# If your visiting edinburgh...



## johnnied (Feb 2, 2013)

try these places for great coffee









Artisan roast- kees van der westen idrocompressor lever 3 group machine, naked pf's, anfim caimano doser grinders (but cleverly and paitently used to grind on demand), v60's for brewed coffee. They roast there own, and its really good. You can buy it in the shop if you decide you cant live without it







inside it has a very unordered, cluttered, funky vibe going on, which just works. From time to time they have a mobile coffee truck out and about at open markets etc which also serves a very high standard coffee.

Brew lab - slayer espresso machine, mahlkonig k30's, clever drippers and I think they had aeropress too. Very neat and arranged compared to artisan- great contrast, visit one after the other if you get chance. They use hasbean, when I last visited they had 4 seperate coffees available- 2 for brewed, one for black espresso drinks and another for milk based espresso drinks which is new to me.

Kilimanjaro - square mile coffee, normally red brick espresso blend and a decaf. Synesso machines and anfim grinders. They do great food too. They belong to a bunch of coffee shops known as project coffee, other places include wellington (smaller, but they generally have a guest espresso on) press coffee and project coffee, the latter two I've not visited... yet.

theres razzo coffee, which have two outlets- ive visited the one on wavelerly steps- great place to drop in for a coffee before you set off around the city. No idea of the coffee roasters but they had a san remo machine and the barista was obviously well trained. Great milk based drinks, due to the heavy espresso.

french press- good range of filter coffee brewers, much more spacious than other places, light and airy. Old expobar machine looked dated but fitting, and still produced the goods, very good espresso, they are supplied by artisan roast I beleive. Good for peace and quiet.

There are others, but I've not had chance to visit them yet. I'd say you have to go to the top three for a great range of coffee- three different machine types, three different roasters and three different ideologies- but they all produce amazing coffee.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

Immaculately timed for me! I'm up there for a week in the middle of the month. Thank you.


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

My own take on some of the above. The razzo blend is from extract roasters and isn't actually all that strong a blend. It cuts through milk quite well because of the liquorice notes in the acidity, but it makes great flat whites, because its not really that full on. They are a great little place though.

Artisan roast. I can't really get on board with, I find their roasts a bit flat and lacking complexity. It just tastes of roast coffee to me, with none of the extra notes I'm tasting in other places around town.

Brew lab are pretty good, great kit there too, and some nice coffees.

My fav at the moment are Castello, on castle street. Real enthusiasm for coffee, a gorgeous la marzocco machine and tasty coffee from allpress. It's my to-to choice. They also do lovely soups, nice pastry and even a decent cup of tea.


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

vintagecigarman said:


> Immaculately timed for me! I'm up there for a week in the middle of the month. Thank you.


Well if you're about the west end during the day at a loose end, drop me a Pm will take you along to Castello


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

Thank you, shrink - a very kind offer. She-who-must-be-obeyed has designed a very full schedule (Pandas, Royal Yacht, You name it), but it might still be a possibility! I'll PM as things develop. Due there on afternoon of 18th, leaving on the FRiday.


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## johnnied (Feb 2, 2013)

glad the post helped- sounds like I need to try castello on my next visit! Thanks for the roaster info,particularly impressed by extract's website, but I will give allpress a go too- especially if the coffee is as good as you say


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

Allpress redchurch is towards the dark end of medium roast. So leans towards the traditional espresso. But it retains enough complexity to be interesting and complex. It's the blend of choice at Castello and I've yet to have a bad coffee there!

The extract espresso at razzo is a custom blend ( razzos st Andrew sq branch will sell it to you) but the extract original blend isn't a million miles off.


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## horshamcoffee (Jan 25, 2013)

Great option at Razzo is their clover brew. The clover machine is very cool and makes an incredible cup of brewed single origin. We supplied some cup of excellence to them just before Christmas.


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