Have you had your Blank Street yet? A deep dive into Leeds’s matcha obsession

If you walk through Leeds city centre at any time of day, chances are you will come across a queue outside Blank Street, even longer than the one at Mischief.

Matcha has existed for hundreds of years, so why has it become a craze these past two years, and why Blank Street?

This article will investigate the matcha craze that has taken Leeds (and the whole world) by storm, and dive deeper into the psychology behind it. Do we really enjoy it or is social media just telling us that we should?

The Matcha takeover

Matcha taking centre stage in every event

Matcha’s appeal is arguably based on psychology rather than taste.

It is no surprise to any student across Leeds that there is a TikTok heavy culture here, which make trends like matcha go wild. When Blank street opened in Leeds, hundreds of students took to TikTok, proudly posting videos of themselves with their viral blondie matcha.

In a generation where coffee has become a symbol of a chaotic life, matcha challenges this by being a symbol of calm. It is packed with antioxidants, L-Theanine and can aid metabolism. The ‘clean girl’ branding of matcha puts it on our #fyp, featuring in everything from Day in the Life and GRWM videos to food reviews, challenges and mukbangs.

But why Blank Street?

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At the heart of Leeds lies Blank Street, the hub of shopping divas, studying queens and the girlies we’re all clocking.

Blank Street has a minimalistic interior and Instagrammable surrounding for posts.  The Leeds branch is the biggest Blank Street yet so there is no surprise as to why it’s gone viral.

We asked students across Leeds what they think about matcha, here’s what they had to say:

Andy said: “It looks nice but it tastes like grass, I don’t understand the queues”.

Lena said: ” I LOVE matcha but I always find they put loads of syrups in and you cant really taste the matcha. I don’t like that. I think it’s as nice as people say it is but I don’t know whether they are talking about the matcha or the syrups”.

Another student, Abbie, said that when she walked past Blank Street, she had never tried matcha because she thought it was just a trend that people were pretending to like it. However, one day she caved and got the white chocolate matcha and is now hooked.

After talking to students in Leeds, it is clear matcha is loved, hated and the new ‘pineapple on pizza’ on campus.

As many have admitted that the syrup is what makes the drink palatable, the value of the drink relies on its social media presence. It is very much part of today’s culture and a trend that undoubtedly will remain for years to come.

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