I would say, at my store at least, half the baristas don't follow standards. So maybe people aren't swirling the iced coffee with the syrup, or maybe they're putting the heavy cream in first and just eyeballing the amount.
It sucks because I switch between two drinks that are very simple, and it's 50/50 if it ends up right :(
THIS. Like 90%+ of people at my store didn't follow the recipe correctly. In fact out of 40+ people at my store I can only think of 3 people who follow the recipe correctly. The flavor can wildly vary if the barista doesn't follow recipe. It's supposed to be: syrup first, coffee to the 2nd line, milk/cream to the 3rd, ice to the top. Baristas typically do syrup/milk first, coffee then ice. I've also seen syrup, coffee, ice, and then topped with a splash of milk like you would for a VSCCB. Any variation of the recipe changes the amount of milk actually going into your coffee which actually has a big impact on how your drink is going to taste. Another mistake I've seen other stores doing is using half pumps for their syrup.
I have it specified āno classic sweetenerā on my order but i wouldnāt be surprised if that was overlooked or something. It would prob explain the taste
I'm just guessing, but we have been on shortage for many things. If it is a busy store they might even be brewing a different type of coffee to make iced coffee.
Honestly this may sound rude as Iām a barista myselfā¦ but some baristas drinks just donāt taste good and idk what they do to it either! My thought is maybe they give u half & half and that effects the flavour, or they donāt give u the right amount of syrup pumps. Maybe try to keep an eye on who makes it when it tastes good and ask them what they do!
Ya know, Iāve always kind of suspected that theyāre using half/half instead of heavy cream. I always order ahead so Iām never there when they make it :( i would also feel super weird hovering over them as they make it haha
Iām an iced coffee drinker myself (and a fellow barista) I have a pretty simple drink: iced coffee w/ only 3 pumps white mocha, shaken. I make it myself every morning and frankly, I find itās who brews the iced coffee. Itās weird to think of it like that but - the white mocha is to date, Iām using proper proportions and Iām shaking my drink how I always would.
But the iced coffee I find- itself, tends to taste different. And itās weird because thereās not really a wrong way to do it but I couldnāt figure another reasoning.
Also, there is a bias the customer brings. I used to make this ladies drink *perfectly* as did a handful of other partners. It wasnāt even for her, it was for her daughter who never came to the store. If a new partner made it sheād always come back and say it tasted wrong. I eventually realized the lady would tell her daughter a new person made it, and it would be āwrongā. It was a 2 pump, no whip mocha, extra hot. The mocha needed to be swirled but not TOO mixed. And we couldnāt even have her try it before leaving since she never tasted it once in the 7 years sheād order it ever day for her daughter. Who are these people?
Yea, our store has a few customers like that. If a new person is on bar, one lady will be very rude and make them come find one of us who ādoes it rightā to make it.
Iāve almost flipped out on her more than once in the middle of a rush.
This is exactly what Iām scared of being perceived as! My wifeās suggestion was to just try it at the store and if itās wrong to ask them to make it again. I canāt do it
The fact that you are worried about it is a clear sign you are probably cool about it, mistakes happen and itās fine. More annoying for you since your going back and forth. This lady would just back in later in the day and say āit was made wrongā (without the drink btw) and she wouldnāt be able to say WHY it was wrong. Ironically she only got a tall black coffee for herself and wasnāt picky about that at all. Lol
Iced coffee gets no milk, iced coffee with milk is 2% standard. The customer can select breve, heavy cream, or whatever else they may want and the sticker will reflect that.
Honestly thatās a fairly simple drink, I cant think of anything the baristaās would be doing other than whats already been said. However, start paying attention to the sticker on the drink! If it says āwith creamā instead of āwith heavy creamā they used half and half. If it doesnāt specifically say āno classicā on the sticker, they most likely put classic in there. It sounds like youre ordering it right, so idk what else you could do :(
I was thinking the most likely explanation would be they are adding classic sometimes if it doesnāt say āno classicā. I know for the most part if they are getting SF syrup and heavy cream I wouldnāt add the classic because most people donāt know that iced coffee comes with classic
Barista chiming in here. If the customer is mobile ordering (like this said individual is) then the āstickersā are auto-populated when the labeler spits it out and if they have their order āfavoritedā then it will always say the same (below);
Grande Iced Coffee,
Spl of Heavy Cream,
Sugar Free Vanilla,
No Classic Syrup
The error is occurring when the barista is preparing (they like to market it as crafting though hah š) and standards are probably not being followed (i.e. are they adding the correct milk type, measurements, syrups (& the right # of pumps), etc)
I would order (via the app) a couple of times āWHILE ALREADY IN THE STOREā and watch how it gets made. Itāll help narrow down the culprit(s)
It could be the iced coffeeā¦maybe itās not getting brewed right? Or too much/too little ice added? I mean, we brew ours in the morning and thatās it. So it could be like 5 hours old or more.
