Cairngorm was founded by Robi Lambie in 2014 around a kitchen table in Newtonmore, in the Cairngorms, and the goal then was to make the best coffee it could without alienating people. Its part now is uplifting Scottish coffee culture and raising the standard of everyday coffee. The founder’s line: “Coffee can be fun. It really can. But it should also be great, and made by people who care.”

Roasting moved to Edinburgh, and since 2023 the roastery has been just outside the city, a short walk from the Portobello beaches. Cairngorm roasts on a 12 kg Probat and its method is data-driven: graphs and sensors rather than the “hand roasted” story, with a team cupping at least once a week. The roastery is not open to the public, and visits are by appointment. The company buys through importers and, when it can, directly from producers, some of whom have joined cuppings at the roastery or the café. An espresso cart covers events, and the team hosts cuppings across the UK.

The West End café opened in 2016 in a Georgian building with wide windows on a corner in the West End. It serves four espressos each day beside a rotating batch brew and toasties, and the room can be hired for events of up to 60 people. The newer South Side café on Bruntsfield Links has seating upstairs and sells brewing equipment, from filter papers to pouring kettles, alongside the bags. In the Highlands, Cairngorm runs the Ralia café by Newtonmore, which the same family started more than twenty years ago, with a general store of Scottish gifts on the same land.

The coffee range splits into filter, espresso, a rotating decaf and a Wonder Series of limited lots.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Cairngorm Coffee