James Wise is pretty damn serious about coffee. Granted, he?s also the 2017 London Coffee Master champion and has a history with coffee (including at the now-defunct China Plate Espresso in London). And now, at the helm of Hyde & Son Edinburgh ? the café on the ground floor of apart-hotel Eden Locke ? he?s dead-set on making coffee king, from morning to night.
Using a state-of-the-art, programmable San Remo Opera V2 (the first of its kind in Scotland) coffee machine, Wise turns out a tight menu from long blacks and flat whites to cortados and filter brews. Volcano and Assembly Coffee are the blends of choice, while tea by Lalani, chai by Australia?s Prana Chai, and hot chocolate by Australia?s Mork Chocolate cover all other bases. A small selection of pastries?custard and jam donuts, or peanut-stuffed croissants?complete the food options. Wise wanted the tiny back-of-house space to function as a playroom for coffee creation, so bakeries 12 Triangles, Suki Bakes, and Grams supply the goods instead (the latter for gluten-free cheesecake). The night component of Hyde & Son is a collaboration with the bar manager, Ben Stewardson, whose talent with cocktails fluctuates from inspired to ?mad scientist?. The cocktail offering is coffee-based, and Stewardson?s concoctions are a blend of tremendous showmanship and clever style. The Black Magic is, as its name suggests, a curious combo that manages to work; fruity notes of mango and orange (juices) are heightened with passio...