I’m Kate Hopper, the Scotland-based travel writer behind Love from Scotland. With 30 years experience travelling around Scotland, let me help you plan your best ever trip.
This is lovefromscotland’s guide to where to buy coffee in Scotland, with every independent Scottish coffee roastery mapped, from Galashiels to Shetland. No multinationals – just people and small businesses roasting their own beans.
Nearly every roastery here will post coffee beans anywhere in the UK, and most run a coffee subscription, so you can choose to drink Scottish coffee wherever you are.
Glenwood Business Park, Glasgow · Glasgow & the west
Founded in 2013 by Davide Angeletti, roasting on open flame without computers — human judgement over technology. Named after a migratory songbird that shelters in shaded coffee farms. Their whisky barrel range is aged in empty Auchentoshan and Laphroaig casks, hand-rotated daily for seven weeks.
An online-only Glasgow roaster with no shop, which keeps the prices down. Everything roasted to order on an electric drum, compostable 250g bags, and if you live near the roastery Gordon may well deliver it by bike.
Newyearfield, Livingston, West Lothian · Edinburgh & the Lothians
Jim Watson roasts here and runs the Scottish Barista Academy alongside it — the only place in the UK offering every level of SCA accreditation. He grinds to suit how you actually brew rather than selling one all-purpose grind.
An old joinery warehouse with a vintage Probat in the corner. Founder Catherine Franks started out selling coffee from a 1976 VW camper. Easy by train from Waverley.
Founded in 2021 by award-winning roaster Finn Mclean, a chemist by training who saw the potential in manipulating the reactions inside a roast. The machine was crowdfunded and hand-built over two years. No coffee shop of their own – all the focus goes on the roasting.
The Mart, East Linton, East Lothian · Edinburgh & the Lothians
Andrew and Rosie both came up through coffee shops and the UK Barista Championships. Hometown started in North Berwick in 2017 and now roasts five miles away at the old mart in East Linton, open to the public four days a week for coffee, cake and the full retail range.
Started roasting on a Diedrich in a coffee house in Burntisland in 2018 and now in a purpose-built roastery in Kirkcaldy. The Burntisland coffee house is still there, and you can watch the roastery at work. House blend is Project X.
Tony Vandyke moved from Sydney to Cromarty in 2014 and opened Slaughterhouse Coffee, proving people would travel to the Black Isle for good coffee. The production roastery moved to a purpose-built facility on Balcaskie in 2024. Multiple Great Taste awards including a 3-star.
Started in a bothy at the top of Glen Lyon in 2011. B Corp certified and fully traceable — one of the Scottish roasters that walks the walk on sourcing.
A family coffee lineage going back to the 1800s. Paul Equi learned to roast alongside his grandfather Alfie, and some of those recipes are still in the range.
Solsgirth Home Farm, Dollar · Stirling & Clackmannanshire
Started in 2022 by Stevie after 30 years as an NHS nurse. Coffees named after the Ochil Hills above the roastery. Open to visitors at weekends, dogs welcome.
Started in the old games room of the Garmouth Hotel, now in Kirk Cottage with a café attached. They do whisky-cask-aged beans, which in Speyside feels entirely right.
A family-run roastery supplying cafés, hotels and shops across the Highlands. If you’ve had a good coffee in a Highland hotel, there’s a fair chance it was theirs.
Scotland’s most northerly mainland roastery. The owner sold Inverness Coffee Roasting Co and left Inverness in 2016 to start again on a smaller scale in the far north. A changing guest coffee every month, and a shop-within-a-shop in Thurso as well as the Wick premises.
A family-run micro roaster using only organic beans, buying from women coffee farmers where they can. About as far north west as roasting gets on the mainland.
Bute’s first speciality coffee shop and roastery, in the heart of historic Rothesay. Drink it by the cup at their island coffee spot, Press, or have the beans posted. The Bute Blend converts people.
Shetland’s only coffee roastery, bringing speciality coffee to the islands from a base in the South Mainland. You’ll find them at the Bigton Collective, and they’ll sort you out if you’re running low on beans.
