Student friendly? Is Blank Street Coffee’s new Edinburgh store as ‘affordable’ as they claim?

Cult brand Blank Street Coffee opened its first Edinburgh store on Saturday the 25th of January. Located on Victoria Street, the TikTok viral brand responsible for bringing matcha to a mass market was bursting with crowd, but is it worth the hype?

The brand claims that what sets it apart from other major chains is its ethos, explained on their website as providing a “clean, natural, and high-quality menu to customers at an affordable price.” With the average student budget having no room to pander to the ever-increasing prices of Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero, we’re here to see if Blank Street Coffee is any different.

The Starbucks and Costa stores on the Royal Mile list the starting price of a latte – served hot or iced – at £3.50 and £3.55 respectively, a reasonably average price in the tourist trap which is Edinburgh. Disappointingly, Blank Street Coffee doesn’t seem to stand out from the crowd in this area, also pricing their latte at £3.50.

In my opinion, where Blank Street Coffee does succeed is within its speciality range, not following the industry trend of majorly inflating the price of seasonal drinks. The likes of the iced matcha latte with either blueberry or white chocolate, which had a major viral moment on TikTok last year, are both priced at £3.90. Compared to Starbucks’ current offer – the iced pistachio velvet latte – which merely starts at £5.10 –  Blank Street Coffee takes the cake.

The viral blueberry matcha and strawberries and cream latte

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I visited the new store for its grand opening last week. To beat the queues, I decided to arrive at opening time, which the Retail Times reported was 6:30 am. Unfortunately, this turned out to be completely wrong. When I arrived, a coffee-hungry me running on four hours of sleep was greeted by shuttered doors and a ‘closed’ sign hanging in the window. Not off to a good start. I ended up trying again at lunchtime and waited 30 minutes just to get inside.

Staying true to my embarrassingly high TikTok screen time, I ordered the viral iced white chocolate matcha latte. For this, I paid £3.90 and got a free knitted cup cosy too. I’d say for the size of the drink, the taste, the friendly customer service and the free gift, £3.90 is a fair price. Plus, the Instagram photo opportunities are rife.

Me and my friends’ Blank Street haul – all sweet treats purchased by them

The rapid expansion of the brand since its conception in August 2020 speaks to the quality of its products. Last week’s opening comes as part of a campaign to launch Blank Street Coffee throughout Scotland, the third country to welcome the brand after England and the United States. The Retail Times reports that the Victoria Street store will be followed by a second store on Princes Street on 6^th February, and a further location in Glasgow in March.

Whilst sweet treat cravings are inevitable, Edinburgh’s economy means the consequences are expensive. The opening of Blank Street Coffee marks a (somewhat) affordable challenge to the prices of leading brands that have long since dominated the market, an increasingly attractive option when your student loan payments just aren’t cutting it. I’m not saying that it’s the one to beat local small businesses in Edinburgh, but compared to the rest of the big chains, Blank Street, at least to me, seems worth the hype.