Brew Awakening

Coffee is no longer just a drink – it's an experience

- RACHEL McCONACHIE

IN recent years, the Scottish food and drink scene has experienced a renaissance, and nowhere is that more evident than in its booming coffee culture.

Once a nation of instant coffee drinkers and oversized lattes, Scotland now has a growing appetite for single origins, micro-lots and the art of extraction – and many know what those specialty coffee terms mean!

At the heart of this transformation is a new generation of coffee entrepreneurs, including Fraser Smith, whose journey has taken him from Edinburgh student barista to a leading voice in Dundee's emerging coffee culture.

Now 29, Fraser owns two outlets of EH9 Espresso in Dundee – coffee bars that are focal points of the city's growing appreciation for craft brews. He also has a hand in running the Zone 1 café in St Andrews and collaborates closely with other café owners across Scotland.

Fraser's first brush with coffee wasn’t born of obsession – it was practical.

“I started out working in a café while at uni in Edinburgh. My mum pushed me into it. She wanted me to learn a transferable skill, something that could get me a job anywhere in the world,” he says.

That first job turned out to be more than just a way to make ends meet. Over the course of three years, Fraser became entangled not just with espresso, but with the behind-the-scenes workings of a small business as it underwent a change in ownership and rebrand. He found himself increasingly drawn in.

“It’s really hard to describe how coffee becomes compelling,” he says. “It’s like being a sommelier or working at a cocktail bar; there’s so much detail, so much below the surface.

“It became my escape,” he adds. “I was a stressy student, and coffee was this meditative space.”