A woman-owned small-batch roastery in Tobermory, set up by two people leaving careers in education to build something of their own on Mull. Their Ben Talla roast has a following, they run roasting experiences, and CalMac serve their coffee on the MV Isle of Mull.
Pick a region, choose a type, or tap a mug on the map to see the roasteries.
roasteries showing
Not all roasteries are open to the public and several are on working farms or in private industrial units – check if you can visit or buy on site, before you set off. Nearly all of them will post beans anywhere in the UK.
Where to buy coffee in Scotland
There are more than 80 independent coffee roasteries in Scotland, spread across every region from the Scottish Borders to Shetland. The oldest is Thomsons in Glasgow, roasting since 1841; the newest and most remote include Applecross Roastery on the North Coast 500 and Coffee Knoydart, reachable only by boat from Mallaig or an 18-mile walk. Glasgow and Edinburgh have the densest clusters, with 16 and 19 roasteries respectively, while Stakkadale in Shetland and The Orkney Roastery serve the northern isles.
Coffee roasters in Glasgow & the west
Glasgow has the deepest coffee heritage in Scotland – Thomsons has been roasting here since 1841 – alongside one of the liveliest speciality coffee scenes anywhere in the UK.
Founded in 2011 by Lisa Lawson, starting as a one-woman operation with a single roaster. Now a B Corp with a roastery, showroom and SCA-accredited training space in the East End, and the first European roastery to win Roast magazine’s Roaster of the Year. The name comes from “Dear Green Place”, the meaning of Glasgow’s Gaelic name. They also run the Glasgow Coffee Festival, which is Scotland’s biggest coffee gathering by a mile.
Scotland’s oldest coffee roaster, founded in Edinburgh in 1841 by David Thomson before moving to Glasgow. Over 20 roasts on the go, plus cafés in Glasgow, Ayr, Edinburgh and Troon. Ask about the Test Pilot – they send you a mystery bag and reveal what it was once you’ve given feedback.
Started in 2012 in the old Rusty Zip vintage clothes shop on Great Western Road. Great coffee and genuinely great food – the brunch is worth the queue. Biodegradable bags and a discount if you bring your own container. The roastery is under the arches at Eastvale Place, with a second café in Motherwell.
Set up in 2017 by Courtney Brennan and Todd Whiteford, who were working in a Glasgow coffee shop and decided over a few pints to go their own way. Wholesale customers get their coffee in reusable buckets, retail in refillable cans – the sustainability thinking here is properly worked through rather than bolted on. Dog-friendly and unpretentious in the best Glasgow way.
A small-batch roaster and one of Finnieston’s busiest coffee shops, named after the old Glasgow wash-houses and going for the same feeling – like sitting in your granny’s front room. The Tenement Blend is the house coffee, and there’s a serious range of brewing kit if you want to take the habit home.
A roastery and coffee shop run as an initiative of Bishopbriggs Community Church, trading directly with coffee cooperatives in Rwanda and using the business as a tool for rehabilitation, mentoring and employability. Coffee with a genuine second purpose.
Started roasting in 2018 after installing a roaster inside one of their existing coffee shops. Now eight cafés across Glasgow and Inverness, with a wholesale side and a Roaster’s Choice bundle if you can’t decide.
Founded in 2014, with cafés and roasteries in both Glasgow and Edinburgh – one of the few Scottish coffee roasters operating properly in both cities. Beans in 250g or 1kg, delivered UK-wide.
A small-batch Glasgow roastery working only with fully traceable single-origin beans, cupped and taste-tested after every roast. The name is Gaelic for a lucky find, which is a lovely thing to call a coffee company.
A community-minded roastery using a low-emissions convection roaster, with around 70% of their suppliers based within 50 miles. Coffee sacks and chaff get reused rather than binned.
Founded in 2013 by Davide Angeletti and named after a migratory songbird that takes refuge in heavily shaded coffee farms. They roast on open flame without computers – human judgement rather than technology – and travel to origin to agree terms face to face, often with women-led cooperatives. Their whisky barrel range is aged in empty casks from Auchentoshan and Laphroaig, with the beans hand-rotated every day for seven weeks.
