A West Cumbrian coffee shop has gone viral for its unique split drinks.
Blend, at 3-5 Main Street, in Cockermouth, has gained internet fame after a video showing one of its popular split cup drinks went viral on social media.
It has so far amassed a whopping 7.3 million views, over 1.6 million likes and over 297,000 shares on TikTok.
The takeaway coffee shop is based in the same building as CNB Beauty and is run by best friend duo Chelsea Nicole Bacon, 29, of Cockermouth and Olivia Hascamp, 28, of Keswick.
Chelsea runs the beauty salon while Olivia runs the coffee shop on the opposite side of the building.
Olivia said the idea to add the split drink to the menu came from seeing the cups being used in America.
She added: “We first saw the cups online and I actually doubted them at first, but we saw them being used on TikTok in America and Chelsea said let’s order them.
“So we ordered them and I’m not joking we had queues down the street. I was hearing ‘split cup’ in my dreams!
“It’s just been crazy. When we had the queue out of the door and Chelsea was helping, she would ask is anyone wanting a hot drink and everyone said ‘no, we’re here for the split cups’.”
@13pointofview went to @BLEND in cockermouth and omg dreams do come true 😝 #blend #splitcup #indecisive ♬ take my breath away – favsoundds
Olivia said the duo have been blown away by the response to the split drinks on social media and in person.
She added: “I think the cups are great to post on Instagram and I think a lot of people struggle to choose what they want because our menu is so big.
“So it is good to have the split cup because you can have an iced coffee and then have a refreshing drink right after.
“All everyone talks about is it being all over Instagram, I think people really enjoy posting the cups. But I think we’re all a bit shocked by the response on TikTok!”
The coffee shop has a large menu of drinks including refreshers, smoothies, milkshakes, matcha and dozens of flavoured hot and iced coffee options.
Olivia said the shop is also now able to can drinks for people who want to keep their drink sealed for a car journey or to enjoy later in the day.
The shop also sells cakes and biscuits made by Love at First Bite by Amber and has now started selling sandwiches for lunchtime meal deals.
Olivia said popular drink combinations include matcha and an iced latte, a refresher and iced coffee and a smoothie and an iced coffee.
She added: “Matcha, iced coffees and flat whites are our best sellers and our mini egg cookies are a bestseller too.
“But we’ve just got our canning machine as well, so you can have any iced drink in it and it cans it. They’re great for car journeys because they’re sealed.
“We’ve had people travel from Workington, Whitehaven and Keswick and people have said they love coming here for matcha on their lunch breaks because it’s the ‘best matcha ever’ and I was like wow!”
Blend is open to both the general public and salon clients and operates as a takeaway only coffee shop.
Both the coffee shop and beauty salon have only been open since December – but have both already proven a hit with customers.
Olivia added: “Chelsea has had her beauty business since 2018 but she moved the business into the premises we have now last year.
“There was so much space left in the building, that Chelsea and her partner, who is my brother Josh, came up with the idea for a takeaway coffee shop.
“I moved back here from Sheffield to work here and it’s just gone from there and it’s done really really well.
“At first we were really quiet because people didn’t understand what the crack was with the salon being next door. People thought you could only be a client to come in but we are open to the public.
“But now we’ve been posting on social media people understand us more and we’re having more people come in.
“Everyone has said Blend is so different to other coffee shops and that it’s nice and bougie!”
Blend is open all week from Monday to Sunday until from 8am until 5pm and is open for longer from 8am until 7pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays.
