Ditto Albert Square

Ditto began life as Ditto Music, started in a flat more than a decade ago and is now a global brand backing over 800,000 independent artists and talking loudly about a fairer industry. Coffee apparently tagged along on those expansions through Latin America, Africa and Asia, but it was Melbourne's hole-in-the-wall café culture that finally shifted things. The founders decided to import that simple idea to the UK, and the Manchester shop reflects it with a house blend of Brazilian, Nicaraguan and Guatemalan beans, plus homemade cakes and simple snacks. There are music-first playlists on the speakers, so tunes remain part of the point rather than just background noise.