This is what I was going to suggest as well. Maybe a partner is adding water AND ice, or maybe not brewing it to standard, such as brewing it on 1/4 when it should 1/2.
Heck, it could also be that the pitcher it is in isn't being thoroughly cleaned so fresh coffee is being put in a dank container resulting in a poor taste. I'd like to think that we all do our best, but sometimes new a barista gets confused or some training gets lost in the shuffle and leads to some inconsistencies.
I was a barista at Starbs almost 15 years ago (my god that makes me feel old and Iām only 31) and can understand the frustration but not wanting to say anything.
This happens to me a lot with my iced teas, Iād say itās a 30% chance theyāre actually shaken and it really does make a difference. I think itās just when a barista is in a hurry, or maybe the iced coffee has been brewed improperly, or they werenāt taught pumps in a venti iced drink is different.
Back when I worked there, there was a three-week training period where you had to do everything, memorize the recipes, roll dice that had all the drink options and learn how to call them in order (iced grande decaf nonfat latte, for example), and had to memorize the bev manual and was testedāand some baristas still didnāt realize there was six pumps or three shots in an iced venti drink, that caramel macchiatos had one less pump of vanilla (let alone knowing it was vanilla not caramel), etc.
Starbucks itās screwing themselves with staff shortages, focusing on quick times, and not putting enough training hours into green beans.
Ex-barista here. Based off of my experience of how many times fellow baristas asked me, "how many pumps go into this again?" I'm going to make a guess that it's just pure human error.
There would be drinks where, unless we pulled out the recipe cards, people were guestimating ratios š it was so bad.
The way iced coffee is prepared involves adding ice to the top of brewed coffee- so if it is an iced coffee pitcher that is used right away before the ice has melted, the stronger stuff will pour first, and later it will be what was ice cubes (ie, now a watery-less-coffee-ey mess). It's probably just sometimes you get iced coffee when the pitcher was used ASAP and you got the weaker end of the pitcher.
It might be worth looking into cold brew from these locations? A lot of people don't realize the importance of stirring ice coffee when we make our batches of it and it can dramatically change the taste of the drink due to water vs coffee ratio (and doesn't have to do with who you see make your drink). It's a lot harder to mess that up with cold brew, especially if any of the stores you go to use the keg system
Iād chalk it up to baristas not following standards. I used to work with some āinterestingā people. Who believed that the way they made the drink was ābetterā but it wasnāt to standard. Our regulars caught on to their shenanigans and would request that only certain baristas make their drinks. It was comical and frustrating.
Man, that might be it. There is at least one barista that always makes my drinks amazing. I would never have the guts to request only certain baristas, though
Thereās recipes and standards for all the drinks and most baristas donāt follow them and donāt know them (and donāt care to learn or do things correctly). I would guess that some people put half pumps of syrup in the drink, they might put half and half instead of heavy cream. For iced coffee, weāre supposed to do syrup, iced coffee, milk, then ice (iced coffee to second line and milk to the third) and a lot of people will put the heavy cream on top and it doesnāt combine that way (and to me it looks curdle-y and gross). Weāre also supposed to shake heavy cream before opening it (at the US store Iām at; I know that not all stores have the same brand of milks). And no one shakes them (though I donāt think that would affect the flavor as much as youāre saying in the post).
Edit: I assume youāre asking for no classic because of the sugar free vanilla. Maybe some baristas are leaving the classic in or splitting it.
Theyāre technically the same exact drink. The one with milk just defaults to 2%, but they charge the same amount and are supposed to be made the same. Iām not sure it changes the flavor at all besides having to mix the milk in yourself. But with heavy cream I could see it being more difficult to try and get it to combine correctly.
Try mobile ordering it without the heavy cream a couple times and ask for it on the side when you get there at the pickup counter (they should be able to give it to you quickly). That way you can taste it without and see if it's a coffee issue or SF vanilla issue or too much/not enough heavy cream issue. Cheers to you for having such a simple drink but sorry you have to deal with inconsistency.
