A COFFEE shop hopes to “bring a bit extra to the city” by offering alcoholic drinks, live music and later opening hours.

Sonder Coffee opened on the High Street back in April, as part of the Covid-19 lockdown easing, and since then it has become a cafe with events, a ‘work-from-home’ offering and vinyls to buy.

In the business’s hope to bring something “unique” to the city centre, an alcohol licence has now been granted, meaning this will be one of the only coffee shops in the city selling alcoholic drinks to enjoy both on and offsite.

Supported by Salisbury City Council’s planning committee last month, the licence enables the shop to sell alcohol from Sunday to Thursday between 12pm and 9pm and Friday and Saturday between 12pm and 10pm.

Live music has also been given the green light between 5pm and 9pm, Thursday to Saturday, and recorded music on the same days between 6pm and 10pm.

“Excited” with the latest development, owner Ebony Paz said: “I love chilled nights out but Salisbury doesn’t have much of that kind of thing yet, it’s something that’s missing so we want to be a unique place to fill that gap a bit.

“Really it’s either a night ‘out out’ or a pub, there’s nothing else that allows you to stay out a bit later, whether it’s for meeting friends or a drink after work.

"This will enable people to stay out late without it being late.”

Ebony recently moved to Salisbury from Brighton, and was inspired by her love for previous “relaxing and chilled evenings”.

“I hope it will get good feedback, it’s just bringing a bit extra to the city,” she said.

Ebony is looking forward to the shop’s upcoming ‘Tapas and Booze’ evening, as well as live music by local artists, seasonal beverages and selling cocktails in the summer.

She added: “Christmas is a great time to try this out as people want to go out more. It’s a good month to see how it would be at its best.”

Next week Sonder will be celebrating a ‘week of kindness’, by offering hot drinks to residents and donating money to charity.

Additionally the shop will be staying open later on December 12, for those struggling or in need of someone to talk to.

With a strong focus on the community, Ebony added: “I never thought it would be this community-based, but our customers have become so important to us and really make Sonder what it is.

"We want to be a real part of the community and give back a bit.

“It’s so exciting when something that’s your baby is as cared about by other people too.

“Obviously there have been some obstacles with opening a shop during a pandemic, but we’re just so lucky to be where we are right now.”

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