The Brew Lab Story - and the Business Lessons Learnt

The Edinburgh food and drink scene in 2010 was very different. Unrecognisable to what it is today.?

Sure there was some fine dining; Tom Kitchin was down at the Shore, you had a handful of excellent cocktail bars - the guys from Bramble were already killing it and real ale was king at pubs like Cloisters and the Bow Bar but craft beer was unheard of.?

The coffee scene basically didn’t exist.?

On Wednesday 28th February 2024, Brew Lab closes its doors for the last time. With it, a brand, and an iconic Edinburgh place that I created with my co-founder Tom, will be gone.?

That place became what I’ve been told is now an ‘institution’ - the words of Edinburgh Minute’s Michael MacLoed, not mine - but I’m inclined to agree. Brew Lab became so much more than just a cafe, and it required many more people than just Tom and I to turn it into what it is. Love it, or loathe it - Brew Lab has made its mark on Edinburgh, and the UK coffee industry.?

Before the name is gone, and the memories of what Brew Lab was fade - I wanted to write this brief history to commemorate why Brew Lab existed, what it was, what I learnt from it, and what it helped create.?

Before I go on I should make a few things clear: I’ve not been professionally or financially involved in Brew Lab since 2020 - which was a tough year for everyone. But I do still feel a connection to my first business, and a good amount of pride for what we built.

First, some context - to understand why Brew Lab opened, it’s useful to know what was happening in coffee in Edinburgh, and around the UK at the time.?

Brew Lab definitely wasn’t the first speciality coffee bar in Edinburgh. Artisan Roast Broughton Street was a glimmer of hope for Edinburgh coffee lovers that opened in 2007. But you’d be hard pressed to fit more than 10 people in the cafe - it wasn’t a space you could get lost in and while away a day working.?

There was also the Edinburgh coffee conglomerate Jon Sharp was building - if memory serves correctly Kilimanjaro Coffee which opened as far back as 2004 and Wellington Coffee were open already.

Jon Sharp had built two great cafes that had covertly managed to slip Square Mile Red Brick Espresso (London, and probably the UK’s leading speciality coffee roaster - founded by YouTube’s coffee spokesperson, and already barista champion James Hoffman) into the mugs of unsuspecting Nicholson Street and George Street coffee drinkers. They were serving speciality coffee - but no one really knew about it.?

Then there were the plethora of other cafes around Edinburgh - Black Medicine Coffee, the Elephant House, they were the best of a bunch of cafes that did coffee… but didn’t really do coffee.

Look to London at this time, and there was something exciting happening. A ‘wave’. The vibrant antipodean speciality coffee scene characterised by a focus on the quality of espresso, the craft of making it, and actually being able to taste it (read, not drown it out with milk like certain chains liked to do) that started in Melbourne had made its way to the capital and shops like Flat White, Kaffeine, and Prufrock.

It was in this context that Tom and I spotted an opportunity. As far back as 2007 we had wanted to open a cafe - we were both living in Bruntsfield at the time and while it’s hard to believe - there was maybe 1 cafe on Bruntsfield Place. We decided Bruntsfield needed more cafes, so set about planning one, but didn’t get very far before the financial crisis happened the following year.?

There was one question that was nagging at me though - why did coffee have to be just espresso? There’s so many ways of making it, why does every cafe serve this rubbish, bitter, milky drink that tastes like you’re drinking a cup of ash?

Fast forward to 2010 and there was a hunger to leave the boring jobs that we now had, and do something.?

We decided to go for a research trip to London - there was a trade show happening called Cafe Culture, and we thought that would be a good place to start.?

That trip opened our eyes - and feels like a bit of a cliche coming back to think of it. We were like the kids visiting Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory (I’ll leave it up to you to decide who was who) and we saw wondrous sights of coffee being made in a thing called a chemex, we drank flat whites at a cafe called Flat White, we had espressos that tasted like sherbert and we saw a coffee syphon which blew our sheltered little minds.?

We came back to Scotland with a serious caffeine come down and word of magical coffee things happening in the city down south.?

That was it - that was our USP, our opportunity. We would build a coffee shop that didn’t just serve coffee. It would look at coffee completely differently - and it would show Edinburgh that coffee isn’t just a bitter drink - it could be a culinary product akin to wine or whisky that had nuance.

We set about looking for a location, and writing a business plan.?

I had been working at a digital marketing agency at the time so I knew that social media was going to be important for us, so we started building up a buzz about what we were doing.??

We surveyed everyone we knew to understand what their ideal coffee shop would look like. We even surveyed r/coffee on reddit which ended up finding us our first barista.?

Eventually we found our location - a stuffy Edinburgh University office on South College Street. It was quite a stretch of the imagination to see it as a coffee shop - plaster partition walls everywhere, we decided to knock a few holes in the walls to find out what was underneath.?

We worked with an architect that drew up plans to remove everything from the unit - walls, flooring, ceiling, and build in all the things we needed from a building warrant point of view that would allow us to function as a cafe; but we couldn’t afford to pay the architect to design the interior for us - so we figured; how hard can it be??

The industrial chic style was already spreading across London, but until then, in Edinburgh exposed filament light bulbs were only really being sold to BrewDog Cowgate. We had a style we knew we wanted to achieve and Tom and I went on many jollies to reclaimed furniture showrooms, yards and shows all around the UK, looking for furniture and lighting.?

The centrepiece of Brew Lab was our monolithic concrete bar. It was the focal point of the cafe and really stood out. The layout of the bar was figured out during a trip to the beach where it was drawn in the sand, followed by building it in my small Edinburgh flat out of foam board.?

