Our trainer Dan's trip to Edinburgh

Edinburgh is known for its Castle, for its plethora of whisky shops and its street corners bristling with tourists and tartan-clad buskers playing Scotland the Brave on their worn-out bagpipes for the fifth time in a row. However, beneath the cobble streets, and bagpipes there is an active coffee scene just waiting for you to discover its caffeinated delights

1. Marys Milk Bar - 19 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2HS

Overlooked by the iconic Edinburgh Castle, Marys Milk Bar is famous for its wide array of Ice Creams and Sorbets created by Mary herself. In the past Mary worked as a chocolatier but wanted to learn something new. She trained in Bologna, Italy at the prestigious Carpigiani Gelato University, not everyone can say they’re a Gelato graduate! Along side the delicious array of frozen sweet treats they also serve our coffee – served with milk or as a luxurious Affogato.

Pro tip: order a scoop of the mocha sorbet, I promise you’ve never tasted anything like it before!

2. Glow Café - 127 Gilmore Pl, Edinburgh EH3 9PP

Just a short walk from Haymarket, Glow Café has been serving delicious healthy lunches, mouth watering Vegan delights and speciality coffee for the people of Edinburgh for 18 months. If you’ve ever visited Sazzy and Fran in London then you might get a little Déjà vu, as owner Klaudia worked there as a Barista before enlisting the help of the owner Francesco in setting up the café. The customer service is delightful, the coffee is consistently well crafted and the food surpassed my already high expectations. Definitely worth a visit.

Pro Tip: The vegan ham and cheese toastie is the perfect grab and go lunch.

3. Lowdown - 40 George St, Edinburgh EH2 2LE

It would be disingenuous to only recommend cafes that serve our coffee, especially when there are places this good. Lowdown are a multi-roaster café, meaning their line up of coffees is ever changing. Behind the bar you might see a familiar face as Head Barista Tetsuya was previously Head Barista of our Broadway Market Cafe. The baristas here have honed their craft to a tee – truly a place for the coffee nerds to seek out.

Pro Tip: The filter coffee is where this café truly shines.

4. Fortitude - 3c York Pl, Edinburgh EH1 3EB

Not to be confused with the London bakery of the same name, just a short walk from Edinburgh Waverly Station, Fortitude should be on any coffee aficionados list of places to visit. Serving their own expertly roasted coffee, their manager Dom is a welcome face in the early morning haze.

Pro Tip: pick up a bag of their 125 – its always something special.