The Third Confession

Cairngorm Coffee

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A short walk from Edinburgh's city centre in the rare Scottish sunshine brought me to this unique, independent coffee shop. Hidden within the city's foundation, the like-minded coffee lover can find Cairngorm with it's distinctive interiors and malt-like aromas.


Bottle-green tiles placed behind the serving counter contrast effortlessly with their beach hut like walls, adorned with coffee related artwork and merchandise sold by the coffee vendors. The interiors of this café are truly unique, from adjustable tables, colourful cushions and antiqued-iron bar stools, it's hard not to appreciate the décor. Within the raw wooden worktops Cairngorm have inserted iPads for customer use, adding to the overall aesthetic of the café, as well as making the coffee house experience memorable for us Millennials. Aside from indoor seating arrangements, a pine-wood table and bench set situated above the entrance allows customers to enjoy their coffee outdoors, with views of the stunning and iconic Castle.

This individualistic café roast their own coffee sourced in the Cairngorms, utilising some of the best roasters in the world and take pride in being able to extract the natural sweetness from their coffee beans. To put this statement to the test I ordered my usual Flat White and was pleasantly surprised. The coffee had been delicately roasted and the sweet undertone didn't go unnoticed despite the layer of milk that had been ribboned through the shot of espresso. My Flat White had disappeared within minutes as I explored the interiors of the café and chatted to Cairngorm's friendly staff.




Although I enjoyed the coffee and unparalleled décor of the coffee shop, it just didn't make me feel cosy,  and I found it difficult to get comfortable and want to stay beyond the amount of time it took me to drink the Flat White. So for me, Cairngorm will be a place to grab a coffee to go and briefly admire the interiors (again), but if you haven't already visited, you definitely should as it is really one-of-a-kind (if you couldn't already tell).