An online-only Glasgow roaster with no shop, which is deliberate – it keeps the prices down. Everything is roasted to order on an electric drum so there are no unburned gases in the roasting medium, the 250g bags are compostable, and if you live near the roastery Gordon may well deliver it to you by bike.
A Paisley roastery focused on direct trade, buying straight from farms wherever they can. Sam, who runs it, will happily talk you through the whole range – and there are barista workshops if you want to get properly into it.
Edinburgh has around sixteen roasteries, with more just outside the city in the Lothians. Stockbridge, Leith, Bruntsfield and the Old Town each have their own cluster, and you can comfortably visit three or four in an afternoon.
Broughton Street, Leith Walk, Bruntsfield & Stockbridge, Edinburgh
Scotland’s first speciality coffee roaster, roasting in Edinburgh since 2007 and now running four cafés across the city. They were the first coffee company to win the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland award, in 2012, in recognition of their contribution to the Scottish food scene, and that longevity shows in the relationships they’ve built with producers. Beans are roasted around three times a week, so what you buy is rarely more than a few days old.
Newyearfield Business Centre, Livingston, West Lothian
Jim Watson roasts here and runs the Scottish Barista Academy alongside it – the only place in the UK where you can qualify at every level of SCA accreditation, and he holds the lot himself, plus the SCA Coffee Diploma. There is no all-purpose coffee: he’ll ask how you brew and select and grind accordingly.
A small family business in Livingston Village selling freshly roasted coffee by subscription, by the odd bag, or from a stall at local markets. No website – they take orders through Facebook.
An old joinery warehouse behind North Berwick High Street, with a vintage Probat roaster on the ground floor and a coffee bar where you can watch them work. Founder Catherine Franks is American, and got into speciality coffee after opening a café in North Berwick in 2009 and buying beans from Artisan Roast. She started out in 2011 selling homemade cakes and coffee from a 1976 VW camper at Stockbridge Market, then roasted in her garage before taking on the warehouse, which opened as a roastery and café in 2014. Easy to reach by train from Waverley.
Founded in 2013 by Steve Glencross, an ex-DJ and record label A&R man who wanted a new challenge after twenty years in music, and run with coffee professional Michael McCracken. It began as a premium equipment business and moved into roasting in 2017. The roastery is at Peffermill; the café is Machina Marchmont, across the Meadows. They’re also one of the best places in Britain to buy home espresso kit – official La Marzocco partners, and the customer service is genuinely exceptional.
Established in 2014, now roasting alongside two cafés. A small but well-curated bean list with proper tasting and sourcing notes, and three coffee subscriptions – classic, curated and decaf. The curated one sends coffees you can’t buy in the shop, which is a nice touch.
Started in 2017 by Sam and Alice Young in a railway arch under the Borders line, after Sam learned to roast at Five Senses in Australia. This is the nerdy end of the Edinburgh scene in the best sense – light, expressive roasts, unusual origins like Timor-Leste, and a seasonal subscription people become very loyal to.
Zack Williams and Todd Johnson roast on a single machine down at the Shore in Leith, with a café, bakery and art space attached. Seasonal single origins that change through the year, and excellent batch brew.
9 Dean Park Street, Stockbridge & Trinity, Edinburgh
A proper old-fashioned coffee shop experience – beans weighed and bagged in front of you, ground to your preference, staff who’ll talk you through the options for as long as you like. Eion Henderson roasts on a bright blue Diedrich, often while the shop is open.
Opened in 2014 as a wee café in Newington, a short walk from the University and the Meadows, and grew into roasting from there. Separate espresso and filter profiles, roasted by hand on a 6kg Giesen. A Southside institution for the student population and everyone else.
1 Melville Place, Edinburgh & Ralia, by Newtonmore
Founded by Robi Lambie in 2014 around a kitchen table in Newtonmore, now roasting from a dedicated site with cafés in Edinburgh and a roadside stop at Ralia on the A9 – which makes it one of the more useful coffee stops in Scotland if you’re driving north.
Traces its origins to Andrew Melrose, who began importing tea into Edinburgh in 1812. Still roasts on a 50-year-old Probat drum, operated by hand and by eye, and blends and packs within an hour of roasting. They do heather and whisky flavoured teas too.
