creative coffee wishes
‘Disgusting orders’: Starbucks baristas grumble about their customers’ special orders
The long list: Starbucks special orders from Edward and Muhammad
Starbucks is actually a system chain. But in the USA, customers always seem to be bothered by very unusual special requests, say the staff.
It’s not like Starbucks just had coffee. There are many differences in hot and cold. On the American menu, there are even colorful sensations like the “Strawberry Funnel Cake Crème Frappucino,” which has nothing to do with coffee anymore. However, for some Starbucks customers, the offer seems to be not yet fancy enough. Current and former coffee chain experts from the USA and Canada told Business Insider how creative customers are driven crazy with complex and individual orders. “There are no limits to how you can request changes and alterations,” said one Baltimore barista. A Los Angeles employee said, “Some of the orders I have are just gross.”
Baristas tell customers who want donuts, pops, and other foods mixed with their coffee. A former Beverly Hills employee said he had to make a white coffee with bananas and a café latte with six espressos and five drops of hazelnut syrup. “People think that the more they add, the fancier they become. But there is a point where the quality goes down,” he said. “I can’t imagine that these crazy creations taste so good.”
Ridiculous ingredient lists
Since all the included toppings must be listed on a label on the mug, some sort of competition has erupted on social media for the longest list of ingredients, as the New York Post recently reported. So the trigger is the special request from a customer named Edward, whose Starbucks employee was upset about 13 extra extras in a viral post. There are even Starbucks Twitter mugs that list twenty or more ingredients. Sometimes special orders are so extensive that not all of the ingredients fit the exact cup size. “I made a Frappuccino that literally has no room for milk,” the former Los Angeles barista told Business Insider. “Personalization is out of control.”
Some guests also come up with pictures from the internet and set the coffee maker to mimic it, according to one of the employees. Unfortunately, many of the images are digitally enhanced. “Then people were really upset that we couldn’t make the drinks that way.”
Baristas im stress
Staff stress factor: The more exotic the special request, the longer it takes to prepare. Starbucks is a chain of catering systems where speed is a top priority. Usually this is ensured by standardized processes and preparations – this is torpedoed by creative orders.
A Starbucks spokesperson told Business Insider that most individual drink preferences aren’t complicated. Three-quarters of a special order will contain up to three small variations on the standard brew. “We ask our baristas to offer customers a pleasant experience, no matter what the order looks like. We assume that it will take longer to prepare a very individual brew.”
Resources:Business Insider (German) / interested in trade / New York Post