5 Great Lesser Known Edinburgh Coffee Spots

Pru Whitwell is the driving force behind the to-go coffee blog in Scotland, Scotland Coffee Lovers, and has kindly agreed to share some of her Edinburgh coffee knowledge with Dickins. Edinburgh is well known for great coffee and now has over 70 independent speciality coffee shops that we recommend on our Scotland Coffee Lovers blog and free app.

What’s a speciality coffee shop?

Before we kick off, what’s a specialty coffee shop? These are shops whose coffee is a main priority. They source high quality beans that are jam-packed with flavours, from ethical growers who are paid fair prices. They take great care when they make your coffee, train their baristas regularly and use high-end equipment to make the best coffee they can, every time.

So… some lesser known coffee spots in Edinburgh…

While we have quite a few high profile coffee shops, I thought I’d draw attention to five lesser known shops that we rate highly – all of which you can find with our app.

Baba Budan

The Arches East Market Street near Waverley Station opened earlier this year with cool, Scandi styling. They quickly outgrew their space and added on a bigger arch next door with more seating. You can enjoy Danish coffee The Coffee Collective as both espresso-based drinks (latte, flat white etc.) and filter alongside mouth-watering donuts they make themselves (fillings include chocolate, guava and earl gray – separately, not together). Expect a lighter, fruitier coffee that still packs a punch.

Chapter One

Dalry Road is one to visit for Glasgow-based Dear Green Coffee and some mighty fine cakes (they also do meals but check out their Instagram and you’ll see why I called out the cakes!). This shop is a bit of a specialty coffee lone voice in the area so it’s great to see it thriving. Stop in here for hearty brew made with care.

The Counter on the Canal

We’re fans of these folks who, alongside Cobolt Coffee Marchmont, are the only Police Box coffee shops to go to. They opened their canal boat coffee shop on Union Canal earlier this year and serve Edinburgh’s Mr Eion Coffee. Many people don’t realise we have a canal in Edinburgh, but a walk from the terminus in Fountainbridge along the towpath is very pleasant indeed.

The Little Green Van

On the beachfront near Bellfield Street Portobello you’ll find a green van that is well known to locals but others may need an introduction. We featured Terry and Kirstin in our 2015 Hot Shot series and they’ve been making great Artisan Roast coffees for a few years from Fridays to Sundays. A walk along the Porty shore is even better with their big bold coffee!

Noir

On the corner of Palmerston Place in the West End is Noir in a grandly proportioned stone building. Drop in here for changing high quality single origin beans including West Sussex-based Horsham Coffee. These folk sniff out some great beans that you can’t get elsewhere in Edinburgh and are one to pop into routinely.

Bonus tip

As an extra tip, Machina Espresso is now roasting their own beans so drop in and try them!

All images are by Scotland Coffee Lovers if not mentioned otherwise.