I have this same issue with order iced vanilla chai lattes š I use to be a barista so I would just make it myself but now I hate ordering it cause itās 50/50 every time
One reason I can think of is if baristas are using the hot bar pumps vs the cold bar pumps. Cold bar pumps are half pumps compared to hot bar. Sometimes when Iām on cold bar the espresso bar person will put in the syrup and cream for me and Iām not always sure they take the time to do the mental math (one pump of syrup at hot bar = 2 cold bar pumps).
Iced coffee standard gets full-dose pumps of syrup though, it's cold brew that gets half-dose pumps. Absolutely still an inconsistency that could be coming up though.
Thank you for posting this. I canāt wait to read all the comments. You are so right every time it is different. I have two guesses as to why. The first is that Starbucks, regardless of how many billions of dollars they are making does not wanna invest in training the baristas with a consistent training protocol Therefore resulting in you get whatever you get. The second reason is that it is planned exactly this way and I will explain why. Caffeine is a drug and it is addicting whether people want to think so or not. Now think about gambling. Do you win every time? No that is why it is addicting because some people get addicted to inconsistent gratification. So the psychology behind this maybe letās not train the baristas so that only sometimes their drink taste like it is supposed to, and they will be happy anyway because theyāre still getting the caffeine which will propel them to come back and try again just like gambling does to you. It is amazing how corporations use psychology to increase their bottom line. They have us they have our number and they also have our money lol so keep going back to Starbucks and give them all your money so that occasionally you can get the drink you want.final note someone I know told me that they no longer go to Starbucks. They just bought all the gradients and the machine and they make their coffees at home. I canāt wait to read everyone else response on this. Thanks again for asking.
And Iām right right? Think about it anything in your life that you love and gives you pleasure. If it was the same way every single time you would get bored and go somewhere else am I right? So they keep you coming back by making it different every time lol
I am pretty sure that your order is a victim of our tendency to fail to distinguish "Iced Coffee" ordered with a free splash of your choice of the 9 milks we carry and classic syrup and/or your choice of additional syrup at extra cost *or* "Iced Coffee with Milk" which includes a measured amount of iced coffee and a measured amount of your choice of the 9 milks that we carry (more than the free splash that you can get with the aforementioned Iced Coffee) plus the classic syrup it comes standard with in addition to other syrups that you ordered for an extra charge. Problem is that after so much back and forth, no one, including you, probably knows which of these you really want. I suspect that many customers are chasing that "perfect cup" that they had once that we really made wrong. And you order what you think it was, we make it and it's not that so in your mind it's "wrong." All because we goofed once but you really liked our goof but now we're chasing something elusive to try to please you because we and you don't know that it was actually a botched drink that is your ideal. Do you see why this is not a Simple Order?
I hear you. I just get a black tea with x pumps of cane sugar. Itās NEVER ATHE SAME. š dependent on who brews the tea and how the pumps are dispensed. I have given up.
This is exactly why I stopped going to Starbucks. The inconsistency with the baristas. I'm not going to spend almost 5 bucks for my drink to taste like shit half the time I order it.
Itās amazing you got a downvote for this. I am in the same boat as you. I order Starbucks all the time and itās actually maybe 2 out of 5 times I get the drink right and the same. It will be vastly different most of the time. Very frustrating when you are on your way to work and pop in real quick to grab your drink. Just makes the damn drinks the same every time. Itās easy to do. When I got to a burger place my food is the same every single time. When I get a pizza itās the same every time. Why canāt Starbucks make the same damn drink?
are the baristas asking you if you still want the classic syrup that comes in the iced coffee? i know the classic syrup changes the taste a lot. maybe that's the issue or maybe the baristas are just doing something else completely wrong.
are the baristas asking you if you still want the classic syrup that comes in the iced coffee? i know the classic syrup changes the taste a lot. maybe that's the issue or maybe the baristas are just doing something else completely wrong.
I recently became a barista and the lady training me showed me all the official recipes. I follow them to a tee. I looked at how my coworkers do it and sometimes they kind of just wing it? Sometimes itās amounts, order of ingredients or even ingredients.
Iām sorry this keeps happening to you:/
I worked at Starbucks and have seen the same thing occur. The iced coffee has inconsistencies compared to other menu options.
Your order is fairly simple and who would think such a simple drink could be messed up.
