Do The Lanes need another coffee shop? Oliver Hyde certainly thinks so.

It was his idea to turn some leftover space at The Mesmerist into an espresso bar.

A separate unit in front of the pub’s cellar and some old toilets has thus become its younger sibling, The Alchemist.

It’s a cosy, cabin-like space with wood-panel walls, a medicine chest and shelves filled with empty bottles labelled “iodine”, “chloroform” and “muriatic poison”.

Some ice skates, an old flashlight and a telephone from another era give the place its stranded-in-the-arctic theme.

“It’s got a sense of mystery about it,” says Hyde, perching on a high stool and sipping his coffee in the window.

“As does The Mesmerist, but the alchemy is what Mark Pooley our head barista brings to the table.”

Pooley, he says, knows how to mix up a potion.

“It’s a bit of fun really – we don’t take ourselves too seriously. At the end of the day we want to make great coffee and sell it to regulars.

“We know a nice warm smile is as important as the decoration.”

The main challenge is convincing the council workers in Bartholomew Square, as well as shoppers and shopkeepers nearby, to try something new.

“It’s always difficult to convince coffee drinkers you have a product as good as the one they are used to.

“It is up to us to break a few habits around this area. You know how easy it is to fall into the same coffee shop every day. We want to make sure people know we are doing terrific coffee.”

The Alchemist’s house blend, made by Small Batch Coffee Company, mixes beans from El Salvador, Guatemala and Brazil.

The key is in the roasting – “It has this lovely roast caramel coming through every time” – and the fact that everything they sell is no more than two weeks old.

“It has been well selected and roasted locally by local people for local people. And because the coffee has been selected and roasted especially for us, it is infinitely better in flavour and depth.”

Hyde is about as local as you can get without actually being from Brighton. He has spent more time here – he moved in 1994 – than in the country of his birth, New Zealand.

He owns Juniper Catering and is contracted by Drink In Brighton, which owns scores of pubs, clubs and cafés across Brighton, to run both The Mesmerist and The Alchemist.

He was behind the successful transition of Escape to Audio, the Arc into Life, Water Margin to Jam and, of course, Old Orleans to The Mesmerist.

A chef by trade, he was also head chef at Terre a Terre for three years and previously ran The Saint.

The go-to regeneration man says being strict with quality control – drinks, offers, food over the bar, service – and being committed to embracing a new concept is what makes refurbs work.

The other thing is the staff. He had a tip-off about his new head barista from the chaps at Small Batch Coffee Company.

Hyde calls Pooley his master technician and says he will be going to the barista national championships wearing an Alchemist apron.

To go with the coffee (currently on a two-for-one offer on Mondays) there are pastries and savoury snacks from the Flourpot Bakery which arrive daily.

Despite being labelled an espresso bar, Hyde says it’s a place to take your coffee, enjoy the view and hang around.

“You want to meet someone on Prince Albert Street? This is the ideal place to do it.

"Not everyone wants to meet in a bar.”

Open daily from 8am-6pm. Sundays 9am-4pm.