Aaron and Tami say Starbucks' drive-thru is the ultimate in orgasmic convenience

MEET THE STARBUCKS GOSSIP COMMUNITY
Name: Aaron and Tami
Age: 26 (both of us)
City: Seattle
Fav Drink -- Him: Seasonal = Nonfat Pumpkin Spice, Year-round = Iced Nonfat Caramel Macchiatto w/extra caramel sauce (love the stuff). Her: Seasonal = Nonfat Half-caff Peppermint _Mocha, Year-round = Nonfat Half-caff White Chocolate _Mocha w/ caramel sauce top and bottom w/ whip
Reading: We have been reading Starbucks Gossip for about 9 months now. Though we rarely comment ourselves, we read every post and comment.
Love: Drive-thru Starbucks, the ultimate in orgasmic convenience. We also love the fact that here in Seattle we can get to about five Starbucks within a half-mile. Tami loves the big purple plush chair... makes her feel like royalty.
Hate: The fact that two of our favorite drinks (oh, and Caramel Apple Cider as well) are only offered for a few months out of the year. We also hate anti-Starbucks comments that are made simply because Starbucks is "commercial." The coffee/espresso is better, that's why we drink it.
Fact: We often trade-in leftover change when we are broke just so that we can make one more trip to Starbucks before payday.

Comments

[ShiftKing]

Caramel Apple Cider (or "CAC" to those in the know) is offered year-round, it's simply not on the menu year-round. Every store should have apple juice all year, and that's all we need for it.

[sarah]

like the other poster said, CACs are available year-round, as is peppermint. the only truly seasonal drinks are pumpkin spice lattes, gingerbread lattes, and eggnog lattes, along with others that are "limited", like mint mocha chip. if you don't see what you want on the menu, just ask! we probably have it.
what part of seattle are you guys from? i work at a sbux DT in federal way.

[Aaron]

Thanks for the "CAC" info!

The store in Louisiana (where we just moved back to Seattle from) didn't carry peppermint year round, so that's why we were confused. But yes, it is carried here year round now that you mention that.

Tami is from Edmonds originally. We met when I was stationed (in the Navy) in Tacoma and after a year and a half away we've moved back. I'm stationed in Everett now but we live in Mountlake Terrace.

There's no better area to live in for a Starbucks addict. ;)

[sarah]

my dad lives in mountlake terrace! and yes, there isn't a better place for bux addicts. there are places downtown where you can see 5 or 6 stores from standing in one place.

[Roland Higgins]

Does anyone know of Starbucks Drive Thrus in Florida?

[Suzy Starbucks]

I love drive-thru Starbucks! Somebody should compile a list of all of the drive thru locations. In fact, I might work on that...

[Nandu]

oh god 'm desperate for STARBUCKS,

[bobby digital]

who came up with the bright idea to give a drive thru to the most spoiled food service customers in the world...yah drive thru's are great...but not for starbucks...moronic women who come thru for ten frappuccino's and yap on the damn phone while taking orders from their friends all while im waiting along with the three other cars behind them...get a grip ppl...get off you @ss and come inside

[anne]

OK, whats with half-caff? Give me a break. I've been a barista for over a year now and I still don't understand it. It does NOT make a difference if something is half-caff- you can't taste it, nor does it have much less caffeine than a regular shot. Espresso is roasted so dark that there is literally no caffeine left, this is true.

[Aaron]

If that is the case, Anne, then why does the company offer half-caff as an option? If it even has one iota less caffeine than a regularly made drink then it's better for someone who doesn't need caffeine. Why worry about what others choose to drink anyway?

[EllieandColin'smom]

New(er) starbucks drive thru in Northcreek, Bothell, just off 405 and 522... Near Home Depot. Agree with the "get off the phone" bit but with a little less swearing... love the convienence with two babies in tow, I just need my fix! And quit with the "half-calf" it's half-DEcaf already!!!

[Anne]

"that is the case, Anne, then why does the company offer half-caff as an option?"

Only Starbucks offers it as an option apparently, my guess is it is their way of further 'empowering' customers and destroying what would have been a decent pull of coffee. If someone doesn't need caffeine, they should just ask for decaf.

