This year was my first visit to the Edinburgh Coffee Festival and it was a shame I didn't manage to get there earlier as I'd missed all the talks and workshops and also the Roundsquare Coffee Stout that seemed to be on offer!
It was however, a fantastic chance to catch up with and get up to date with what the local coffee aficienados are up to!
Machina Coffee have started roasting their own beans and have a second coffee shop. Mr Eion was there with some cold brew. Brewlab were there with their nitro cold brew. Burr & Co had a fabulous iced coffee and I was assured their coffee cocktail workshop involved many tasty brews!
I discovered I was rubbish at picking out the subtle differences in flavour in the taste test from Union Coffee!
Great to meet Alfie Coffee who are using a new clean air closed drum machine to roast, meaning the beans are not subjected to gas burners and any toxicity that comes with that. I have to say it is one of the cleanest tasting coffees I've tasted in a long time.
Roundsquare had a fab stand and standout packaging with their special edition Mexican single estate. They also had smart coffee cups which hook up to an app and you can store money in the chip on the cup itself. It was all a bit too high tech for me!
Shibui Tea & Pekoe Tea were there to satiate any non-coffee drinkers.
Swedish coffee roasters and tea merchants Johan & Nystrom were there with a selection of coffees and bottled iced teas, all of which were delicious!
Pinnies & Poppyseeds had amazing pumpkin spiced caramel cups and shortbread, although all the donuts were long gone. Tasty Buns Bakery only had a slice of cake left but I did manage to snag an amaretti biscuit which was just the right amount of crunchy, chewy, almondy goodness. The Marshmallow Lady also had her wares on show, the smore pops which looked to be popular by how many people I saw walking around with them!
Rost & Jones and Sons were in the courtyard for those wanting something more savoury and I struggled to pass up a cheeseburger with chilli jam!
Overall
Fantastic couple of hours flying around chatting to faces familiar and new. Will need to get there earlier next year to get along to some of the talks and workshops, although it was nice to be there after the crowds had thinned out and get a chance to chat to the vendors.