The most unusual roastery in Edinburgh – a speciality operation focused entirely on Vietnamese coffee, with the founders sourcing directly from farms since 2017. The coffee cabin on the edge of the Meadows roasts in the open air where you can watch. Also home to what a lot of people reckon is the best hot chocolate in the city.
Established in 2018. Flavour-led, jargon-free coffee – their whole approach is about making speciality less intimidating, which is refreshing if you find the whole thing a bit much.
Founded in 2021 by award-winning roaster Finn Mclean, a chemist by training who got into speciality coffee on trips to New Zealand and the American west coast, and saw the potential in manipulating the chemical reactions inside a roast. The roasting machine was crowdfunded and hand-built over two years, completely custom, so every parameter can be fine-tuned. He still uses the original hand-made roaster for very special coffees. No coffee shop of their own – all the focus goes on the roasting.
The Mart, Haddington Road, East Linton, East Lothian
Andrew and Rosie both came up through coffee shops from their teens and competed in the UK Barista Championships. Andrew founded Hometown in North Berwick in July 2017 and started roasting in June 2019 with three bags of green coffee; Rosie joined as co-owner in 2023. The roastery is now at the old mart in East Linton, five miles from where it began, open to the public four days a week for coffee, cake and the full retail range.
Founded by Lynsey Harley, with a serious roastery opened in Glenrothes in December 2019 running Diedrich roasters from 2.5kg up to 70kg. Ethically sourced, direct trade, and you can visit the roastery shop and get advice on what’s in season and tasting good right now.
Began roasting on a Diedrich in a humble coffee house in Burntisland in 2018 and has since expanded into a purpose-built roastery in Kirkcaldy. The Burntisland coffee house is still going, and you can watch the roastery at work while you drink. The house blend is Project X, and they do barista training and equipment supply alongside.
Tony Vandyke moved from Sydney to Cromarty in 2014 and opened Slaughterhouse Coffee, on the theory that if you did speciality coffee properly even in an unlikely place, people would travel for it. He was right, and the café still runs. Roasting followed, and the production roastery moved to a purpose-built facility on Balcaskie in 2024. Multiple Great Taste awards, including a 3-star.
Fiona Grant started Glen Lyon in 2011 with a five-kilo roaster in a bothy next to her house at the top of Glen Lyon, and moved to Aberfeldy in 2014. B Corp certified, fully traceable, and they pay coffee farmers significantly above Fairtrade prices. One of the Scottish coffee roasters that genuinely walks the walk on sourcing.
Founded in 2003 by John and Lorna Bruce, roasting in the basement of their own George Street shop on a 5kg Probat and selling coffee beans online since 2004. They roast daily, which means what you get is about as fresh as coffee gets in this country. Perth’s longest-standing independent coffee and loose leaf tea shop.
Born out of a ten-month trip through Latin America hunting beans and knowledge. Founded in 2016, roasting on a 6kg Giesen, now with cafés in both Kinross and Stirling and 25-30 wholesale accounts across the UK. Coffee served in imported Japanese mugs; a rustic, homely sort of place.
A small-batch roaster in rural Perthshire, started after the founder’s first encounter with fresh coffee while travelling in Papua New Guinea and the stovetop roasting experiments that followed.
A roastery, café, bean shop, tea shop and ice-cream shop all in one, in the middle of Stirling, working only with beans graded 83 or above on the SCA scale. Good on eco packaging and on teaching people to brew better at home – the variety bundle is a nice way in.
Launched in 2014 by Paul Equi as the continuation of a family coffee lineage going back to the 1800s. Paul found his passion for coffee in the 1970s, learning the art of roasting alongside his grandfather Alfie, and some of those recipes are still in the range – the London 1975 is one of his grandfather’s roasts. A stone’s throw from the West Highland Way, with a signature roast named after it and travel brew bags for the walk ahead.
Started in 2022 by Stevie, who took it up as a new challenge after more than thirty years as an NHS nurse. They began as a pop-up at the monthly Solsgirth farm markets while the old farm stables were being converted into a roastery, and built a following before they had a building. Every coffee is named after one of the Ochil Hills that overlook the roastery – Glenquey, Blairdenon, Montalt – and there are whisky barrel-aged beans in Islay and Speyside versions. The roastery opens to the public at weekends, 10am to 3pm, and dogs are welcome as long as they’re on a lead. It’s a working farm.
