Search “Scottish coffee roaster” and you’ll mostly find listicles written by food and lifestyle sites that have never roasted a bag of coffee in their lives.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but we actually do this for a living. We roast coffee at our own roastery in Glenrothes, Fife, so we thought we’d put together a version of the list that comes from inside the industry instead.
A quick note before we start. “Speciality coffee” is not just a marketing phrase. It has a genuine meaning.
Speciality coffee refers to coffee that has been graded above a recognised quality threshold. It should be clean, largely free from defects, and have distinctive flavour characteristics that can be traced back to where and how the coffee was grown.
That is quite different from mass-market commodity coffee, where consistency and price are often more important than preserving the individual character of the bean.
Roasting speciality coffee well starts with buying good green coffee in the first place, then roasting it in a way that allows the natural flavour of that coffee to come through.
With that out of the way, here is a genuinely honest look at some of the Scottish coffee roasters doing interesting work right now, including us.
Cairngorm Coffee, Edinburgh
Cairngorm operates cafés and a roastery in Edinburgh and has built a strong presence in the city.
If you are looking for a properly made flat white in Edinburgh, using coffee that has been roasted with real thought behind it, Cairngorm is a solid place to start.
They are also worth knowing if you are comparing coffee subscriptions, as many of Scotland’s more established speciality roasters now offer some form of regular coffee delivery.
Dear Green Coffee, Glasgow
Dear Green is based in Glasgow and has built a strong reputation for sourcing and roasting speciality coffee.
They have also done a good job of building partnerships and collaborations that feel genuinely connected to Glasgow, rather than simply being another coffee company that happens to be based there.
If you are in Glasgow and want to support a roaster with strong roots in the city, they are well worth seeking out.
Thomson’s Coffee, Glasgow
Thomson’s is one of the more established names in Scottish coffee, with a history that goes back much further than many of the newer speciality coffee brands.
They are worth knowing about if you are interested in how Scotland’s coffee scene has developed over time, rather than only looking at the newest names to appear.
Artisan Roast, Edinburgh
Artisan Roast is another long-standing name in Edinburgh’s speciality coffee scene.
They have built their reputation over many years and were helping shape Scotland’s speciality coffee culture long before the current wave of coffee brands appeared.
If you are exploring Scottish coffee roasters, Artisan Roast is one of the names that should be on the list.
Modern Standard Coffee, Fife
And then there is us.
Modern Standard is based in Glenrothes, Fife, which puts us slightly outside the Edinburgh and Glasgow axis that dominates much of Scotland’s speciality coffee scene.
We actually think that is useful.
Fife does not have a huge number of speciality coffee roasters, and our location means we work with customers across Scotland and throughout the rest of the UK rather than being centred around a single city café audience.
We are a certified B Corp and roast all of our coffee at our own roastery in Glenrothes.
We sell directly to home coffee drinkers through our online shop, as well as supplying cafés, restaurants, hotels, workplaces and hospitality businesses across the country.
If you want to know more about how and where we roast, our Scottish coffee roaster and Fife coffee roaster pages explain more about what we do.
What should you actually look for in a Scottish coffee roaster?
There is no reason to buy coffee from only one roaster.
In fact, one of the best things about speciality coffee is being able to try coffees from different roasters, origins and producers.
But if a friend asked us what they should look for when choosing a Scottish coffee roaster, these are the things we would tell them to check.
Look for the roast date
A good coffee roaster should make it easy to understand when the coffee was roasted.
Freshness matters, although fresher does not always automatically mean better. Coffee often benefits from some resting time after roasting, particularly when it is being brewed as espresso.
What matters is knowing when the coffee was roasted and buying from a roaster that takes freshness seriously.
If the only information on the bag is a distant “best before” date, with no indication of when the coffee was actually roasted, it is worth asking why.
Find out where the coffee comes from
Speciality coffee should be traceable.
A good roaster should be able to tell you more than simply “100% Arabica”.
Depending on the coffee, you may see information about the country, region, producer, farm, cooperative, processing method, altitude and variety.
You do not need to understand every piece of information on the label, but the roaster should know where its coffee came from and be willing to tell you.
Check whether they actually roast their own coffee
Most established speciality coffee roasters roast on their own equipment and have direct control over how their coffees are developed.
Some smaller coffee brands buy coffee roasted elsewhere and sell it under their own label.
There is not necessarily anything wrong with that, but there is a difference between a coffee brand and a coffee roaster.
If buying directly from the people who actually roast your coffee matters to you, it is worth checking.
Look beyond the tasting notes
Chocolate. Caramel. Peach. Jasmine. Strawberry.
Coffee tasting notes can be useful, but they can also be intimidating if you are new to speciality coffee.
They are not ingredients added to the coffee. They are simply the flavours and aromas the roaster or tasting team finds in the cup.
Rather than worrying about whether you can detect exactly the same flavours, use tasting notes as a general guide.
If you normally like rich, chocolatey coffee, choose something described in those terms.
If you enjoy lighter, fruitier coffee, look for coffees with brighter fruit or floral descriptions.
Make sure the price makes sense
Speciality coffee usually costs more than supermarket coffee because high-quality green coffee costs more to buy, and responsible sourcing, traceability and careful production all add cost.
That does not mean expensive automatically equals good.
Look at the coffee itself, where it came from and what you are being told about it.
If something is described as an extremely rare or exceptional micro-lot but is being sold at the same price as a standard everyday blend, it is reasonable to be a little sceptical.
Which Scottish coffee roaster should you choose?
The answer depends on what you like.
You might want a dependable espresso blend for every morning, a rotating selection of single-origin coffees, a regular coffee subscription, or simply somewhere local to buy freshly roasted coffee.
The good news is that Scotland has plenty of excellent roasters to explore.
Try different ones. Ask questions. Pay attention to what you enjoy drinking rather than what you think you are supposed to like.
And if you would like to try ours, you can browse our espresso blends, explore our bestselling coffees, or see our full range of coffees, all roasted at our roastery in Glenrothes, Fife.