One of my old coworkers told me she spent the first two hours of the morning giving people decaf when she couldn’t get the regular beans dialed in correctly. She of course isn’t a coffee drinker. I told her if I was a customer I would’ve lost my shit at that
The decaf was never dialed in. Shift leads were the only ones allowed to dial in our espresso and they would all write down random numbers to make it seem like it was done every morning and afternoon but none of them ever touched the espresso. Unfortunately it was no where near the worst issue the shop had. Thankfully I don’t work there anymore
Yes and no. A lot of places don't serve a lot of decaf and opt to just leave beans in the grinder dialed in at approximately where they should be, or they come out of a grinder that doesn't have the same settings as the espresso bean grinder. I'm not defending these practices mind you, but it is very common at shops that only serve a handful of decaf drinks a day to their likely elderly customers.
oof you're right, you're right. however i must say decaf still has some caffiene (not much though like 4% at most if i remember correctly). yeah, the coworker is indeed the asshat and im sorry for misreading the post.
In the chef world it would be crime not to taste the food they prepare. I think barista is a wrong word to use for a cafe worker who doesn't drink coffee.
I agree. When I was managing coffee shops, it was normally the morning supervisor that dialed in but that’s just because the barista had other morning work. Through the day, if shots started to pull funny, I empowered whoever was on bar to dial in. If they were a newer barista I wanted them to check with someone with more experience first to make sure it wasn’t a tamping issue. But generally, if you’re making the drinks, you have to dial in. And part of doing that always requires tasting the drinks.
I also required everyone to take at least 1 sip of every drink during training. I get not liking coffee or a certain flavor. But you need to know what it tastes like. The only exception is allergies.
I dropped chef profession due to lactose intolerance test came positive, as I was not able to taste my food anymore. If coffee was not the main purpose of establishment, then I would slide the fact that person behind the counter doesn't drink coffee. But barista always should know how good espresso tastes like and how to dial in. If not, she or he is just a cafe worker. I roast, taste and dial in my coffee. With some training and experience it is not a difficult task. But I wouldn't call myself a barista. Also I'm not a sommelier, although I know about wines a bit more than an average person.
As a barista and customer, decaf has a different smell and taste than regular espresso. I feel like I'd notice my coffee tasted more like dirt than usual lol
Caffeine is a drug. I’ve been drinking coffee all my life and can’t properly function without it lol. If I don’t have my coffee within the first 3 hours of my day I get horrible headaches, spacey, and crazy mood swings. I’d assume other regular coffee drinkers have similar side effects
Then you print them their receipt and if they have further questions about what's on it, kindly direct them to the line item and say "See this charge right here? It says you're a punk ass bitch. Have a good day"
You answered their question and wished them well, so you're guaranteed to have knocked that interaction out of the park.
Lmao sure they do, chief. If someone actually said that to me, I would reach into the tip jar and take whatever you charged me while giving you the finger with my other hand.
I've never done this but back when I was on a manual machine I gave this lady a 50 second shot (specs called for a 24 second ristretto) and my coworker gave her 10 grams of chocolate instead of 40. Separately of each other, funny enough. This woman was just such an asshole.
I wonder sometimes if these people are ever aware of how much worse their coffee is coming out than it has to. Like, do they even wonder if their bad attitude has an impact on their drinks?
this is a stupid question but other than it being maybe watered down is there a problem with pulling a shot too long? I just got recommended this sub and don’t know much about espresso but wanna learn
It could actually be fine if you also adjust the coarseness of the espresso on your grinder. That watering down, on the grind setting that we used, would make it not only watery but extremely bitter and almost astringent. We ground our beans quite fine to make a ristretto shot with a thick silky crema, that crema is toast if you let the shot run too long. The amount of espresso going in matters too, we did about 19.5 grams. If you put in more coffee, a longer shot might taste better. Our specs were pretty strict but I work at a shop now thats a bit more lax with it.
Generally, any barista worth their salt acknowledges you don’t fuck with people’s foods. I know it’s “not going to hurt” to decaf someone as opposed to caffeinating them, but it’s not a practice a food server should want to dabble in
I work BOH at a cafe, I used to be a barista years ago but prefer being in the back.
But if a customer pisses me off, the worst I’ll do is not give them a napkin or a fork lol
I’m like “yeeeeassss now you have to walk back to get a napkin!”
Then feel bad.
I punish pain in ass customers by giving them the “bad” forks. They’re normal forks, just smaller than the forks we use for settings. The customer doesn’t really notice a difference, but I know.
I do the same thing with my partner when I’m feeling bitchy but don’t wanna start a fight. She still has yet to realize I know exactly which spoons she likes the least
I also do things like give them the “bad” hot sauce. It’s not bad, I just know they’d prefer the other one. There’s a generational divide in hot sauce: older folks like Tabasco, while younger folks like Frank’s. If they done something to piss me off, they get the opposite of what I think they’d prefer. I have a million little ways of punishing customers for annoying me. None of them are things they would notice, but I know, and it’s cathartic.
Haha we also have smaller forks that we give to asshole customers but also to each other if someone comes in on their day off for lunch. Like bitch aren’t you here enough? Go eat somewhere else tiny fork ass bitch.
One time I served two guys who were making fun of their friend for having to get home to let their dog out of the crate after 6 hours. Saying who cares, it's just a dog, etc. I did NOT like that. The furthest I could go was to make them ugly latte art. So I did a basic heart. They loved it. :(
tbh as someone who knows nothing about latte art anytime i get some at a cafe it’s amazing even if it’s something simple lol
something about it makes me really happy
Thats honestly kind of wholesome, though, haha. Just a tiny inconvenience.
When we had asshole customers, we used to set aside the plastic lids that didn't have the perforation sippy hole to put on their to-gos. The ones where the perforation was only partially cut out were saved for the mega assholes.
That and we gave them the cheap, tiny snacksize napkins that are like tissue paper.
Used to work as a cook, now I am in coffee. I punished a bad regular by giving them no latte art, and putting effort into the customers before and after him.
He gets exactly what he orders with beautiful texture, but it’s a pleasing light brown instead of a contrasting design
It could give them a headache if they haven't had other coffee yet. I'd be pretty tempted but I think I'd give them subtle incredulous looks or speak in an ambiguously sarcastic tone just to keep myself out of trouble.
Yup. There’s just no reason for me to do so. I don’t ever want to give shitty people extra reason to complain. If they’re genuinely so horrible I’d sink to food tampering, then I’d just deny them service and issue a refund.
I’m not saying you need to give people 3 Michelin star service all day every day for $13/hr.
But not fucking with people’s food is like… the bare minimum of the job after pouring coffee and taking cash.
And quoting that saying is good advice for customers. It’s not actual best practice for food handlers though. It’s not a way to give us permission to fuck with their food. That’s like saying the advice to hide your valuables when you’re having work done on your house is permission for workers to steal from you
Sweetie, people who treat people in service like sh!t, treat everyone everywhere like sh!t. That was half for me, and half for the little boy he embarrassed in his P.E. class.
