The 16th October marks the beginning of UK Coffee Week – first and foremost a nationwide fundraising campaign for Project Waterfall, which aims to bring clean drinking water to coffee growing communities. It also marks a week in which we can show our appreciation for beautiful beautiful coffee!
Here at The Loft, we’re big fans of a decent, piping hot cup of coffee, and luckily for us, Moray and the surrounding area has a great coffee scene, which exploded into being in 2021. From that point on, roasters, coffee shops, huts and trailers have been popping up all over the place, which is a joy for us locals and tourists alike.
With a beautiful view around every corner, many come to visit Moray for its World class walking, hiking and biking and fortunately you’ll quite often come by a coffee van just when you least expected it! We’re sure there’s some more that we’ve missed, but here are a few to get you started:
Coffee Vans & Huts
Olive the vintage coffee van, a beautifully renovated French fire truck. Based at the West Beach car park at Findhorn Beach.
Kula Coffee Hut at Duffus Castle – a lovely little shepherds hut serving great coffee & cakes, there’s also a seating area overlooking the castle ruins and farm.
The Coffee Clan – Off-grid coffee trailer based in the car park at Culbin woods serving the best that Moray has to offer!
Lossie Coffee Cart – At Seatown, Lossiemouth by the estuary
Coffee at the Kings – Nestled between Cullen Viaduct and Cullen Beach in an American Airstream, definitely worth a visit!
Willow & Birch – Braving the weather all year round at Millbuies in a stunning little vintage Renault Estafette van on the other side of Elgin. Louise makes a great coffee and has some very generous cakes on offer too!
The Patch, a great little converted horsebox by highlander Park in Craigellachie
Right to Roam, Aberlour – Fresh coffee and home made food, baked daily. Currently parked next to the football pitch in Aberlour.
The Bike Bothy in Forres is also worth a mention for a takeaway!
There are also loads of great cafes in and around our local area too, again, this isn’t an exhaustive list but here are some of our favourites, some for the excellent coffee and some just worth a visit!
Cafes
Batchen Street Coffee, Elgin – They roast their own coffee too! Cosy, friendly and so good!
Café Fika, Forres – A small, intimate café run by Mother & Son team.
Phoenix Café, Findhorn Ecovillage – great setting that makes you feel like you’re in the Canadian Rockies!
Findhorn Bakehouse, Findhorn – Good for a takeaway coffee whilst walking the Findhorn Circular, there’s also a few benches outside if the sun is shining.
Café 1496, Forres – relaxed and welcoming café.
Bothy Bistro & Bar, Burghead – Beautifully fitted out bistro mainly serving food, but also a good space to sit and enjoy a coffee.
Bootleggers Bar & Grill, Hopeman – Mainly for the epic views and cool interiors, but they make a good coffee too!
Speyside Coffee Roasting Co. & Café, Garmouth – great café, coffee and a friendly relaxed atmosphere
The Café at Logie Steading – Ideal for a caffeine stop after walking the various river routes
Batchen Street Coffee – Photo Source – morayspeyside.com
There’s also several coffee roasters in the area, many of which supply cafes and restaurants accessible from The Loft.
Coffee Roasters
Green Bridge Organics – Family run, organic single batch beans roasted just down the road in Findhorn
Speyside Coffee Roasting Co. – Roastery focusing on single origin beans, also with a lovely café in Garmouth, ideal for a walk to the Dolphin Centre.
Cairngorm Leaf & Bean – Artisan Roastery based in Grantown on Spey
Grain & Grind Inverness – Small batch blends and single origin beans, there’s something to suit every palate.
Inverness Coffee Roasters – You’ll find these guys in a lot of places for good reason! Well-rounded blends and single origins, a firm favourite! They also have a lovely little café in Inverness too.
Vandyke Bros – Based in a tiny tin shed up in Cromarty on the Black Isle, there’s also a great little café (Slaughterhouse Coffee) that’s worth a visit.
Roaring Stag Coffee Roasters – From Ballater, Royal Deeside. Punchy beans for a punchy brew, with loads of options.
Conval Coffee Roasters – Dufftownbased speciality coffee roaster who sources their beans, power and packaging ethically.
