I’ve heard nothing but good things about BlendIn and even that it’s in the top 100 coffee shops of the U.S. My excitement to visit and hopefully have sentiments that blend in with the masses brought me and some homies here to enjoy on a Saturday morning.
The first thing about this place is that parking could potentially be difficult. There’s a lot that’s right across the shop that would appear enticing to the untrained eye. However, this is for the businesses on that side of the street and if you park there you will be towed. The wording outside says it’s for 3115 Allen Parkway building visitors, which is not BlendIn. The vague wording feels predatory and I believe it has entrapped people based on my research beforehand (even with signs inside saying not to park there). Therefore, you can either pay for street parking on the street alongside the business or park on a side street for free (which I did).
As we were waiting in line a barista got everyone’s attention and let us know that the espresso machine was down so they could only do pour overs, cold brews, and matchas. I ended up doing a pour over to start and asked about the Marlon Bolanos Honey which is marked as new on the menu. I guess everything’s new to me anyways, but I liked the sound of it. I asked the barista if that was a good choice and he didn’t give me much of a response, so I just went with it.
We got a table and the inside is very office-y vibes.
So coffee time. Me and one of my friends got the same pour over while the other 3 got different varieties. Ours was from Columbia and had a lot of acidity that the honey helped offset. Other than that I really didn’t get a whole lot. We tried as hard as we could to hone in on the flavors, but our palates are weak I guess. The other 3 pour overs had more oomph to them and I enjoyed those sips more than my own.
I didn’t want to judge this place solely on the pour over which I’ve done before with other coffee shops. It’s hard to fairly judge and I try now to order a secondary drink on the way out. I was originally going to order a Nitro Cold Brew with their specialty $1.50 Pandan Passion Fruit Cold Foam addition, but the new/different barista thought it would go better with a matcha, so I deferred to that.
I had a little here and then the rest after leaving and I really didn’t get a whole lot of the cold foam based on the look and taste. I originally thought it was really light and what caused the thin layer of milky topping, but after leaving I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t added. A different barista made it and I think it got lost in transition. Mistakes happen and I wish I realized this there to give them a chance to fix it, but nothing I could do.
The matcha by itself was just okay. It was more of a refreshing style which was nice, but nothing about it stood out. It was smooth with zero graininess, but ultimately it was just your most average matcha. Definitely not worth the $9.
I feel like this ranking will probably invalidate my list for some, but I wasn’t impressed with my experience here and can’t see myself ever returning. I’m just one dude and it has it’s high praise for a reason, but I didn’t get that today.
Rating: 396/1000