It’s worth noting that I had never worked in a cafe prior to opening Brew Lab. Tom had had a brief spell in a long gone Edinburgh chain, but neither of us had run one.?

The social media build up to opening paid off and we opened to an intense three weeks. Our initial staffing plan to open with three experienced baristas paid off (Tom and I didn’t know how to make coffee). They handled the coffee, Tom handled the operations, and I flailed about figuring out how to be floor staff. However we quickly realised we needed more staff so the team started expanding very quickly.?

3 weeks later, after back to back shifts with no break, Tom and I finally allowed ourselves a day off and a breather.?

The following years were a lot of fun - we met wonderful people in our team and customers and figured out how to make the place work.?

In 2014 I noticed another coffee trend, this time happening in the US - cold brew coffee. We were convinced that this was going to be another wave that was coming our way, and we needed to get ahead of it.?

We sourced some cool looking medicine bottles and launched Brew Lab Cold Brew. Bottled initially in the Brew Lab Kitchen, then basement, then pokey commercial unit.

In the cafe, cold brew was a success and we started pushing it out to other cafes around the area. Cold Brew also helped to get Brew Lab noticed by BrewDog’s James Watt, who came to visit one day while he was visiting BrewDog Cowgate. This initiated discussions that eventually ended up in BrewDog investing in Brew Lab to open our second site.?

Brew Lab West End opened in 2016 in a lock up garage, down a seedy looking side street that smelt of piss, next door to an even seedier looking club. Thinking back on it now - I’m not sure why we didn’t see the writing on the wall at the time. It reminds me of a valuable question all entrepreneurs should ask themselves from Steven Bartlett’s book The Diary of a CEO - ‘why will this fail?’. If we had really thought about it properly, we probably wouldn't have opened what turned out to be an amazing looking coffee shop that only lasted 6 months before it closed its doors.?

Happily, the failure of Brew Lab West End didn’t spell the end of Brew Lab South College Street, or Brew Lab Cold Brew.?

We recovered, and in 2017 initiated a conversation with Jeremy & Steven from Union Hand-Roasted Coffee which ended up in Union acquiring Brew Lab in its entirety.?

Cold Brew faltered during this time - and fundamentally what we thought was a massive wave coming to the UK, was a much slower trickle of interest. What we didn’t realise was the market was still getting used to the idea of iced coffee, let alone cold brew coffee and making it fizzy (which we did!) was vastly leftfield of what the UK coffee drinking consumer wanted.

That tale is for another time, but in the end, we managed to sell a profitable venture, freeing ourselves from the financial strains of a challenging business. This move came just in time, as three years later, the pandemic would make trading conditions extremely tough.

The Brew Lab experience has been extraordinary—not merely a cafe, but a meaningful hub for countless individuals. It has launched thriving careers, served as a welcoming haven for newcomers to the city, and provided a productive environment for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and students. It's been a comforting nook for contemplation over coffee and has significantly contributed to the birth of Edinburgh's now dynamic, inventive, and exhilarating food and drink landscape.

I’ve met some incredible people along the way from team members, customers and other people in the industry but it has also given me some valuable business lessons:

1. The Importance of Vision and Innovation: Just like our expedition to London, where the vibrant coffee culture opened our eyes, it's crucial to look beyond the conventional and constantly seek inspiration. This journey taught me that vision paired with innovation could set the foundation for something truly unique in the market.

2. Embrace the Learning Curve: Neither of us had extensive experience in running a café before Brew Lab, but that didn't stop us. Diving headfirst into this venture, we learned on the job, adapted, and grew. This experience underscored that passion and willingness to learn are just as vital as expertise.

3. Social Media and Community Engagement: Our build-up to opening Brew Lab demonstrated the power of social media and community engagement. It wasn't just about marketing; it was about creating a buzz, building anticipation, and fostering a community even before we opened our doors.

4. Design and Atmosphere Matter: From reclaimed furniture to our iconic concrete bar, we learned that the design and atmosphere of a café are not just aesthetics but integral to the customer experience. It's about creating a space where people want to linger, work, or catch up with friends.

5. The Value of a Strong Team: Our initial strategy to start with three experienced baristas paid off. It reinforced the idea that a strong, competent team is crucial for success. Your team is your backbone; invest in them, and they will carry the vision forward.

6. Innovation as a Differentiator: Just as Brew Lab Cold Brew set us apart, innovation can be a significant differentiator in a crowded market. It's about staying ahead, anticipating trends, and daring to try something new.

7. Strategic Partnerships Can Propel Growth: Our collaboration with BrewDog and Union Hand-Roasted Coffee were pivotal moments. Strategic partnerships can offer new opportunities, resources, and avenues for growth that might not be achievable alone.

8. Design Consistency is Crucial for Brand Building: Learning from Brew Lab West End, we found that while each location has a story, keeping a uniform brand look is vital. The stark difference between our West End and South College Street spots made it hard to spot the Brew Lab vibe. Blend your brand's soul seamlessly across all venues for instant recognition.

9. Failure is Part of the Journey: The closure of Brew Lab West End, and cold brew flops were tough lessons but a crucial ones. It taught me that failure is part of the entrepreneurial journey. What matters is what you learn from it and how you bounce back.

10. Passion Drives Perseverance: Lastly, it was passion for coffee, for creating something different, that kept us going through highs and lows. It's this passion that fuels perseverance, pushing you to overcome obstacles and continue striving towards your vision.

As Brew Lab's chapter comes to a close, these lessons are not just a reflection of our journey but a blueprint for future ventures. They underscore the essence of entrepreneurship: vision, learning, engagement, innovation, and, above all, passion.