Founded in 2017 by brothers Stuart and David Fraser on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond – the first coffee roaster on the loch, growing out of their St Mocha coffee shops. Spent coffee grounds are dried and pelleted to fuel the biomass heating at Balmaha, and deliveries go out in electric vehicles charged by 300-plus solar panels. A very good stop on the West Highland Way.
Dundee’s first speciality coffee roaster, started by Chris after a decade in Wellington, New Zealand, with the aim of bringing Wellington-style coffee home. Award-winning blends and single origins, with the Dundee Blend as the flagship and a St Andrews blend that’s done very well. Stocked in shops around both cities.
An independent café in Broughty Ferry roasting their own beans, with good vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options alongside. Beans available to take home.
A Dundee café roasting its own blend on site in a little red roaster that sits right by the counter – you can watch your coffee being made from green bean onwards.
The first coffee roastery in Angus, built on sustainability from the start. They roast on Fatima, the machine Jamie learned his craft on in Glasgow – a genuine piece of Scottish coffee history that they bought when it came up for sale rather than let it leave the country. Supplies cafés across Angus.
The north east has an unusual set of founder stories – an oil and gas leaver, a former British Army officer and a Sydney-trained roaster all set up here within five years of each other.
Roasting coffee and selling tea in Aberdeen since 1989, which makes it one of the longest-established independent coffee roasters in Scotland and the granddaddy of the region’s modern coffee scene. The city centre shop is open seven days and carries a notably wide range. Founder Ian Cukrowski has since handed over to Brian Milne, who has kept it right at the front of Aberdeen roasting.
Founded in 2017 by Neil Glover, who left a career in oil and gas after an encounter with speciality coffee changed his mind about everything. Named-producer single origins from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Peru, a house blend called Wonderland and a sugarcane decaf called Daydream. They also run a rather good “coffee by text” subscription.
A husband-and-wife speciality roastery in the Cairngorms, run by Ruaridh, who left the British Army after 14 years to set it up in 2015. Roasts named for the landscape around them – Lochnagar, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui, Ballater. They roast to order, and there’s a shop on Bridge Street in Ballater.
Founded in 2017 by Ross Erskine and named after the Bennachie hill range that dominates the skyline in this part of Aberdeenshire. Family-owned, 100% Arabica, blends and single origins.
Founded in 2018 by Alan Mitchell in Aboyne, on Royal Deeside. Three signature Arabica blends, ethical sourcing, and a lot of support for their trade customers.
Established in 2017 in the old games room of the Garmouth Hotel and now next door in Kirk Cottage with a café attached. Grant holds an SCA intermediate roasting certificate. They do whisky-cask-aged beans, which in Speyside feels entirely right.
A family-run speciality roastery supplying cafés, hotels and shops across the Highlands. Small-batch roasting, an espresso bar and bean shop, and excellent value. If you’ve had a good coffee in a Highland hotel, there’s a fair chance it was theirs.
Scotland’s most northerly mainland roastery. The owner sold the Inverness Coffee Roasting Co and left Inverness in 2016 to start again on a smaller scale in the far north. There’s a changing guest coffee every month – a Cuba, a volcanic Java, a Malawi co-operative – plus a shop-within-a-shop on Thurso High Street selling the same beans at the same price as the Wick premises.
David Davidson moved to Applecross in 2018, found coffee during lockdown, trained at the Scottish Barista Academy and opened the roastery in April 2025. Over the Bealach na Bà on one of the most scenic stretches of the North Coast 500, supplying the Applecross Inn, the Walled Garden and the campsite. One of the most remote roasteries in the country.
A family-run micro roaster on the shores of Loch Ewe, using only organic beans – coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world and they’ve made a deliberate decision about it. Where they can, they buy from women coffee farmers. About as far north west as coffee roasting gets on the mainland.
