Coffee Culture: 12 of Scotland's Best Cafes and Roasters

Cairngorm Coffee
1 Melville Pl, Edinburgh
A bright corner cafe serving killer toasties and knockout coffee from their top-notch roastery. Super-cool merch as well, if you need something for the caffeine fiend in your life.

Cult Espresso
104 Buccleuch St, Edinburgh
There are few better ways to use your hour-and-a-half of winter daylight than grabbing an excellent flat white from Cult and wandering around the Meadows. Fresh air and a great coffee? Sign us up.

EH9 Espresso
248 Perth Rd and 94 Annfield Rd, Dundee
EH9 are at the forefront of Dundee’s burgeoning coffee scene, opening their second cafe earlier this year. Expect a very good cup of coffee, and look out for commissioned artwork on the side of their Perth Road cafe.

Fortitude Coffee
4 Abbey Mount, 66 Hamilton Pl and 72 Newington Rd, Edinburgh
Fortitude roast some of Edinburgh's very best coffee, their venues are staffed by proper coffee heads, and their sea salt and hazelnut caramel shortbread is one of the very best things you can eat in the city.

Laboratorio Espresso
93 West Nile St, Glasgow
Excellent Italian coffees served from a super-cool coffee bar that’s all wood panels and brushed concrete. Oh, and very nice cannoli.

Mana Coffee
40 Whitehall Cres, Dundee
Location: ideal, literally over the road from the train station. Vibe: impeccable, all crisp lines and Nordic stylings. Coffee: brilliant.

Unorthodox Roasters. Image courtesy of Unorthodox Roasters.

Ottoman Coffeehouse
73 Berkeley St, Glasgow
A true experience, Ottoman Coffeehouse is the place to go if you want to take your time with your coffee. Every preparation or style you can think of, all under one absolutely fantastic roof.

OUTLIER
38 London Rd, Glasgow
Got half an hour to kill? Grab a coffee and spend a while watching the baking at OUTLIER unfold in front of you – their sweet and savoury ranges are both excellent, as is the coffee.

The Source
4 Spittal St, Edinburgh
Your favourite coffee shop’s favourite coffee shop. The Source is the place to go for unusual and exciting single origin coffees from around the world – if you have a friend who likes coffee, bring them here.

Spitfire Espresso
127 Candleriggs, Glasgow
A reliably excellent flat white is waiting for you at Spitfire, along with a spacious and intriguing cafe to drink it in.

Steampunk Coffee
49A Kirk Ports, North Berwick
A hive of excellent coffee in the seaside East Lothian town, with a bumper outside patio, a record store upstairs, and bags of beans fresh from the on-site roastery.

Unorthodox Roasters
129 High St, Kinross and 12 Friars St, Stirling
Both of Unorthodox’s cafes are lovely, but a special shout-out for Kinross, with its bright blue facade, brilliant food menu, and top-notch coffee. Show us another cafe in Perthshire with a custom-built V60 pour over bar – we’ll wait.