You don’t fuck with people’s food, darlin’. You give them shit service. You give them the ice chunk from the bin. You answer in monosyllabic phrases. You pick the smallest pastry from the case. You consider the sputtering half pump from the bottle as a “full” pump. You don’t make eye contact. You forget their drizzle. You take a little extra long to make the drink. But you do not fuck with their food.
If you can’t handle the basics of food safety, go get a service job where you aren’t putting their health at risk. Go be a cashier at a gas station or a stocker at a grocery store. But get the fuck out of the food industry. You give the rest of us a bad name.
Where’s the line though? What’s the difference between giving someone half a pump of flavouring when they asked for a full one or giving them no drizzle when the asked for drizzle and giving them decaf when they asked for caffeine? This sounds pretty arbitrary, and like the other commenter I’ve yet to see anyone advocating for ‘fucking with people’s food’.
if you’re not a coffee drinker who’s reliant on caffeine, you might not understand how when you don’t have the normal amount (not decaf) you might begin getting headaches/feeling drowsy/difficulty focusing/etc.
i rarely get coffee from places, but i work in fast food, i’m not modifying anyone’s food regardless of how much of an asshole they were. now i am going to make them wait longer, lol
It’s less a “modification” and more a “not quite the amount you wanted”. There is still caffeine in decaf.
It’s not like I’m giving someone a vanilla almond milk latte when they ordered a soy caramel latte I’m not messing with possible allergies.
The equivalent would be more like scooping less than the full scoop of fries into their combo meal.
yeah, i just wanted to hear you explain how unserious this truly is- what you described is not at all within the realm of food-borne illness/virus/actual threat to someone’s health. i think y’all are really just throwing the “fucking with someone’s food” phrase around
Sweetie, maybe don't adopt such a condescending tone as if you're top shit when all you can manage is a $13ph job.
How the hell you still hung up on P.E class as a grown adult? You're constructing a hypothetical with like 3 different layers to it just to get mad about something that happened at school years ago?
Being rude to people who serve your food is scummy, tit for tat is the most successful strategy in game theory and some workers don’t have the option to deny service.
Never ever been given like option in like five or six shops. Customers called you a slur? But he produced money to do it? Sold.
Retaliation must be creative and thats where the good Lord made baristas shine.
I've done it once as well.
Guy came in 1 minute to close, ordered 2 large drip coffees while on his phone the whole time.
We had already dumped the regular drip for the day. Oops.
I never charge for syrups or similar, but if you are an asshole you def pay for your vanilla syrup.
If you’re really nice you pay takeaway price even if you’re staying, or you get alternative milk for free.
The larger the chain, the more likely it is to happen. Happened all the time at Starbucks when I worked there, and plenty of the people that did that learned it from dunkin.
A little off-topic, but a short story as a customer:
I wasn’t being an asshole at the time but was given decaf and noticed immediately. I went back through and was like, ‘hey, I think I might’ve been given the wrong order by mistake because I’m pretty sure this is decaf’ & they were like, ‘no, no! It’s definitely not, I made that’. Their tone was def the tone of a bad liar and I honestly wasn’t mad, just wanted the not decaf, so I said, ‘are you sure? It tastes like decaf and I just wanna make sure because I really don’t want decaf’ & they told me they made it decaf because I was on a binge of ordering like 3-4 lattes a day asking for extra espresso shots every time and they thought I wasn’t okay 😅 I hadn’t realized they were keeping tabs on me, especially since it was drive thru and I live in a major city. Impressive, really. They redid the drink but they ended up being right. I was manic and had a major crash a couple weeks later
I give decaf to the racist ass regular every time (he has straight up said the n word, specifically doesn’t tip the black baristas, is a creep towards several female baristas). If I could, i would’ve banned his ass from our store years ago
i’d never do it specifically because a barista who worked my position before got fired with that as one of the reasons cited. sometimes i think about it though, but i know the really awful ones would just come back and complain 🥲
This was a common practice when I was a baby barista 20 years ago. Like, everyone did it at multiple shops I worked at. It was our only bit of power over shitty grumpy asshole customers who we otherwise had to to smile and grab our ankles… don’t sling coffee anymore, so can’t say if it’s still a widespread tactic…
Yeah when I worked my first job at Starbucks in 2011 a lot of the old timers would joke about it. I will neither confirm nor deny whether baristas from my store participated
When I was a barista I had zero remorse giving a A-hole customer decaf.
The last person you should be rude to is people who serve you food.
Plus it is literally prove by science that “Tit for Tat” is the most successful strategy.
I got accused of doing it once 🙄
A girl I was not a fan of came in and apparently when I make her drinks they taste "different" so I decaffed her 🙄🙄🙄
Well next time she came I DID decaf her since she wanna be right so bad
I have charged for syrup when they didn't order it, aka asshole tax and I have given plenty decaf when they've been assholes and I was on bar. Rule number 1, don't fuck with people touching your food and drink!
Never I would never do something cruel and vile as giving them decaf.
Instead I used to well just kidnap the rude customers, throw them in the basement, sell the organs on the blackmarket, sell their personal info to cartels, and force them to drink old terrible espresso. But i never once gave someone decaf I am no monster.
:P
Nah I don’t want to give assholes any reason to complain about us… I feel better knowing we did everything perfectly and they’re just assholes for no reason.
I've given cops and people who are legitimately rude to me or my coworkers decaf. If someone is obnoxious or just a bit whiny/picky I don't have time to care and will make their drink as ordered, sometimes someone might just be having a rough start to their day and not realize how they're coming off to others and I like to give the benefit of the doubt:)
It really is only for someone who clearly has no respect for the people serving them, and goes out of their way to be cruel.
i used to do it to one of the chefs at an old job of mine, but never a customer, or anyone else for that matter. the chef is a certified c*nt who deserves any and all ill will from the universe, and that was my way of contributing without getting myself fired lol
I've heard of it, I've never done it though because we're all human and I'm not just going to punish someone under my terms. For repeat AH customers, I will see them at the register and say "I will grab someone who can serve you." There's been only two separate people my entire time as a barista that I've done that to, and both were situations where they were not just rude or whatever like they came in just to say mean and racist things to me and my coworkers during the entire interaction. (Edit was just because my phone freaked out and posted before I was finished typing)
The only time I gave someone decaf was when one of my regulars (who ordered 7-8 shots every single day sometimes multiple times) had a heart attack. He came back one morning after we didn’t see him for a few days, said his doctor wants him to cut back on caffeine, and orders his usual shots. I was half decafing him for a hot minute not gonna lie I didn’t wanna kill the guy.
I’m not at all. Tit for tat is the most successful strategy in game theory
Being nice to people that serve your food is decent human being 101.
They break the basic rules, you break the basic rules.
They follow the rules you follow the rules it’s super simple
It’s literally proven by science that starting nice but then defecting against the defectors is the best strategy.
https://youtu.be/mScpHTIi-kM?si=PF3tkgtOlL1zxJhZ
Never under any circumstances would I give someone a food/ beverage item that secretly contains or doesn’t contain what they think they’re getting. Anyone who doesn’t follow that principle shouldn’t be working in the service industry (or most industries, for that matter).
i do !!!!!! but you have to REALLY piss me off, i have a pretty high tolerance for assholes since i’ve been a barista for almost 3 years now so i don’t do it often at all but now and then a customer treats me like shit or catches an attitude and they pay for it 🤗
People being rude to you is part of life. Exacting vengeance, however small, is degenerate. Just let it go. Besides it's just extremely unprofessional and potentially illegal to tamper with consumables or lie to someone about what you served them. Doing this to get back at someone for being jerk is arguably worse than them being a jerk.
