rubus, a blackberry old fashioned using some of the 100-plus bottles of bourbon behind the bar. And The Afterglow, a Taylor Swift homage with pisco, gin, vermouth, grapefruit and pink dragonfruit. And The Seafoam, a margarita-esque medley of pasilla pepper liqueur, passion fruit salt foam and acid-adjusted aloe vera gel. And the Stephenson Park, a summer quencher named after a nearby park, made with rum, lime, sugar, pineapple, bitters, clove, cumin, fresh mint and crushed ice. And of course, it wouldn’t be a mixology menu without an espresso martini variation—the White Roses, capped with a plume of silken cream. There are even jewel-toned Jell-O shots in elaborate designs and flavors, from Solid Wiggles in Brooklyn.
The food takes the same approach. Developed by Robert Black, the mastermind behind other Edmond hits like La Loba Cantina + Grill, it’s an eight-item selection of elevated bar snacks, like truffle grilled cheese and deviled eggs.
And after transforming the decor, the drinks, and the food, the last—and most important—ingredient was the hospitality.
“Our biggest thing when we created this was hospitality,” George said. “We wanted it to be table service, like you’re greeted when you come through the door. People come in and feel like they’re part of something.”
