Becca Marriner

Isn’t ‘Lovecumbs’ the cutest name for a coffee shop? Located in West Port, just up from the busy Grassmarket, it’s right next door to Edinburgh College of Art (part of the University of Edinburgh) which was convenient for me, back in my music student days. I first went to Lovecrumbs in January 2018, the same day I started blogging. I had gone with a couple of my friends as we wanted to make a habit of going to cute cafes for cake and I wanted to share these places with more people. Over six years later (yikes!) I found myself in the window seat again yesterday, reminiscing over everything that has happened in the time that passed.

During my first visit I had hot chocolate and a slice of rose Victoria sponge cake. I’ll admit it was how I discovered that a floral note wasn’t to my taste. At 17, I also wasn’t a coffee drinker. Hard to imagine given my current career path of a barista where I can now drink an unimaginable amount on a particularly sleepy day. The photo below marked the start of my blogging journey and long time readers will recognise it as the heading picture of my blog from when I first started.

The selection of sweet treats is always extensive; from cookies and cakes to brownies and buns. They come from their sister bakery, Nice Times, which I can only assume was named after the neon sign on the Lovecrumbs wall. This time around my friend Sophie and I shared some lemon and rosemary cake as a treat before grabbing lunch later on. I cannot bake to save my life and only dream of creating a cake that was as light and fluffy. Sophie, on the other hand, is a professional pastry cake, so definitely could.

With the weather getting warmer, their selection of iced drinks is large. I went for an iced batch brew with Sophie opting for a violet iced tea. It was well earned from a power walk up many, many steps from the New Town to the old. To my knowledge, it was my first time trying coffee from Hard Lines Coffee Roasters, and it was fab. Definitely a roastery I’ll look for in other places, and cute packaging too!

Do I preach about excellent window seats in most of my coffee shop blog posts? Yes. Is it an important factor when considering my favourite Edinburgh coffee spots? Also yes.The window seat is more like a window nook. I’m never graceful climbing into the wee spot but I love the privacy it gives you from the rest of the coffee shop and with the large window, it’s almost like being outside but without the Scottish chill. In the colder months the condensation and fairy lights make it exceptionally pretty and wonderfully photogenic. Back in 2018 I was even photographed for a rather famous magazine in this very spot, but that’s a story for another time…

It’s such a lovely place to hang out with your friends, catch up, drink coffee and watch the world go by. Also a perfect place for a solo trip, either accompanied by a book or a laptop for working. And if this weekend’s weather is anything to go by for the summer head, we’re all going to need an iced coffee or two to get by.

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