Williams & Johnson roast on-site and pour from the same counter. The coffee keeps people coming back despite the service, which tells you enough.

Artisan Roast's Leith Walk shop: the espresso is precise, and the regulars who've covered Edinburgh's specialty scene still come back.

A bean shop where buying starts with a smell and the origins range from Yemen to Java. The owner knows every one well enough to explain swiss-water decaf extraction unprompted.

A Leith breakfast spot that takes its espresso seriously. Light-roast, sweet and fruity, low on bitterness, and the owner rotates the beans.

Specialty coffee and homemade focaccia in a Leith corner with a Scottish-Italian character. The seasonal menu is deliberately short.

The lattes bring people back, which is the honest measure of an independent. A solid neighbourhood spot that earns its repeat trade on the coffee, not the story.

An espresso-based menu in Leith that takes the coffee seriously, which puts it ahead of most of the neighbourhood. Head here when the cup is the reason, not the backdrop.

A proper kitchen attached to a cafe that takes its latte art seriously. Come hungry.

A flat white done right, from an independent on Leith Walk that keeps the quality consistent without making a statement of it. The latte art lands.