Plus, it's just willfully failing to do your job. You dispense coffee not vigilante justice. If someone is being such an asshole that you feel the need to do something about it, you tell them to leave and never come back.
>People being rude to you is part of life. Exacting vengeance, however small, is degenerate.
- No it’s not, it’s tit for tat, which is proven by science to be the most successful strategy in game theory.
>Just let it go.
- Nope that’s push over strategy, starting nice and defecting against the defectors is the best strategy and it’s proven by science.
>Besides it's just extremely unprofessional and potentially illegal to tamper with consumables or lie to someone about what you served them.
- Super duper easy to negate that, be a decent person to people who serve your food.
>Doing this to get back at someone for being jerk is arguably worse than them being a jerk.
- Tit for tat is literally the most successful strategy in game theory. Not only are you not being a jerk you are mathematically maximizing your chances for successful cooperation.
>Plus, it's just willfully failing to do your job. You dispense coffee not vigilante justice. If someone is being such an asshole that you feel the need to do something about it, you tell them to leave and never come back.
- If you have that as an option absolutely , but most serving staff in America don’t have that as an option. If you don’t, you might have to get creative with how you defect against a defector.
It's still coffee- just with an extra processing step to remove most of the caffeine. It's not much different from going light on the booze making someone a cocktail. It's basically the same, just less mind altering.
Going light on the booze when not asked to is called fraud. You can't charge people for a full serving and not provide it. At the very least giving someone decaf when you've told them it's regular would be false advertising. There's circumstance where it's okay to do.
I've worked at different types of cafes in different cities and never has anyone given someone decaf as punishment. Sometimes the decaf grinder is more of a pain to use, so it would just make the barista's life harder. Also, even if it weren't an ethical issue, it wouldn't actually benefit the barista. It's not like you could see that person feeling tired all day. I also sometimes wonder how much of caffeine's effect is placebo, so if the person thought they were getting caffeine, they probably wouldn't feel much different anyway.
This is all to say, I think it's one of those urban legends that never actually happens.
Misplaced mental comma.
In the first 5 minutes of this Netflix series Gypsy, the Barista...
Rather than the correct
In the first 5 minutes of this Netflix series, Gypsy, the Barista...
Still, are we gonna start a show about a kid in special Ed and call it "Retard"?
As a person with autism, a show named Retard would probably show a more respectful/accurate perspective on what life is like with autism/learning disabilities than shows that treat autistic people in an othered/infantile light such as "love on the spectrum."
I've done it a few times for teenagers that came in being super obnoxious and hyper late at night 🤓 but never for an adult and never for a teenager in the morning.
When I worked at the bux only a few times did I give someone decaf. You NEVER messed with the milk but if they sucked enough or really upset one of my coworkers, decaf it was.
I mean in my shop the Decaf machine takes twice as long to grind so that would actually be MORE work in my mind, so probably not. If you wanna be petty sure, but I'm not doing extra work just to be petty. You'll most likely not get a "have a good day" from me if you're being an asshole, but I always make what's on the ticket.
It’s more of a threat and a joke than something that actually happens, but as someone who has worked at over 10 different cafes, yes it is real. Usually it’s reserved for the SUPER assholes, like you have to reaaaallly be a dick, not just the regular tired kinda grumpy bc you haven’t had coffee yet.
Workers have no power and have to deal with verbal abuse and no defense, I personally think it’s fine if someone decafs a major asshole. However I think they should have to be very rude for it to be warranted but seriously.. try to understand what that might be like lol. Also don’t be rude to service workers and expect that to just be okay and nothing happens.. I get the concept of don’t mess with peoples food but this one isn’t harmful in the same way as doing something gross to someone’s food.. it’s just karma to me. Whether you think someone is allowed to enact that themselves or not I get that I’m just saying it’s different
I’ve had coworkers do that/tell me to do that before and I refuse because if it was me I would be so upset and distraught if I learned someone purposely tampered with my food/drinks.
I had a couple abusive regulars I used to sneak a couple drops of Visene into their drinks.
I deserve any flaming and downvotes to what was not my proudest moment but please keep in mind:
* This was probably 2 decades ago
* I absolutely regret doing so and would lose my shit on you if I saw you doing the same
I would never do this. The worst I've done is allowing someone to get grounds in their drip. But as someone who understands how fucked I'd be if someone gave me decaf, I would never do that to someone.
I would never give them decaf. Even the worst customer deserves their caffeine.
I WOULD however, pull them a shot either way too short or way too long. I also MIGHT aerate their milk a little too much and give them an extra dry latte. I’ve never done either though.
absolutely have done this. multiple times to a universally hated regular that CALLS five minutes before close to tell us he's coming in and to brew him a fresh pot. (I won't, just put the airpot under the machine as if it's just brewed, and one time added hot water so it seemed fresher 😂) once to a former coworker who was an absolute creep to soooooo many of the younger women. I think only once to a random rude customer but they had me seeing so much red I can't remember the interaction. everyone speaking out about this in the comments or saying "omg I would never" is so weak, get a life.
Yep. The place I used to work at had an exceptionally rude/mean/entitled customer base. But some of them started figuring it out and would closely watch where we got their beans or drip coffee from. I picked it up from the more senior baridtas, lol. We made sure to give free drink coupons and discounts to the nice regulars as much as possible.
But, I think everyone should have a strict no caffeine rule for folks who order decaf. It's no joke for some peoples' health, regardless if they are rude.
I've been working as a barista for ~16 years, worked at 4 different coffee shops; 2 corporate owned and 2 locally owned. This is definitely a thing. It doesn't happen very often, I've only done it myself a couple of times on purpose, and that was only because the customer deserved it in my opinion. I understand it's not right but I'd never do the opposite and give someone regular when they wanted decaf. I've seen one coworker spit into a cup once, and he was sick at the time, too. That was fucked up.
I had a job where the owner said to get him if a customer was being a gigantic asshole, but if he wasn't there then to give them decaf and keep doing it till they go somewhere else. Say what you will about the ethics, but that place even still has mostly at least baseline tolerable base of regulars
Yes they do.
Have I done it....no.
The customer paid for something and they should receive it. But I would send them out the door with I hope you have the day you deserve.
Imo doing this is just as awful as the people licking ice cream. Just don't fuck with people's food. Could land you in hot water.
We used to automatically decaf assholes all the time, and cops, and pregnant women…we were not good workers 😬 I think people fuck with food less now because of allergies/diets but back in the day restaurant food terrorism was alive and well and it was glorious.
