The Best Independent Coffee Shops in Brighton
Who roasts what in Brighton and where to drink it, from North Laine's tiny espresso bars to the roasters that have been at it for 25 years.
By Only Brighton Editorial
The best coffee shops in Brighton are the small independents in and around North Laine: Bond St Coffee and Triple Point on the Lanes side, Dandy and Pelicano on Sydney Street, LOAM and Ease on Gloucester Road, plus the city's own roasters, Redroaster on St James's Street, Small Batch in Hove, Trading Post on Ship Street and The Milk Shed, which roasts for the Flour Pot bakeries. Brighton and Hove came first in a 2026 UK coffee report for the share of independent coffee shops per resident, so you are spoiled for choice. Addresses below were checked in October 2026.
Bond St Coffee, Bond Street
Bond St Coffee at 15 Bond Street is a favourite with the city's coffee obsessives. It runs three single origins across espresso and filter, roasted by its sister company Freda, with guest beans from Horsham, and there is a bigger, brighter seating area at the back than you would guess from the front. One warning: its old website address now points somewhere that has nothing to do with coffee, so find it on foot, not online.
Triple Point Coffee, Gardner Street
Triple Point, at 53 Gardner Street in North Laine, pulls shots on a Synesso machine using beans from Skylark and Pharmacie, and sells retail bags and brewing kit if you want to try at home. There is a small seating area at the back. It is the kind of place where you ask what is on filter and get a proper answer.
Dandy, Sydney Street
Dandy, at 39a Sydney Street, is a small cafe with a big front window, perfect for watching North Laine go by. It serves espresso and filter from Murmuration, a West Sussex roaster, and it is a newer arrival that has quickly become a regular stop for people who care about this stuff.
Pelicano, Sydney Street
Pelicano roasts its own coffee and has its main cafe at 28 Sydney Street, with others at The Level and on Lewes Road. Rustic room, good cakes and pastries, seats upstairs and on the pavement. On a sunny morning the pavement seats are the best in the street.
Gloucester Road: LOAM and Ease
Two minutes apart on Gloucester Road, these are worth doing back to back. LOAM, at number 111, is small and busy, rotates roasters (including Scenery for filter) and sells beans, kit and homewares. Ease Coffee, at number 27, opened in 2024, uses Skylark beans and has a window seat made for people-watching. Order the cortado.
Redroaster, St James's Street
Redroaster has been roasting coffee in Brighton for more than 25 years, and its flagship at 1D St James's Street in Kemptown runs from breakfast through to dinner with wine and cocktails. Redroaster serves brunch all day, sells its beans to take home, and its coffee turns up in plenty of other cafes around the city.
Small Batch, Goldstone Villas, Hove
Small Batch was one of the roasters that put Brighton on the coffee map. Its original home is at 70 Goldstone Villas, right by Hove station, though roasting has moved to Portslade and some of its other branches have closed. Still a good first coffee if you are getting off the train at Hove.
Trading Post, Ship Street
Trading Post roasts its own beans and, according to Visit Brighton, has one of the most varied ranges of beans and blends in the city. Its Ship Street cafe at number 36 also does a proper brunch, and you will see its coffee in other cafes too, including Baked in Hove.
The Milk Shed and the Flour Pot
The Milk Shed roasts in the city and runs its own cafes at 9 Prince's Street in Kemptown, on an old dairy site, and at 13A Prince Albert Street in the Lanes, which opened in 2026 and is open daily. Its sister business is the Flour Pot bakery, whose Sydney Street shop at number 40 is a fine excuse for a pastry with your flat white.
Also on our list
17 Grams on Meeting House Lane roasts its own beans in North Laine and does a good brunch under an Alice in Wonderland mural. IKIGAI on Queens Road pours Friedhats beans and does matcha, handy if you are heading to or from the station. Coffee at 33 on Trafalgar Street does single-origin pourovers in a monochrome room. The Double Skinny Macchiato map, updated in October 2026, is the most thorough list we know of if you want to keep going.
How to do a Brighton coffee crawl
Start at Hove station with Small Batch, walk down to Western Road, then cut into North Laine for Dandy, Pelicano and Triple Point, and finish in the Lanes at Bond St. That is four coffees in about an hour and a half, and you will be vibrating gently by the seafront. Pace yourself, or switch to decaf at stop three. Nobody will judge.