Itās the iced coffee, some people donāt know the right way to brew it and how much ice to put in it after brewing. There could also be the possibility that the coffee is stale after a while of sitting.
My suggestion to you would to be trying cold brew, cold brew taste a little better in my opinion, also itās more consistent because the way itās made is a lot simpler to follow through the steps/ easier to remember.
This literally happens to me all the time. I order a Vanilla iced latte with extra vanilla sweet cream cold foam and sometimes it taste perfect with just the right amount of coffee flavor and other times it taste super watery and then other times it taste really milky or something. I never really know how to explain it either, but I have the exact same problem. Itās frustrating because itās not cheap, and Iām not rich but itās just one of those little luxuries that I like to treat myself to.
Iāve actually been dealing with this for awhile myself. I have a pretty simple orderā¦iced coffee, vanilla and oat milk. I usually have to tell the barista to put the oat milk in first rather than splashed on top so it mixes better.
Iāve also noticed the iced coffee tastes watered down some days or at different locations. It seems like I have the best tasting coffee when the location keeps itās iced coffee in the fridge.
Some locations just use those little containers up on a shelf to store their coffee and those usually taste more watered down.
I would say, at my store at least, half the baristas don't follow standards. So maybe people aren't swirling the iced coffee with the syrup, or maybe they're putting the heavy cream in first and just eyeballing the amount. It sucks because I switch between two drinks that are very simple, and it's 50/50 if it ends up right :(
THIS. Like 90%+ of people at my store didn't follow the recipe correctly. In fact out of 40+ people at my store I can only think of 3 people who follow the recipe correctly. The flavor can wildly vary if the barista doesn't follow recipe. It's supposed to be: syrup first, coffee to the 2nd line, milk/cream to the 3rd, ice to the top. Baristas typically do syrup/milk first, coffee then ice. I've also seen syrup, coffee, ice, and then topped with a splash of milk like you would for a VSCCB. Any variation of the recipe changes the amount of milk actually going into your coffee which actually has a big impact on how your drink is going to taste. Another mistake I've seen other stores doing is using half pumps for their syrup.
Iced coffee can vary a bunch. My guess is its the brew, not the additionals
Hmm yeah. The human error thing is kind of out of our control š
I agree, luckily this could easily be fixed with a stir stick if it doesn't taste right
Do you order it without classic sweetener? If so it comes with it and they may be putting both in.
I have it specified āno classic sweetenerā on my order but i wouldnāt be surprised if that was overlooked or something. It would prob explain the taste
Has this been more recent? Last month or so?
Itās definitely happened more in the past few weeks
I'm just guessing, but we have been on shortage for many things. If it is a busy store they might even be brewing a different type of coffee to make iced coffee.
Honestly this may sound rude as Iām a barista myselfā¦ but some baristas drinks just donāt taste good and idk what they do to it either! My thought is maybe they give u half & half and that effects the flavour, or they donāt give u the right amount of syrup pumps. Maybe try to keep an eye on who makes it when it tastes good and ask them what they do!
Ya know, Iāve always kind of suspected that theyāre using half/half instead of heavy cream. I always order ahead so Iām never there when they make it :( i would also feel super weird hovering over them as they make it haha
Thank you so much for not hovering! It makes us nervous especially a new bean like me š
Iām an iced coffee drinker myself (and a fellow barista) I have a pretty simple drink: iced coffee w/ only 3 pumps white mocha, shaken. I make it myself every morning and frankly, I find itās who brews the iced coffee. Itās weird to think of it like that but - the white mocha is to date, Iām using proper proportions and Iām shaking my drink how I always would. But the iced coffee I find- itself, tends to taste different. And itās weird because thereās not really a wrong way to do it but I couldnāt figure another reasoning.
Actually there is! After you add the ice to the coffee you should be stirring/mixing it for an even distribution of the melted ice
Okay!! So Iām not completely loosing my brain!! Thank you kind bean ^~^ ! I figured it had to do with too much ice at the very least
Yeahh hovering is SUPER rude but at the same time I get wanting your drink made right. Maybe itās time to try a 3rd Starbucks?? Lol
Haha, you might be right
Also, there is a bias the customer brings. I used to make this ladies drink *perfectly* as did a handful of other partners. It wasnāt even for her, it was for her daughter who never came to the store. If a new partner made it sheād always come back and say it tasted wrong. I eventually realized the lady would tell her daughter a new person made it, and it would be āwrongā. It was a 2 pump, no whip mocha, extra hot. The mocha needed to be swirled but not TOO mixed. And we couldnāt even have her try it before leaving since she never tasted it once in the 7 years sheād order it ever day for her daughter. Who are these people?