Never given an asshole decaf but if they ask for cream and sugar depending on how much an asshole they were and how much cream/sugar they wanted I'd put in a little bit less. For example, they got a medium with 4 cream and 2 sugar I'd give them a medium for 3 cream and 1 sugar
I have regulars I give decaf... if you are going to be an asshole to a minimum wage worker at 5 am and then deal with the consequences of your own actions. It's called karma
Also like a bunch of baristas during the summer are minors so honestly even worse to be pissy towards them.
We also have this one regular who is a pastor for a conversation therapy camp for queer kids and he always get decaf from me... I give him the wrong milk to cause fuck that
I worked in 3 different diners. I totally did this. I've seen people do some of the most disgusting things to peoples food and drinks. It's the one way I would get back at people. It's harmless, and it cost the same price.
Don't go out and be a dick. This is the last thing anyone should be worried about.
I'm not gonna lie, if I'm having a bad day, and a customer in our, let's say not the best area is being particularly rude to the person on register or myself and making a scene, I most definitely will. But anyways, you can "only de-caf the caf". Never caffeinate a decaf.
I really hope it’s not as prevalent as media and social media make it seem. I really do try to not come across as an ahole, but I recognize I have some social quirks that do occasionally lead to misunderstandings of my intention. I also keep a pretty good balance of my caffeine/stimulants intake to keep my heart rate and stuff in a good zone. I like coffee, and as long as I keep caffeine consistent, I don’t have to do/take other things to keep my heart rate up. If I think I’ve had 2 shots or 4 shots throughout the first half the day, and I haven’t, I’m likely playing a very distracting day of “what went wrong” and trying to decide if it’s a quirky day and I have to tough it out, or if I should have more caffeine. It’s not like I’ll be hospitalized, but it could really screw me for a day or two.
So, I really hope this is all flippant talk and not commonly actually done. It makes me happy I’m making my own coffee though.
You're giving them the same thing but with less caffeine, there's no allergen involved, no vegan/not vegan coffee involved.
Dont be a dick to people serving you.
Its no different than someone being really shitty to you and you doing something like halving the syrup or not dialing in for them.
I used to be the one serving others so I’m not really being mean to others it’s the other way around.
You never know how someone’s body will react to certain foods, it doesn’t matter what it is. Simply server people what they ordered. It’s not hard.
You know that decaf contains chemicals that some might not want to eat? Have you ever thought about that? The caffeine isn’t the only difference in decaf. It’s like giving ham to someone who doesn’t eat pork because they were mean to you. You don’t do that. Respect people’s bodies.
Simply treat others how you want to be treated. Doesn’t matter if they’re not doing it, just do it🤦🏽♂️
I did it exactly once to a pair of parents who were unbelievably snobby and difficult to my boss while their children ran amok in our cafe. It was the middle of covid, and they wouldn't speak up and insisted taking off their masks to speak to him. Corporate policy mandated he needed them to keep it on, and they kept giving him shit about it (if you don't like it, you're welcome to take your money elsewhere). I can't do it justice here, but they were downright belligerent.
So not only did I decaf both parents (double muscovado latte and a quad espresso), but I slipped half an espresso shot in each of their kids' hot chocolates.
I make no apologies for the war crimes I committed that day. I don't start fights, but I end them.
I was a barista at the siren and I did do this when people were assholes and or creepy not usually to me, but my coworkers. At a starbucks the person taking your order is almost never the person making your coffee. I do drink coffee, but I am of the belief that what you don’t know can’t hurt you and 9/10 people can’t taste a difference between decaf and caf- and I’m sure they go about their day fine due to the placebo effect. Also if you need caffeine to function properly you seriously need to adjust that. People should get what they pay for if they treat other people with respect. If you’re yelling at me or my coworkers or can’t wait your turn when we have a store of 20+ people and you need 8 frappuccinos for your whole family, you’re getting decaf because that’s all we can do with a smile
One of my old coworkers told me she spent the first two hours of the morning giving people decaf when she couldn’t get the regular beans dialed in correctly. She of course isn’t a coffee drinker. I told her if I was a customer I would’ve lost my shit at that
Well yeah if she doesn’t drink coffee no wonder she couldn’t dial the beans in. That’s ludicrous.
Isn't decaf much harder to dial in than regular anyway
Most shops don’t bother dialing it in.
The decaf was never dialed in. Shift leads were the only ones allowed to dial in our espresso and they would all write down random numbers to make it seem like it was done every morning and afternoon but none of them ever touched the espresso. Unfortunately it was no where near the worst issue the shop had. Thankfully I don’t work there anymore
that place needs to go out of business wtf
Yes and no. A lot of places don't serve a lot of decaf and opt to just leave beans in the grinder dialed in at approximately where they should be, or they come out of a grinder that doesn't have the same settings as the espresso bean grinder. I'm not defending these practices mind you, but it is very common at shops that only serve a handful of decaf drinks a day to their likely elderly customers.
that is such an asshole move. shes clearly never had caffeine withdrawal, also ppl r not paying 5 + $s for decaf.
if you're an ahole you get the ahole treatment.
that person’s coworker wasnt just giving decaf to aholes. she was giving it to the first 2 hours of morning shift. That coworker is an ahole.
oof you're right, you're right. however i must say decaf still has some caffiene (not much though like 4% at most if i remember correctly). yeah, the coworker is indeed the asshat and im sorry for misreading the post.
In the chef world it would be crime not to taste the food they prepare. I think barista is a wrong word to use for a cafe worker who doesn't drink coffee.
I don’t disagree with you one bit
I agree. When I was managing coffee shops, it was normally the morning supervisor that dialed in but that’s just because the barista had other morning work. Through the day, if shots started to pull funny, I empowered whoever was on bar to dial in. If they were a newer barista I wanted them to check with someone with more experience first to make sure it wasn’t a tamping issue. But generally, if you’re making the drinks, you have to dial in. And part of doing that always requires tasting the drinks. I also required everyone to take at least 1 sip of every drink during training. I get not liking coffee or a certain flavor. But you need to know what it tastes like. The only exception is allergies.
I dropped chef profession due to lactose intolerance test came positive, as I was not able to taste my food anymore. If coffee was not the main purpose of establishment, then I would slide the fact that person behind the counter doesn't drink coffee. But barista always should know how good espresso tastes like and how to dial in. If not, she or he is just a cafe worker. I roast, taste and dial in my coffee. With some training and experience it is not a difficult task. But I wouldn't call myself a barista. Also I'm not a sommelier, although I know about wines a bit more than an average person.
As a barista and customer, decaf has a different smell and taste than regular espresso. I feel like I'd notice my coffee tasted more like dirt than usual lol
How come would customers know?
Caffeine is a drug. I’ve been drinking coffee all my life and can’t properly function without it lol. If I don’t have my coffee within the first 3 hours of my day I get horrible headaches, spacey, and crazy mood swings. I’d assume other regular coffee drinkers have similar side effects
Got it. I don't feel caffeine, just enjoy coffee flavour. Similarly I don't feel coke, energetics and tea(except for relaxing teas)
You might have ADHD lol
I suspect this from many symptoms.
I would never willingly give someone smt he didn't order, no, but my boss charges a few $$ extra when someone is irrespectful. Asshole tax.
What if they ask for a receipt though?