[Barista to the Stars]

Starbuck's drive thru is miserable. What's convenience for the customers is hell for the baristas.

Examples:

1. If you want to know about every single pastry in the case, COME INSIDE

2. If you don't know what your drink is ("Uh....it had coffee in it and it was kind of creamy.....), COME INSIDE

3. If you want ground coffee, COME INSIDE (and please, if you are the person who wants 1/2 lb house blend and 1/2 lb decaf house blend ground together, for the love of God, COME INSIDE)

4. If you want to pay for your $4.50 frappucino with the nickles, dimes & pennies from your kid's piggy bank, COME INSIDE

5. If you drive one of those hateful diesel trucks, COME INSIDE

6. If you want more than three drinks or if you have multiple pain in the ass drinks, COME INSIDE

7. If you've never been to Starbuck's before and want to know what a frappucino is, COME INSIDE

8. If you want the nutritional information for the difference between a frappucino and a frappucino light, COME INSIDE

9. If you want more than five Starbuck's cards, COME INSIDE

The problem is that every other person in line has the McDonald's mentality and they do not understand the wait. So, while you are happy and content, the poor barista at the window has to deal with the hateful people behind you who "just wanted a Grande drip".

Also, do the world a favor and get of the phone. Trust me, unless you are the president of the United States, there is NOTHING that can't wait until you are done at the drive thru. NOTHING. No, it's not that important. And even if you are the president of the United States, what are you doing at my drive thru?

And would it kill you to smile and acknowledge us? When the window opens and someone says "Hi" -- how about a "Hi" back? It's just courtesy. Come on people.

And those speakers? They aren't exactly state of the art. So, don't sit there and speak in a normal tone of voice or mumble and expect us to understand what you are saying. And saying it again in the same tone of voice does nothing. I still can't hear you. So I'm going to ask you to repeat it again and again until you get the hint -- speak LOUD and CLEAR. And don't get mad at me, cause if you want to mumble........COME INSIDE.

And don't rattle off seven drinks with 5 modifiers each and expect me to keep up. This ain't McDonald's people. One drink at a time, let me read it back. I'm marking the cup as you give it to me, so when I read it back, I'm reading it off the cup. And no matter how bad you want whip, if it isn't on the cup, you don't get whip. And then you think the drive thru sucks but it doesn't.

-- love to the customers who smile and make my day, BTTS

[Gonzo Gourmand]

" The coffee/espresso is better, that's why we drink it."

*$' is better than some places, and it is better than almost all restaraunts. I went and tried an double espresso there a few weeks ago. It had a very small amount of yellow-white crema on top of a bitter-sour (or was it sour-bitter? I think more the latter) thin black liquid. I'd rate it about a 1 on a 1 (bad) to 10 (great) scale.

I made better tasting/better crema pre-ground decaf shots with rudimentary knowledge of espresso. I didn't drink most of that drink, but if I had been fiending for caffiene I suppose it's possible I could have downed. Not really drinkable, but chuggable like cheap whiskey, unlike the incredibly sour espresso I had at the Olive Garden. Drinking that was unimaginable, I wanted to ask to watch them make one just to understand what never to do.

[Barista to the Stars]

Gonzo, Gonzo, Gonzo:

Of course you can make a better espresso shot. The vast majority of Starbuck's have gone to the Verissimo -- a large machine that is designed for the best possible shot in the shortest amount of time. It auto grinds, tamps and draws the shot. Old time Starbuck's used a grinder, then the barista had to hand-tamp each shot and then time the shot perfectly. Even then, the quality of the shot was based on the skill of the barista and how rushed (s)he was. I'm quite sure that under home conditions, it's possible to produce a better shot.

See a theme here? TIME. If you are making one shot, you have the time to grind and tamp and draw the perfect shot. If you are cranking out a line of 15 lattes, you don't. Hence, why the Verissimo, which, in my opinion, sacrifices a bit of quality for a shorter wait time, is going to be in every Starbuck's shortly.

