Thomson’s is Glasgow’s original coffee roaster. David Thomson, a 24-year-old tea and coffee merchant from Edinburgh, opened his first shop in the city in 1841, and the history runs from a fire that burned out the shop in 1847 through more than fifty years at a city-centre shop that regulars knew as Coffee Thomson’s. The Addison family, who had managed that shop for the Thomsons, took the business on in 1901 and kept it until 2005. The Jenkins family bought it in 2011, only its third owners.

Every coffee is roasted at the purpose-built roastery in Thornliebank, on the Southside, which dates from the 1960s and is production only. Scotland’s first Loring Kestrel S35 arrived in 2015 to work alongside a vintage Whitmee, and the smaller batches it allows launched the Core and LAB ranges. In April 2026 the Glasgow Coffee Festival named Thomson’s Best Roaster UK after blind cupping by fellow roasters, with the winning coffees roasted by head roaster Jonathan Martinez.

The flagship espresso bar and shop in Giffnock opened in 2022, a short walk from the roastery, with pastries from the company’s own Burnfield Bakery and sourdough from Freedom Bakery; the wholesale showroom is upstairs. Thomson’s Gallowgate, next to the Barrowland in the East End, was taken over from wholesale customers USVTHEM Coffee in 2024 and serves rotating filter coffees with pastries, cakes and toasties. Thomson’s Candleriggs opened on 15 September 2026 in the Merchant City and serves rotating filter and guest coffees with pastries and cakes from Wheatberry and Company, with evening drinks to follow. Burnfield Bakery itself, in Strathbungo, bakes in the roastery and serves the coffee as espresso or filter. Two partner cafés called 1841 in the West End are independently run by a former team member and serve Thomson’s coffee.

The range is split into Core, LAB and Legacy: everyday single origins and blends, small limited releases, and the house blends and dark roasts it has roasted for generations.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Thomson's Coffee