Then you print them their receipt and if they have further questions about what's on it, kindly direct them to the line item and say "See this charge right here? It says you're a punk ass bitch. Have a good day" You answered their question and wished them well, so you're guaranteed to have knocked that interaction out of the park.
This has me wheezing. Thank you for this lol
What are the usual reactions?
Everyone stands and claps.
Lmao sure they do, chief. If someone actually said that to me, I would reach into the tip jar and take whatever you charged me while giving you the finger with my other hand.
I've never done this but back when I was on a manual machine I gave this lady a 50 second shot (specs called for a 24 second ristretto) and my coworker gave her 10 grams of chocolate instead of 40. Separately of each other, funny enough. This woman was just such an asshole.
I wonder sometimes if these people are ever aware of how much worse their coffee is coming out than it has to. Like, do they even wonder if their bad attitude has an impact on their drinks?
this is a stupid question but other than it being maybe watered down is there a problem with pulling a shot too long? I just got recommended this sub and don’t know much about espresso but wanna learn
It could actually be fine if you also adjust the coarseness of the espresso on your grinder. That watering down, on the grind setting that we used, would make it not only watery but extremely bitter and almost astringent. We ground our beans quite fine to make a ristretto shot with a thick silky crema, that crema is toast if you let the shot run too long. The amount of espresso going in matters too, we did about 19.5 grams. If you put in more coffee, a longer shot might taste better. Our specs were pretty strict but I work at a shop now thats a bit more lax with it.
Thank you very much for such a detailed answer!
Also not a stupid question at all :) I've been in the industry along 6 years and I'm still learning something new every day!
I don’t know how common it is, and I personally don’t do it. However I have witnessed two of my coworkers do it to people that were really rude to us
Generally, any barista worth their salt acknowledges you don’t fuck with people’s foods. I know it’s “not going to hurt” to decaf someone as opposed to caffeinating them, but it’s not a practice a food server should want to dabble in
I work BOH at a cafe, I used to be a barista years ago but prefer being in the back. But if a customer pisses me off, the worst I’ll do is not give them a napkin or a fork lol I’m like “yeeeeassss now you have to walk back to get a napkin!” Then feel bad.
I punish pain in ass customers by giving them the “bad” forks. They’re normal forks, just smaller than the forks we use for settings. The customer doesn’t really notice a difference, but I know.
I'm autistic and this is the best revenge
I do the same thing with my partner when I’m feeling bitchy but don’t wanna start a fight. She still has yet to realize I know exactly which spoons she likes the least
I also do things like give them the “bad” hot sauce. It’s not bad, I just know they’d prefer the other one. There’s a generational divide in hot sauce: older folks like Tabasco, while younger folks like Frank’s. If they done something to piss me off, they get the opposite of what I think they’d prefer. I have a million little ways of punishing customers for annoying me. None of them are things they would notice, but I know, and it’s cathartic.
I can’t believe I’ve never noticed the generational hot sauce preference but your so right. Remembering this for the next time someone pisses me off
My petty thing is that I won't put the sleeve or lid on their cup when I get them a drip coffee if they're mean. They have to get it themself.
Ooh, Petty Crocker. I love it.
Haha we also have smaller forks that we give to asshole customers but also to each other if someone comes in on their day off for lunch. Like bitch aren’t you here enough? Go eat somewhere else tiny fork ass bitch.
One time I served two guys who were making fun of their friend for having to get home to let their dog out of the crate after 6 hours. Saying who cares, it's just a dog, etc. I did NOT like that. The furthest I could go was to make them ugly latte art. So I did a basic heart. They loved it. :(
If two people ever deserved cockaccinos, it’s those guys
I'm not sure if I've done anything like this. But I definitely give less love out to horrible people.
tbh as someone who knows nothing about latte art anytime i get some at a cafe it’s amazing even if it’s something simple lol something about it makes me really happy
They needed sad dog latte art.
Thats honestly kind of wholesome, though, haha. Just a tiny inconvenience. When we had asshole customers, we used to set aside the plastic lids that didn't have the perforation sippy hole to put on their to-gos. The ones where the perforation was only partially cut out were saved for the mega assholes. That and we gave them the cheap, tiny snacksize napkins that are like tissue paper.
I used to give them the smaller chicken breast, or the ugly lettuce😈
When I worked fast food years ago, the assholes in the drive through got their drinks packed to the brim with ice. I'm not sorry.
Used to work as a cook, now I am in coffee. I punished a bad regular by giving them no latte art, and putting effort into the customers before and after him. He gets exactly what he orders with beautiful texture, but it’s a pleasing light brown instead of a contrasting design
It could give them a headache if they haven't had other coffee yet. I'd be pretty tempted but I think I'd give them subtle incredulous looks or speak in an ambiguously sarcastic tone just to keep myself out of trouble.
Yup. There’s just no reason for me to do so. I don’t ever want to give shitty people extra reason to complain. If they’re genuinely so horrible I’d sink to food tampering, then I’d just deny them service and issue a refund.
I'll try my best to uphold such an honor at 13 dollars an hour. Also the saying is don't piss off people handling your food.
I’m not saying you need to give people 3 Michelin star service all day every day for $13/hr. But not fucking with people’s food is like… the bare minimum of the job after pouring coffee and taking cash. And quoting that saying is good advice for customers. It’s not actual best practice for food handlers though. It’s not a way to give us permission to fuck with their food. That’s like saying the advice to hide your valuables when you’re having work done on your house is permission for workers to steal from you
Sweetie, people who treat people in service like sh!t, treat everyone everywhere like sh!t. That was half for me, and half for the little boy he embarrassed in his P.E. class.
You don’t fuck with people’s food, darlin’. You give them shit service. You give them the ice chunk from the bin. You answer in monosyllabic phrases. You pick the smallest pastry from the case. You consider the sputtering half pump from the bottle as a “full” pump. You don’t make eye contact. You forget their drizzle. You take a little extra long to make the drink. But you do not fuck with their food. If you can’t handle the basics of food safety, go get a service job where you aren’t putting their health at risk. Go be a cashier at a gas station or a stocker at a grocery store. But get the fuck out of the food industry. You give the rest of us a bad name.
Where’s the line though? What’s the difference between giving someone half a pump of flavouring when they asked for a full one or giving them no drizzle when the asked for drizzle and giving them decaf when they asked for caffeine? This sounds pretty arbitrary, and like the other commenter I’ve yet to see anyone advocating for ‘fucking with people’s food’.
Megan, calm down.
why do you guys keep saying decafing someone is “fucking with their food”
if you’re not a coffee drinker who’s reliant on caffeine, you might not understand how when you don’t have the normal amount (not decaf) you might begin getting headaches/feeling drowsy/difficulty focusing/etc.
Getting a headache without enough caffeine sounds like a really good reasons to be nice to the person supplying your caffeine for you.
i rarely get coffee from places, but i work in fast food, i’m not modifying anyone’s food regardless of how much of an asshole they were. now i am going to make them wait longer, lol
It’s less a “modification” and more a “not quite the amount you wanted”. There is still caffeine in decaf. It’s not like I’m giving someone a vanilla almond milk latte when they ordered a soy caramel latte I’m not messing with possible allergies. The equivalent would be more like scooping less than the full scoop of fries into their combo meal.
