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Williams & Johnson Coffee Co. is etched in serif lettering on a window, a pastry display case visible inside.
Edinburgh

Williams & Johnson Coffee Co

A coffee roastery and café at Custom Lane on the Shore at Leith, where every coffee is single origin and roasted a few feet from the counter.

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Welcome

Through a stone archway off the Shore, a cobbled courtyard opens up, with a canvas awning strung with festoon lights over picnic benches and potted plants.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

The name is etched in serif letters on the café window.

Inside, the room is dim and pared back, with exposed pipework, black pendant lamps and small tables, and a large-leafed plant by the counter among glassware and ceramic pots. A wooden counter is lined with pastries, and the glass shelves hold brownies, chocolate chip cookies, filled pastries and pain au chocolat on labelled trays. Through another arch, the quay is a few steps away. Take a coffee out to the benches, and wander the Shore with it.

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The Daily for 30 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a teal-coloured lochan cupped in a forested hollow, a scree slope rising on one side and autumn-tinged pines ringing the shore.
Before you go

Espresso and filter coffee, with pastries, and bags of the seasonal beans to take home.

Open seven days a week.

Where
Custom Lane, Customs Wharf, on the Shore at Leith; in through the arched doorway to the courtyard.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
8am–5pm
Tuesday
8am–5pm
Wednesday
8am–5pm
Thursday
8am–5pm
Friday
8am–5pm
Saturday
8.30am–5pm
Sunday
9am–5pm

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Did you know

String lights hang over a covered courtyard with picnic benches and potted plants outside a dark stone building.
Did you know

Two baristas.

Zachary Williams and Todd Johnson had each worked in coffee for more than eight years when, late in 2015, they set out to roast their own.

A dark stone archway frames a sunlit quayside where a moored ship and rows of benches sit on cobblestones.
Did you know

A café by the roaster.

The café shares its room with the Probat roaster, where every coffee they sell is roasted and packed.

Rows of pastries fill a glass display case, including herb-topped rolls, meringue-capped buns, pains au chocolat and croissants.
Did you know

One bean at a time.

Every coffee is single origin, and each is roasted to a profile of its own.

A canvas awning strung with festoon lights shelters wooden picnic benches and a bicycle in a cobbled courtyard beside a stone building with a lit shop window.
Did you know

A home for makers.

They opened here in 2016, in Custom Lane, a hub for artists, designers and makers, with a gallery to wander round.

A stone archway framed by sash windows opens onto a cobbled courtyard with a marquee and chimney visible beyond.
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Where it is

At Custom Lane on Customs Wharf, on the Shore at Leith.

Close byThe places nearest Williams & Johnson, on the Shore at Leith.
  1. Leith ShoreLeith ShoreThe old quayside of Leith, where Mary Queen of Scots and George IV came ashore.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Restaurant Martin WishartRestaurant Martin WishartFrench cooking with Scottish produce on the Shore, starred since 2001.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Friends chat round a candlelit table beneath a "Guest Keg" chalkboard menuTeuchters LandingA bar in the old waiting room for the steamboat ferry to Aberdeen.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Roseleaf Bar CaféRoseleaf Bar CaféA bar and café where the Black Swan pub once stood, its cocktails in teapots.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Royal Yacht BritanniaRoyal Yacht BritanniaThe royal family's floating home for 44 years, berthed at Leith.Under a mile 3 min by road
  6. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society - The VaultsThe Scotch Malt Whisky Society - The VaultsThe Society's members' rooms in a bonded warehouse of 1787.1 mile 4 min by road
Directions
Stone townhouse with sash windows and dark green door on Custom WharfShoppingBardA step away
The hall at Brown's of Leith under its timber roof, with the Haze counter on the left, a round steel table and people at tables by the tall windows.RestaurantsBrown's of LeithA step away
The Keelson's stone building on the Shore at Leith, seen across the Water of Leith on a sunny day, with gulls on the river.BarsThe KeelsonA step away
The green front of Malt & Hops on the Shore, with hanging baskets, barrels and pavement tables.BarsMalt & HopsA step away
A fillet of fish on greens and green beans in an orange sauce, on a white plate at a table at Barry Fish.RestaurantsBarry FishA step away
The room at Chez Bernard, with red pillars, wooden tables and chairs with red seats, and racks of wine behind the bar.BarsChez BernardA step away
The round stone watchtower on the Shore at Leith, with Fishers' blue and white restaurant front at its foot on a cobbled corner.RestaurantsFishers in Leith0.2 miles
The dining room at The Kitchin, with grey stone walls, dark beams and blue-green chairs at tables laid for dinner.RestaurantsThe Kitchin0.2 miles
A Greek salad topped with a slab of feta beside a grilled octopus tentacle on a wooden table at Kafeneion to Steki.RestaurantsKafeneion to Steki0.3 miles

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