One thing I will say: that machine makes a far better latte and cappucino than any household machine because it heats the milk hotter, quicker and produces better foam.

May I suggest that you hunt down an old machine and a skilled barista and visit her when she is not swamped and enjoy what I imagine will be a much better Starbuck's shot?

Starbuck's generally provides a superior cup of drip coffee and superior lattes and other milk based drinks, where the quality of the shot is not on full display. Sadly, the popularity of the store is its undoing for the hardcore espresso drinker.

So unbunch your panties and enjoy a latte.

Barista to the Stars

[Cameron]

BTTS nailed that last bit. The cost of time has pushed everything so that the most popular drinks can be made most easily. I went from being a coffee shop inhabitant to working at a Starbucks and now I'm a shift there, and I can say that the main thing Starbucks has going for it is that it is a machine. If you have ever looked at how we get deliveries you'll see a good example of it.

Starbucks is wired into a company-wide network that monitors stock, sales, and figures who needs what when. Our assistant manager wondered why we had two 8 cup coffee makers in our delivery, because she didn't put them on the order. I had sold one and the computer adjusted the delivery to accomomdate and keep our stock up.

The same principles apply everywhere. Starbucks is full of buzzwords and among them "setting each other up for success" is one of the most important. Just as the orders are adjusted, and retail automatically pumped up for the holidays, our machines are suited for what makes the most for the company, thus setting them up for success so that they can set us up for success... It is a cycle you see.

When Starbucks weht from being a coffee shop to a convience soffee shop, they were marketing to a new breed. They still have the comfy chairs and the nice tables to sit at, but what about the warm enviting atmosphere? My favorite coffee shop in the world is stuck in a hole with a patio below street level underneath a building in an underused downtown. It sits right between municipal buildings and office space and a stone's throw from railway and high-traffic intersections, but down there you feel cut off and in a completely different world.

My store has more windows than walls and a drive-through that pulls roughly half of our business. There is one comfy corner that is almost well hidden if it were not for the door. Our drive through can operate almost independently from our cafe and it has to to keep up with making venti chai soy lattes. I have seen plans where the drive through has its own cold bar, brewing station and pastry case.

Starbucks is simply a well-run enterprise that is often mistaken for a coffee shop. I can say that I have reservations about working at a place where I have to have a short mug full of ten shots of espresso to hide the fact that our espresso maker is not geared to make espresso (the Verissimo pulls short and lattes do not rely on crema). And I have to really push my argument that Espresso is the sweetest form of coffee and is not as caffienated as brewed because of its roast. With my baristas.

Still it is what it is, and that is exactly what the original post is praising it for.

Cameron
#9809

[-m]

Cameron,
Starbucks is the evolution of the coffee shop. Get used to it buddy. :)

[Adam Scarr]

I am in Iraq and I NEED STARBUCK'S!!!!! HELP ME!!!!

I miss Edmonds, too! The url above shows my address.

[Adam Scarr]

Okay, so you have to click my name to get the address.

[erika]

wow this drink is so fambolssss

[Miggity]

Giving Starbucks a Drive-Thru may seem like a good idea, but in reality, it really isn't. Seeing that more than half of Starbucks customers (atleast at my store) have a variation for each facet of their drink, it makes the wait much longer than if the customer were to come inside. The beauty of coming inside the store is that the barista can get the customers' orders well before they get to the register even if there are 10 peopple in line. The drive-thu can only be done one at a time. Starbucks is not the type of restaurant that should have a drive-thru because every drink is made to order unlike places like McDonalds or Taco Bell where everything is already made for the most part. Another thing that really annoys me is that sometimes people will ask "What pastries do you have?" which means I or one of my partners will have read off all of the pastries in the case which adds more time to the wait. Some cutomers actually ask what kind of merchandise we have or what kind of coffee beans we have and then want them ground. That doesn't bother me at 3 in the afternoon when we're pretty slow, but at 8 AM, it gets very annoying. Perhaps my store is the exception, but drive-thru Starbucks are a bad idea. One last thing; just because you're drink wasn't made 100% correct, don't let it ruin your day. We can fix it for you. We're dealing with food, not missiles.