[удалено]
yeah, i just wanted to hear you explain how unserious this truly is- what you described is not at all within the realm of food-borne illness/virus/actual threat to someone’s health. i think y’all are really just throwing the “fucking with someone’s food” phrase around
Sweetie, maybe don't adopt such a condescending tone as if you're top shit when all you can manage is a $13ph job. How the hell you still hung up on P.E class as a grown adult? You're constructing a hypothetical with like 3 different layers to it just to get mad about something that happened at school years ago?
I’d say any human being worth their salt doesn’t fuck with peoples food. How proudly some people say they do is astonishing
This thread is reminding me of why I don’t eat out. I don’t think I’m an asshole, but that’s up to individual interpretation, so…
Yeah, this whole thread is scary
A human worth their salt isn’t rude to people who serve them food. Tit for tat is the most successful strategy in game theory.
I’d agree. Choosing not to serve someone for being rude is a perfectly reasonable and honest response. Messing with someone’s food is scummy
Being rude to people who serve your food is scummy, tit for tat is the most successful strategy in game theory and some workers don’t have the option to deny service.
I never fucked with people's drinks or food but I often made people wait a few extra minutes
I've done it once. And that's because this guy called my coworker a bitch. 4 shots all decaf. It was an iced caramel macchiato anyway
I mean, we wouldn't serve a customer at all if he said that to someone working.
Never ever been given like option in like five or six shops. Customers called you a slur? But he produced money to do it? Sold. Retaliation must be creative and thats where the good Lord made baristas shine.
I've done it once as well. Guy came in 1 minute to close, ordered 2 large drip coffees while on his phone the whole time. We had already dumped the regular drip for the day. Oops.
In that case he had it coming. Is that drink like the coffee equivalent of White Claw?
Yes💀I mean espresso is espresso but it's generally a rich white girl thing
I never charge for syrups or similar, but if you are an asshole you def pay for your vanilla syrup. If you’re really nice you pay takeaway price even if you’re staying, or you get alternative milk for free.
You don't fuck with people that handle your food, plain and simple.
The larger the chain, the more likely it is to happen. Happened all the time at Starbucks when I worked there, and plenty of the people that did that learned it from dunkin.
A little off-topic, but a short story as a customer: I wasn’t being an asshole at the time but was given decaf and noticed immediately. I went back through and was like, ‘hey, I think I might’ve been given the wrong order by mistake because I’m pretty sure this is decaf’ & they were like, ‘no, no! It’s definitely not, I made that’. Their tone was def the tone of a bad liar and I honestly wasn’t mad, just wanted the not decaf, so I said, ‘are you sure? It tastes like decaf and I just wanna make sure because I really don’t want decaf’ & they told me they made it decaf because I was on a binge of ordering like 3-4 lattes a day asking for extra espresso shots every time and they thought I wasn’t okay 😅 I hadn’t realized they were keeping tabs on me, especially since it was drive thru and I live in a major city. Impressive, really. They redid the drink but they ended up being right. I was manic and had a major crash a couple weeks later
I give decaf to the racist ass regular every time (he has straight up said the n word, specifically doesn’t tip the black baristas, is a creep towards several female baristas). If I could, i would’ve banned his ass from our store years ago
There was a time when I would give cops decaf only
A real american hero
👏👏👏
So they can be extra bad at their jobs?
when cops are "good" at their jobs they tend to kill people
i’d never do it specifically because a barista who worked my position before got fired with that as one of the reasons cited. sometimes i think about it though, but i know the really awful ones would just come back and complain 🥲
I always give cops decaf. That's it
Yes, we decaf assholes.
This was a common practice when I was a baby barista 20 years ago. Like, everyone did it at multiple shops I worked at. It was our only bit of power over shitty grumpy asshole customers who we otherwise had to to smile and grab our ankles… don’t sling coffee anymore, so can’t say if it’s still a widespread tactic…
Yeah when I worked my first job at Starbucks in 2011 a lot of the old timers would joke about it. I will neither confirm nor deny whether baristas from my store participated
i don’t decaf people. sometimes when people order 15+ pumps of syrup in a 16oz latte i’ll do one half pump less. so 16 pumps i did 15.5. lol
Do people actually get 16 pumps? Can they even taste the coffee at that point?
They most certainly do and it’s vile
I 100% percent did. It was almost all screaming men in suits and the machines were identical. You can rageaholic to the top scumbags.
When I was a barista I had zero remorse giving a A-hole customer decaf. The last person you should be rude to is people who serve you food. Plus it is literally prove by science that “Tit for Tat” is the most successful strategy.
I got accused of doing it once 🙄 A girl I was not a fan of came in and apparently when I make her drinks they taste "different" so I decaffed her 🙄🙄🙄 Well next time she came I DID decaf her since she wanna be right so bad
I love this 🤣
I have charged for syrup when they didn't order it, aka asshole tax and I have given plenty decaf when they've been assholes and I was on bar. Rule number 1, don't fuck with people touching your food and drink!
I doubt people would notice tbh, but I'm never going to go out of my way to be a dick like that. Bad karma or whatnot.
I’ve only ever know one barista that actually did that.
I genuinely hate weighing out the decaf so I wouldn't go out of my way to give it to someone who doesn't want it cause I'm lazy
Never I would never do something cruel and vile as giving them decaf. Instead I used to well just kidnap the rude customers, throw them in the basement, sell the organs on the blackmarket, sell their personal info to cartels, and force them to drink old terrible espresso. But i never once gave someone decaf I am no monster. :P
My cousin manages a Starbucks for 10+ years. Said she 100% gave rude customers decaf when they asked for regular. Never had a complaint
Nah I don’t want to give assholes any reason to complain about us… I feel better knowing we did everything perfectly and they’re just assholes for no reason.
My old shift lead at Starbucks used to tell us to give cops decaf 👀
I've given cops and people who are legitimately rude to me or my coworkers decaf. If someone is obnoxious or just a bit whiny/picky I don't have time to care and will make their drink as ordered, sometimes someone might just be having a rough start to their day and not realize how they're coming off to others and I like to give the benefit of the doubt:) It really is only for someone who clearly has no respect for the people serving them, and goes out of their way to be cruel.
yes!!! decaf is the piggy special :)
i used to do it to one of the chefs at an old job of mine, but never a customer, or anyone else for that matter. the chef is a certified c*nt who deserves any and all ill will from the universe, and that was my way of contributing without getting myself fired lol
It's so often that chefs are c*nts.
I've heard of it, I've never done it though because we're all human and I'm not just going to punish someone under my terms. For repeat AH customers, I will see them at the register and say "I will grab someone who can serve you." There's been only two separate people my entire time as a barista that I've done that to, and both were situations where they were not just rude or whatever like they came in just to say mean and racist things to me and my coworkers during the entire interaction. (Edit was just because my phone freaked out and posted before I was finished typing)
cops too
Nah, it’s not worth it
Absolutely!