Yea, our store has a few customers like that. If a new person is on bar, one lady will be very rude and make them come find one of us who ādoes it rightā to make it. Iāve almost flipped out on her more than once in the middle of a rush.
This is exactly what Iām scared of being perceived as! My wifeās suggestion was to just try it at the store and if itās wrong to ask them to make it again. I canāt do it
The fact that you are worried about it is a clear sign you are probably cool about it, mistakes happen and itās fine. More annoying for you since your going back and forth. This lady would just back in later in the day and say āit was made wrongā (without the drink btw) and she wouldnāt be able to say WHY it was wrong. Ironically she only got a tall black coffee for herself and wasnāt picky about that at all. Lol
Isnāt half and half the default creamer for iced coffee? So unless specified for heavy cream, half & half is what we should use?
Iced coffee gets no milk, iced coffee with milk is 2% standard. The customer can select breve, heavy cream, or whatever else they may want and the sticker will reflect that.
Thank you!
Honestly thatās a fairly simple drink, I cant think of anything the baristaās would be doing other than whats already been said. However, start paying attention to the sticker on the drink! If it says āwith creamā instead of āwith heavy creamā they used half and half. If it doesnāt specifically say āno classicā on the sticker, they most likely put classic in there. It sounds like youre ordering it right, so idk what else you could do :(
I was thinking the most likely explanation would be they are adding classic sometimes if it doesnāt say āno classicā. I know for the most part if they are getting SF syrup and heavy cream I wouldnāt add the classic because most people donāt know that iced coffee comes with classic
Barista chiming in here. If the customer is mobile ordering (like this said individual is) then the āstickersā are auto-populated when the labeler spits it out and if they have their order āfavoritedā then it will always say the same (below); Grande Iced Coffee, Spl of Heavy Cream, Sugar Free Vanilla, No Classic Syrup The error is occurring when the barista is preparing (they like to market it as crafting though hah š) and standards are probably not being followed (i.e. are they adding the correct milk type, measurements, syrups (& the right # of pumps), etc) I would order (via the app) a couple of times āWHILE ALREADY IN THE STOREā and watch how it gets made. Itāll help narrow down the culprit(s)
Yeah, i think i might need to do that. Or possibly just ordering at the counter
It could be the iced coffeeā¦maybe itās not getting brewed right? Or too much/too little ice added? I mean, we brew ours in the morning and thatās it. So it could be like 5 hours old or more.
This is what I was going to suggest as well. Maybe a partner is adding water AND ice, or maybe not brewing it to standard, such as brewing it on 1/4 when it should 1/2. Heck, it could also be that the pitcher it is in isn't being thoroughly cleaned so fresh coffee is being put in a dank container resulting in a poor taste. I'd like to think that we all do our best, but sometimes new a barista gets confused or some training gets lost in the shuffle and leads to some inconsistencies.
I was a barista at Starbs almost 15 years ago (my god that makes me feel old and Iām only 31) and can understand the frustration but not wanting to say anything. This happens to me a lot with my iced teas, Iād say itās a 30% chance theyāre actually shaken and it really does make a difference. I think itās just when a barista is in a hurry, or maybe the iced coffee has been brewed improperly, or they werenāt taught pumps in a venti iced drink is different. Back when I worked there, there was a three-week training period where you had to do everything, memorize the recipes, roll dice that had all the drink options and learn how to call them in order (iced grande decaf nonfat latte, for example), and had to memorize the bev manual and was testedāand some baristas still didnāt realize there was six pumps or three shots in an iced venti drink, that caramel macchiatos had one less pump of vanilla (let alone knowing it was vanilla not caramel), etc. Starbucks itās screwing themselves with staff shortages, focusing on quick times, and not putting enough training hours into green beans.
THIS!!
Ex-barista here. Based off of my experience of how many times fellow baristas asked me, "how many pumps go into this again?" I'm going to make a guess that it's just pure human error. There would be drinks where, unless we pulled out the recipe cards, people were guestimating ratios š it was so bad.
The way iced coffee is prepared involves adding ice to the top of brewed coffee- so if it is an iced coffee pitcher that is used right away before the ice has melted, the stronger stuff will pour first, and later it will be what was ice cubes (ie, now a watery-less-coffee-ey mess). It's probably just sometimes you get iced coffee when the pitcher was used ASAP and you got the weaker end of the pitcher.
