17th Century Edinburgh tavern revives with the help of classic stiff drink, the Cauld Cock and Feather

John’s Coffee Shop and Tavern, founded in Parliament Close in 1688, was a key Old Town haunt for legal figures, thinkers, traders and business people who gathered there for transactions, meetings and chat in an air of congenial intoxication.

Wills and deals were settled in back rooms and roups of goods unfolded amid the hustle of the Old Town.

Among its clientele were figures such as David Hume and Adam Smith, with Sir Walter Scott later writing of the the tavern’s dedication to the meridian - or stiff noontide drink - which was a favourite of the writers and clerks of Parliament Square who turned “fidgety” at their desks around 12 o’clock before proceeding to John’s.

There, the Cauld Cock n Feather - a glass of brandy with raisins - would be lined up on the bar in anticipation of their custom, according to accounts.

Now, the drink is coming back to Edinburgh along with John’s Coffee Shop and Tavern, which is re-opening in Parliament Square on almost the exact spot where it stood 200 years ago before it burnt down in the Great Fire of Edinburgh in 1824.

Andrew Landsburgh, Director and Founder of CoDE Concepts, said the “history is written on the wall” of the space where John’s has re-opened. He first came across the space when taking on the old court building nearby.

Of John’s, Mr Landsburgh said: “This is one of Edinburgh’s most fascinating and storied buildings. Walking through the old cells and courtrooms back in 2019, when opening the CoDE The Court, was eerie, yet inspiring. Our vision was to modernise the space while paying homage to its extraordinary history. 

“Now 200 years later, we’re proud to continue this tradition, serving exceptional coffee and drinks in a space where history is written on the walls.” 

Goods of all kinds once passed through John’s Coffee House, from coffee, fine wines, to land, ships and even stocks of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Coffee houses and taverns became central to life in the Old Town, where cramped and squalid living conditions, even among the well off, meant that a place outside the home to entertain and do business was essential.

Sir Walter Scott documented the old culture of John’s in his novel Redgauntlet, where he described the clerks of Parliament Square “exchanging looks” at their desk around noon before heading off through the crowds “like a string of wildfowl” and entering the premises, where they took their meridian from the bar.

“This they did day by day; and though they did not speak to each other, they seemed to attach a certain degree of sociability to their performing the ceremony in company,” he wrote.

The goldsmiths of Edinburgh’s luckenbooths, the huts and tenements for artisans and craftspeople that stretched across the north side of St Giles’, were other major patrons of John’s. Tradition saw that a groom would buy a dram for the goldsmith when placing an order of the customary silver spoon for his bride, with the goldsmith returning the gesture when the spoon was handed over.

The premises, a Grade A listed property which was rebuilt after the Great Fire, has now been completely refurbished with a £500,000 investment from CoDE Concepts. John’s Coffee Shop and Tavern will serve once again.