Roasting on Knoydart, one of the most remote inhabited places in mainland Britain – reachable only by boat from Mallaig or an 18-mile walk over the hills. Founded in 2019. Probably the most committed coffee run in Scotland.
A small artisan roastery in Grantown-on-Spey working with 100% Arabica, online only, with a Mountain Water process decaf in the range. Good for home baristas and coffee shop pros alike.
Founded in 2019 on the Isle of Seil, a small Hebridean island half an hour from Oban, after the founders came back from Mallorca convinced Scotland deserved better coffee. Named after the legendary island Brendan the Navigator is said to have found. Now eight sites including four coffee shops, two restaurants and a bakery, roasting 80-plus SCA-graded single origins. The Oban seafront café is the one to visit.
Bute’s first speciality coffee shop and roastery, in the heart of historic Rothesay. You can drink it by the cup at their island coffee spot, Press, or order the beans to your door. The Bute Blend is the one people take home after a single cup. An easy day out – the ferry from Wemyss Bay takes 35 minutes.
Established in 2017, growing out of their sister business Brambles of Inveraray, and hand-roasting in small batches on a 10kg Golden Roaster on the banks of Loch Fyne. Two house blends – The Duke and Always Argyll – plus a Castle Blend sold exclusively at Inveraray Castle’s tearoom.
A family-run roastery founded in 2015 by Jamie and Esther McLuckie, roasting on a Giesen W15A with data logging on every batch. Award-winning since 2016, and they use around 50% less gas than comparable roasters.
Roasting for Borders businesses since 2016, opening the roastery to the public with a café in 2018, and completing an SCA-accredited barista training lab in 2024 – unusual for a rural roaster and a real asset for the Borders. House blends Eildon and Reiver alongside direct-trade single origins. The decaf is apparently a genuine surprise, and the sourdough french toast is famous locally.
Started in 2020 by Sang in West Linton and now roasting from Peebles. One of a small number of UK roasters using air roasting – a fluid bed of hot air rather than tumbling the beans in a hot steel drum, which they say gives a cleaner, less bitter cup. Everything is roasted to order, with free local delivery around Peebles and West Linton.
Ayrshire’s first roastery, and on a mission against dull, over-roasted coffee. Award-winning, direct trade, organic beans roasted on a Probat drum, with regular cupping sessions to keep things consistent. They also make a whisky cask coffee, smoked over oak chippings soaked in Arran single malt, which is worth trying purely out of curiosity.
A small-batch roastery and coffee house in the middle of Ayr, open seven days, working with grade A speciality Arabica and roasting each origin to its own profile. The Fuel Blend is the one to start with.
Shetland’s only coffee roastery, bringing speciality coffee to the islands from a base in the South Mainland. You’ll find them at the Bigton Collective, and they’ll happily sort you out if you’re running low on beans. The roastery has taken a while to build – which, given where it is, is entirely understandable.
A woman-owned small-batch roastery set up by two people who left careers in education to build something of their own on Mull. Their Ben Talla roast has a real following, they run roasting experiences where you roast your own beans, and CalMac serve their coffee on the MV Isle of Mull – so you can start drinking it before you’ve even landed.
The first commercial coffee roastery in Orkney, established by Sara Tait and Euan Smith. Their Aria brand is named after the coffee-loving character in Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and every roast carries a musical name – the Colombian is Bolero, the first espresso was Overture. Their roaster, Mystaria, tops out at 10kg, so these really are small batches.
An artisan roastery in the community-owned Staffin Harbour development, in the shadow of the Quiraing and a stone’s throw from An Corran beach where you can spot fossilised dinosaur footprints. Small-batch, ethically sourced, and shaped entirely by where it is.
A speciality roastery and café in Portree, inspired by the Melbourne coffee scene, focused on coffee that can be traced right back to the grower. Light, minimal space – a good place to sit before heading out around Skye.
An art café and roastery in the Western Isles, roasting in a small hand-made drum roaster and serving from a hand-built brewing machine. They set up deliberately to complement rather than compete with what was already on the islands, which tells you something about them.
I’m Kate Hopper, the Scotland-based travel writer behind Love from Scotland. With 30 years experience travelling around Scotland, let me help you plan your best ever trip.
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