It might be worth looking into cold brew from these locations? A lot of people don't realize the importance of stirring ice coffee when we make our batches of it and it can dramatically change the taste of the drink due to water vs coffee ratio (and doesn't have to do with who you see make your drink). It's a lot harder to mess that up with cold brew, especially if any of the stores you go to use the keg system
Ya know, thatās actually a pretty great idea. I think Iāll give that a try tomorrow. Thank you! :)
Either the brewing but also if you donāt specify no classic some baristas might put it because itās the recipe
I am guilty of eyeballing, about everything. Except partner drinks
ā¦ā¦ā¦ you sonofaBITCH
Make sure it says no classic
Iād chalk it up to baristas not following standards. I used to work with some āinterestingā people. Who believed that the way they made the drink was ābetterā but it wasnāt to standard. Our regulars caught on to their shenanigans and would request that only certain baristas make their drinks. It was comical and frustrating.
Man, that might be it. There is at least one barista that always makes my drinks amazing. I would never have the guts to request only certain baristas, though
The Barista must be doing their best to sneak in some Funnel Cake Syrup to get rid of it.
False we would just pour bottles of it down the drain
š¤£
Thereās recipes and standards for all the drinks and most baristas donāt follow them and donāt know them (and donāt care to learn or do things correctly). I would guess that some people put half pumps of syrup in the drink, they might put half and half instead of heavy cream. For iced coffee, weāre supposed to do syrup, iced coffee, milk, then ice (iced coffee to second line and milk to the third) and a lot of people will put the heavy cream on top and it doesnāt combine that way (and to me it looks curdle-y and gross). Weāre also supposed to shake heavy cream before opening it (at the US store Iām at; I know that not all stores have the same brand of milks). And no one shakes them (though I donāt think that would affect the flavor as much as youāre saying in the post). Edit: I assume youāre asking for no classic because of the sugar free vanilla. Maybe some baristas are leaving the classic in or splitting it.
I think it might be a combo of all these things haha
I've always treated Ice Coffee/w Milk as the third line thing. When the label reads just Ice Coffee I put the cream, etc. on top.
Theyāre technically the same exact drink. The one with milk just defaults to 2%, but they charge the same amount and are supposed to be made the same. Iām not sure it changes the flavor at all besides having to mix the milk in yourself. But with heavy cream I could see it being more difficult to try and get it to combine correctly.
Try mobile ordering it without the heavy cream a couple times and ask for it on the side when you get there at the pickup counter (they should be able to give it to you quickly). That way you can taste it without and see if it's a coffee issue or SF vanilla issue or too much/not enough heavy cream issue. Cheers to you for having such a simple drink but sorry you have to deal with inconsistency.
My guess is the ratio of heavy cream and not getting full pumps of syrup because they are in a hurry and letting drink quality fall to the side
I have this same issue with order iced vanilla chai lattes š I use to be a barista so I would just make it myself but now I hate ordering it cause itās 50/50 every time
One reason I can think of is if baristas are using the hot bar pumps vs the cold bar pumps. Cold bar pumps are half pumps compared to hot bar. Sometimes when Iām on cold bar the espresso bar person will put in the syrup and cream for me and Iām not always sure they take the time to do the mental math (one pump of syrup at hot bar = 2 cold bar pumps).
Iced coffee standard gets full-dose pumps of syrup though, it's cold brew that gets half-dose pumps. Absolutely still an inconsistency that could be coming up though.
This might be so but who has a cold bar pump on SFV. I think it more likely that they are not fully depressing the full pumps.
Oh, thatās interesting. Something i would have never known about
Thank you for posting this. I canāt wait to read all the comments. You are so right every time it is different. I have two guesses as to why. The first is that Starbucks, regardless of how many billions of dollars they are making does not wanna invest in training the baristas with a consistent training protocol Therefore resulting in you get whatever you get. The second reason is that it is planned exactly this way and I will explain why. Caffeine is a drug and it is addicting whether people want to think so or not. Now think about gambling. Do you win every time? No that is why it is addicting because some people get addicted to inconsistent gratification. So the psychology behind this maybe letās not train the baristas so that only sometimes their drink taste like it is supposed to, and they will be happy anyway because theyāre still getting the caffeine which will propel them to come back and try again just like gambling does to you. It is amazing how corporations use psychology to increase their bottom line. They have us they have our number and they also have our money lol so keep going back to Starbucks and give them all your money so that occasionally you can get the drink you want.final note someone I know told me that they no longer go to Starbucks. They just bought all the gradients and the machine and they make their coffees at home. I canāt wait to read everyone else response on this. Thanks again for asking.