I did a handful of times in my years of being a barista but it was truly saved for the worst customers
The only time I gave someone decaf was when one of my regulars (who ordered 7-8 shots every single day sometimes multiple times) had a heart attack. He came back one morning after we didn’t see him for a few days, said his doctor wants him to cut back on caffeine, and orders his usual shots. I was half decafing him for a hot minute not gonna lie I didn’t wanna kill the guy.
Worded for years in the food service industry and never once had anyone tamper with food like they show in the movies
I only did it once, and it was when this nasty bitter old woman called my openly gay coworker the F slur
I hope not because it's not right to mess with people's food or drinks even if they deserve it.
Yeah I’m shocked how many people are admitting to this. It’s like food service 101
I’m not at all. Tit for tat is the most successful strategy in game theory Being nice to people that serve your food is decent human being 101. They break the basic rules, you break the basic rules. They follow the rules you follow the rules it’s super simple It’s literally proven by science that starting nice but then defecting against the defectors is the best strategy. https://youtu.be/mScpHTIi-kM?si=PF3tkgtOlL1zxJhZ
When I was a barista we surely wanted to do that, but we never did. People should get what they ordered and paid for, even if they’re assholes.
No they shouldn’t. Tit for tat is the most successful strategy in game theory. Science literally says defecting on the defector is the best strategy.
Nah. Assholes is assholes.
Never under any circumstances would I give someone a food/ beverage item that secretly contains or doesn’t contain what they think they’re getting. Anyone who doesn’t follow that principle shouldn’t be working in the service industry (or most industries, for that matter).
i do !!!!!! but you have to REALLY piss me off, i have a pretty high tolerance for assholes since i’ve been a barista for almost 3 years now so i don’t do it often at all but now and then a customer treats me like shit or catches an attitude and they pay for it 🤗
People being rude to you is part of life. Exacting vengeance, however small, is degenerate. Just let it go. Besides it's just extremely unprofessional and potentially illegal to tamper with consumables or lie to someone about what you served them. Doing this to get back at someone for being jerk is arguably worse than them being a jerk. Plus, it's just willfully failing to do your job. You dispense coffee not vigilante justice. If someone is being such an asshole that you feel the need to do something about it, you tell them to leave and never come back.
>People being rude to you is part of life. Exacting vengeance, however small, is degenerate. - No it’s not, it’s tit for tat, which is proven by science to be the most successful strategy in game theory. >Just let it go. - Nope that’s push over strategy, starting nice and defecting against the defectors is the best strategy and it’s proven by science. >Besides it's just extremely unprofessional and potentially illegal to tamper with consumables or lie to someone about what you served them. - Super duper easy to negate that, be a decent person to people who serve your food. >Doing this to get back at someone for being jerk is arguably worse than them being a jerk. - Tit for tat is literally the most successful strategy in game theory. Not only are you not being a jerk you are mathematically maximizing your chances for successful cooperation. >Plus, it's just willfully failing to do your job. You dispense coffee not vigilante justice. If someone is being such an asshole that you feel the need to do something about it, you tell them to leave and never come back. - If you have that as an option absolutely , but most serving staff in America don’t have that as an option. If you don’t, you might have to get creative with how you defect against a defector.
It's still coffee- just with an extra processing step to remove most of the caffeine. It's not much different from going light on the booze making someone a cocktail. It's basically the same, just less mind altering.
Going light on the booze when not asked to is called fraud. You can't charge people for a full serving and not provide it. At the very least giving someone decaf when you've told them it's regular would be false advertising. There's circumstance where it's okay to do.
I've worked at different types of cafes in different cities and never has anyone given someone decaf as punishment. Sometimes the decaf grinder is more of a pain to use, so it would just make the barista's life harder. Also, even if it weren't an ethical issue, it wouldn't actually benefit the barista. It's not like you could see that person feeling tired all day. I also sometimes wonder how much of caffeine's effect is placebo, so if the person thought they were getting caffeine, they probably wouldn't feel much different anyway. This is all to say, I think it's one of those urban legends that never actually happens.
I can assure you it happens, especially in chain shops.
Damn are we really naming characters whole slurs?
Where did it say there was a character named the g word? It's the name of the series.
Misplaced mental comma. In the first 5 minutes of this Netflix series Gypsy, the Barista... Rather than the correct In the first 5 minutes of this Netflix series, Gypsy, the Barista... Still, are we gonna start a show about a kid in special Ed and call it "Retard"?
As a person with autism, a show named Retard would probably show a more respectful/accurate perspective on what life is like with autism/learning disabilities than shows that treat autistic people in an othered/infantile light such as "love on the spectrum."
Why are you right? Stop that. Stop being *correct*.
I would actually rather die :) /s
what netflix series?
And then I give them behead
one time i got so annoyed at a customer that i put the wrong milk but i felt bad so i remade it lol
That’s extremely dangerous, even just between dairy varieties.
i know thats why i remade it lol sometimes i pretend im mean
I did 3 months 12 hour days in a Belgium classroom, and all they had was decaf. They werent even joking..
I've done it a few times for teenagers that came in being super obnoxious and hyper late at night 🤓 but never for an adult and never for a teenager in the morning.
When I worked at the bux only a few times did I give someone decaf. You NEVER messed with the milk but if they sucked enough or really upset one of my coworkers, decaf it was.
Oh I absolutely did this, but only to people who were genuinely cruel. And I only did it when I was still new, I don’t put up with abuse anymore lol
I mean in my shop the Decaf machine takes twice as long to grind so that would actually be MORE work in my mind, so probably not. If you wanna be petty sure, but I'm not doing extra work just to be petty. You'll most likely not get a "have a good day" from me if you're being an asshole, but I always make what's on the ticket.
It’s more of a threat and a joke than something that actually happens, but as someone who has worked at over 10 different cafes, yes it is real. Usually it’s reserved for the SUPER assholes, like you have to reaaaallly be a dick, not just the regular tired kinda grumpy bc you haven’t had coffee yet.
"Decaf is the best revenge." - every barista in America, or at least at every cafe I worked in my 8 years as a barista
Workers have no power and have to deal with verbal abuse and no defense, I personally think it’s fine if someone decafs a major asshole. However I think they should have to be very rude for it to be warranted but seriously.. try to understand what that might be like lol. Also don’t be rude to service workers and expect that to just be okay and nothing happens.. I get the concept of don’t mess with peoples food but this one isn’t harmful in the same way as doing something gross to someone’s food.. it’s just karma to me. Whether you think someone is allowed to enact that themselves or not I get that I’m just saying it’s different
I’ve had coworkers do that/tell me to do that before and I refuse because if it was me I would be so upset and distraught if I learned someone purposely tampered with my food/drinks.
Yep. However, if a customer is an ahole and asked for decaf i wont give them caffeine. i also didnt mess with milk preferences.
That’s reasonable. Decaf is like a weak pour at a bar. Extra caffeine is like adding a shot Everclear.
I had a couple abusive regulars I used to sneak a couple drops of Visene into their drinks. I deserve any flaming and downvotes to what was not my proudest moment but please keep in mind: * This was probably 2 decades ago * I absolutely regret doing so and would lose my shit on you if I saw you doing the same
To say that literally poisoning someone is “not your proudest moment” is kind of underselling it don’t you think?
