Melville Place is Cairngorm’s suntrap: a bright, glass-fronted corner at the West End crossroads where trams and footfall hum past all day. It’s the shop that shows the brand at full stretch-house-roasted coffees, fast service, and a short, dialled-in food menu that goes beyond “coffee and cake” without turning into brunch theatre.
Cairngorm isn’t just a multi-site Edinburgh café; they roast their own coffee, run a growing wholesale business, and have carved out a bright, modern identity that threads through everything from their yellow packaging to their sunny, window-filled cafés.
This is a busy spot - I first visited on a weekday, and I had to duck and dive to find a stool by the window. But this is part of the buzz - it felt like the place to be. Professionals having work discussions, friends meeting up, it was packed and loud with conversation.
Across the city, their Frederick Street shop offers the opposite mood. Tucked-away, cosy, almost subterranean, so Melville Place becomes the ‘big stage’ of the brand: open, bright, and right in the flow of the West End.
Espresso is fruit-led and tidy, with the baristas pulling shots that stay clear in milk. Batch brew rotates; a daily “special espresso” often runs alongside the house, the kind of limited lot that rewards a straight shot or a small milk drink. If you’re sitting in, the corner windows make the room feel larger than it is; if you’re passing through, the long hours mean it’s a rare city-centre constant for an early flat white or a 6:45pm pick-me-up.
Cairngorm’s coffees are roasted in-house, with seasonal lots and a sourcing philosophy that leans toward high-scoring, transparently sourced greens; the rotating ‘special espresso’ reflects that side of the brand.
Food options are good - for example, grilled toasties and avocado on toast - and there are plenty of bits and pieces to browse on the counter, from a selection of beans to coffee books.
Bright corner, long hours, house roasts—and the cult grilled-cheese that somehow tastes better with a window seat.
Service & Room
The team are quick and upbeat; the flow is order-pay-perch, with counter seats and window ledges that invite a short pause rather than a long laptop session. Morning light is gorgeous; lunchtime gets lively when the toasties start flying.
Why It Matters
Plenty of Edinburgh cafés roast or cook well; fewer do both in a high-footfall, all-day corner without losing consistency. Melville Place is the dependable West End recommendation—clean coffee, proper sandwiches, and hours that suit real life.
Part of Cairngorm’s appeal is how confidently the brand operates across roasting, food, and high-footfall cafés; very few Scottish roasters manage to keep this level of consistency across both retail and wholesale.