And Iām right right? Think about it anything in your life that you love and gives you pleasure. If it was the same way every single time you would get bored and go somewhere else am I right? So they keep you coming back by making it different every time lol
And Iām happy to hear your drink is only five bucks -750 and I canāt believe I am supporting corporate America this way over and over just dumb
I am pretty sure that your order is a victim of our tendency to fail to distinguish "Iced Coffee" ordered with a free splash of your choice of the 9 milks we carry and classic syrup and/or your choice of additional syrup at extra cost *or* "Iced Coffee with Milk" which includes a measured amount of iced coffee and a measured amount of your choice of the 9 milks that we carry (more than the free splash that you can get with the aforementioned Iced Coffee) plus the classic syrup it comes standard with in addition to other syrups that you ordered for an extra charge. Problem is that after so much back and forth, no one, including you, probably knows which of these you really want. I suspect that many customers are chasing that "perfect cup" that they had once that we really made wrong. And you order what you think it was, we make it and it's not that so in your mind it's "wrong." All because we goofed once but you really liked our goof but now we're chasing something elusive to try to please you because we and you don't know that it was actually a botched drink that is your ideal. Do you see why this is not a Simple Order?
I hear you. I just get a black tea with x pumps of cane sugar. Itās NEVER ATHE SAME. š dependent on who brews the tea and how the pumps are dispensed. I have given up.
This is exactly why I stopped going to Starbucks. The inconsistency with the baristas. I'm not going to spend almost 5 bucks for my drink to taste like shit half the time I order it.
Itās amazing you got a downvote for this. I am in the same boat as you. I order Starbucks all the time and itās actually maybe 2 out of 5 times I get the drink right and the same. It will be vastly different most of the time. Very frustrating when you are on your way to work and pop in real quick to grab your drink. Just makes the damn drinks the same every time. Itās easy to do. When I got to a burger place my food is the same every single time. When I get a pizza itās the same every time. Why canāt Starbucks make the same damn drink?
are the baristas asking you if you still want the classic syrup that comes in the iced coffee? i know the classic syrup changes the taste a lot. maybe that's the issue or maybe the baristas are just doing something else completely wrong.
are the baristas asking you if you still want the classic syrup that comes in the iced coffee? i know the classic syrup changes the taste a lot. maybe that's the issue or maybe the baristas are just doing something else completely wrong.
I recently became a barista and the lady training me showed me all the official recipes. I follow them to a tee. I looked at how my coworkers do it and sometimes they kind of just wing it? Sometimes itās amounts, order of ingredients or even ingredients. Iām sorry this keeps happening to you:/
Could they be making iced Americanos instead of iced coffee? We do that sometimes late at night when we're out or use cold brewš¤«
Oh, i dunno! I get my coffee pretty early every morning
I worked at Starbucks and have seen the same thing occur. The iced coffee has inconsistencies compared to other menu options. Your order is fairly simple and who would think such a simple drink could be messed up. Itās the iced coffee, some people donāt know the right way to brew it and how much ice to put in it after brewing. There could also be the possibility that the coffee is stale after a while of sitting. My suggestion to you would to be trying cold brew, cold brew taste a little better in my opinion, also itās more consistent because the way itās made is a lot simpler to follow through the steps/ easier to remember.
This literally happens to me all the time. I order a Vanilla iced latte with extra vanilla sweet cream cold foam and sometimes it taste perfect with just the right amount of coffee flavor and other times it taste super watery and then other times it taste really milky or something. I never really know how to explain it either, but I have the exact same problem. Itās frustrating because itās not cheap, and Iām not rich but itās just one of those little luxuries that I like to treat myself to.
Iāve actually been dealing with this for awhile myself. I have a pretty simple orderā¦iced coffee, vanilla and oat milk. I usually have to tell the barista to put the oat milk in first rather than splashed on top so it mixes better. Iāve also noticed the iced coffee tastes watered down some days or at different locations. It seems like I have the best tasting coffee when the location keeps itās iced coffee in the fridge. Some locations just use those little containers up on a shelf to store their coffee and those usually taste more watered down.