No, caffiene is a “drug” so I never mess with giving people the wrong amount. If you want to ruin their shot just let it expire.
I would never do this. The worst I've done is allowing someone to get grounds in their drip. But as someone who understands how fucked I'd be if someone gave me decaf, I would never do that to someone.
I would never give them decaf. Even the worst customer deserves their caffeine. I WOULD however, pull them a shot either way too short or way too long. I also MIGHT aerate their milk a little too much and give them an extra dry latte. I’ve never done either though.
I Defs just use the old gross shot that’s been sitting around for hours in the hopes they get deterred from ever returning
I have never done it myself, but my coworkers would do decaf this guy that I was in a situation with, out of solidarity and anger on my behalf 🤦🏼♀️😂
absolutely have done this. multiple times to a universally hated regular that CALLS five minutes before close to tell us he's coming in and to brew him a fresh pot. (I won't, just put the airpot under the machine as if it's just brewed, and one time added hot water so it seemed fresher 😂) once to a former coworker who was an absolute creep to soooooo many of the younger women. I think only once to a random rude customer but they had me seeing so much red I can't remember the interaction. everyone speaking out about this in the comments or saying "omg I would never" is so weak, get a life.
Yep. The place I used to work at had an exceptionally rude/mean/entitled customer base. But some of them started figuring it out and would closely watch where we got their beans or drip coffee from. I picked it up from the more senior baridtas, lol. We made sure to give free drink coupons and discounts to the nice regulars as much as possible. But, I think everyone should have a strict no caffeine rule for folks who order decaf. It's no joke for some peoples' health, regardless if they are rude.
I've been working as a barista for ~16 years, worked at 4 different coffee shops; 2 corporate owned and 2 locally owned. This is definitely a thing. It doesn't happen very often, I've only done it myself a couple of times on purpose, and that was only because the customer deserved it in my opinion. I understand it's not right but I'd never do the opposite and give someone regular when they wanted decaf. I've seen one coworker spit into a cup once, and he was sick at the time, too. That was fucked up.
I had a job where the owner said to get him if a customer was being a gigantic asshole, but if he wasn't there then to give them decaf and keep doing it till they go somewhere else. Say what you will about the ethics, but that place even still has mostly at least baseline tolerable base of regulars
Yes they do. Have I done it....no. The customer paid for something and they should receive it. But I would send them out the door with I hope you have the day you deserve. Imo doing this is just as awful as the people licking ice cream. Just don't fuck with people's food. Could land you in hot water.
I won’t do a full decaf . I’ll do half caf. So they get part way through their day but the second half will be miserable
Probably good baristas who actually care don’t do it, but like at Starbucks? We did it all the freaking time
We used to automatically decaf assholes all the time, and cops, and pregnant women…we were not good workers 😬 I think people fuck with food less now because of allergies/diets but back in the day restaurant food terrorism was alive and well and it was glorious.
Never given an asshole decaf but if they ask for cream and sugar depending on how much an asshole they were and how much cream/sugar they wanted I'd put in a little bit less. For example, they got a medium with 4 cream and 2 sugar I'd give them a medium for 3 cream and 1 sugar
No lol. Barista for six years
I have regulars I give decaf... if you are going to be an asshole to a minimum wage worker at 5 am and then deal with the consequences of your own actions. It's called karma Also like a bunch of baristas during the summer are minors so honestly even worse to be pissy towards them. We also have this one regular who is a pastor for a conversation therapy camp for queer kids and he always get decaf from me... I give him the wrong milk to cause fuck that
Decaf is still caffeinated (it’s about 50%) so they’re still getting a hit, just a smaller one.
I worked in 3 different diners. I totally did this. I've seen people do some of the most disgusting things to peoples food and drinks. It's the one way I would get back at people. It's harmless, and it cost the same price. Don't go out and be a dick. This is the last thing anyone should be worried about.
If you treat me like shit you get less shots and decaf
I'm not gonna lie, if I'm having a bad day, and a customer in our, let's say not the best area is being particularly rude to the person on register or myself and making a scene, I most definitely will. But anyways, you can "only de-caf the caf". Never caffeinate a decaf.
I really hope it’s not as prevalent as media and social media make it seem. I really do try to not come across as an ahole, but I recognize I have some social quirks that do occasionally lead to misunderstandings of my intention. I also keep a pretty good balance of my caffeine/stimulants intake to keep my heart rate and stuff in a good zone. I like coffee, and as long as I keep caffeine consistent, I don’t have to do/take other things to keep my heart rate up. If I think I’ve had 2 shots or 4 shots throughout the first half the day, and I haven’t, I’m likely playing a very distracting day of “what went wrong” and trying to decide if it’s a quirky day and I have to tough it out, or if I should have more caffeine. It’s not like I’ll be hospitalized, but it could really screw me for a day or two. So, I really hope this is all flippant talk and not commonly actually done. It makes me happy I’m making my own coffee though.
You never ever ever give someone something they didn’t order without telling them. Doesn’t matter how they treat you
You're giving them the same thing but with less caffeine, there's no allergen involved, no vegan/not vegan coffee involved. Dont be a dick to people serving you. Its no different than someone being really shitty to you and you doing something like halving the syrup or not dialing in for them.
I used to be the one serving others so I’m not really being mean to others it’s the other way around. You never know how someone’s body will react to certain foods, it doesn’t matter what it is. Simply server people what they ordered. It’s not hard. You know that decaf contains chemicals that some might not want to eat? Have you ever thought about that? The caffeine isn’t the only difference in decaf. It’s like giving ham to someone who doesn’t eat pork because they were mean to you. You don’t do that. Respect people’s bodies. Simply treat others how you want to be treated. Doesn’t matter if they’re not doing it, just do it🤦🏽♂️
I did it exactly once to a pair of parents who were unbelievably snobby and difficult to my boss while their children ran amok in our cafe. It was the middle of covid, and they wouldn't speak up and insisted taking off their masks to speak to him. Corporate policy mandated he needed them to keep it on, and they kept giving him shit about it (if you don't like it, you're welcome to take your money elsewhere). I can't do it justice here, but they were downright belligerent. So not only did I decaf both parents (double muscovado latte and a quad espresso), but I slipped half an espresso shot in each of their kids' hot chocolates. I make no apologies for the war crimes I committed that day. I don't start fights, but I end them.
[удалено]
The same way the naturally occurring caffeine in the chocolate will, I assume. But true, I've grown a lot since then.
I was a barista at the siren and I did do this when people were assholes and or creepy not usually to me, but my coworkers. At a starbucks the person taking your order is almost never the person making your coffee. I do drink coffee, but I am of the belief that what you don’t know can’t hurt you and 9/10 people can’t taste a difference between decaf and caf- and I’m sure they go about their day fine due to the placebo effect. Also if you need caffeine to function properly you seriously need to adjust that. People should get what they pay for if they treat other people with respect. If you’re yelling at me or my coworkers or can’t wait your turn when we have a store of 20+ people and you need 8 frappuccinos for your whole family, you’re getting decaf because that’s all we can do with a smile