What's on your mind this weekend? Discuss it in the OPEN THREAD

As usual, anything Starbucks-related is open for discussion. Starbucks customers, feel free to throw out questions about drinks or whatever to the many baristas who visit this site. (Also, as usual, you're asked to keep the discussion civil.) || Jump to the third page of comments.

Comments

[Richard]

JUST A THOUGHT…

There's this one episode of Seinfeld where Elaine starts drinking orange juice and spits it out saying "This tastes terrible!" Jerry asks her if she shook it and she says that she didn't want to go to the trouble of shaking it. As Jerry shakes it, he explains just how hard shaking a container truly is.

Seriously, you want to get rid of GRTLs because mixing powder with hot water is too hard for you? Maybe you should find a less strenuous job; consider a position in being professionally retarded.

[FormerPhillySM]

Lil Mamma- I was also on maternity leave with Starbucks. I was a salaried store manager so it was a little different for me. I would call the PCC again and ask specifically for clarification. If they are vague (which they shouldn't be as it is their job to answer you question truthfully and fully) call you local Partner Resources contact. Your store manager should definately have this contact name and phone number. They will be invaluable to answer questions. I wish I could help you more but I no longer work for the Bux.
Good luck with your new little one!!

[curious]

Just curious. . . how many of you are still using shot glasses? I am.

[Melody]

This makes my hair stand on end (yes you can call me a prude now). Starbucks gives this person the privilege to be on his cups (The Way I See It #277) and his idea of a funny joke is making an offensive joke out of the cups??

http://tinyurl.com/Coupland

It's totally tacky imho.

[Richard]

Hahaha!

Coupland is such a unique and amazing flower! He surely thought of that himself and didn't learn it from one of his son's burnout highschool friends!

God bless the creative genius that is Coupland!

[Thank You for the help]

I need help from a SM or DM on this one. Can a SM and SS date in the same district or is that not allowed?

[Richard]

Thank You for the help

Not to be offensive, but why do you care? I want all the juicy details on this possibly forbidden love.

[JUST A THOUGHT...]

Richard,

If I wanted a position that required being mentally chalenged, I would need to be promoted to the DM level or higher. Oh, and only people with serious issues of immaturity and/or sensitivity disorders call it “retarded” anymore…so grow up.

[Brown Dot]

Thank you

In the same district, yes in the same store NO. Now if it was a DM and a SS or SM in the same district then that would be a no

[me myself and I]

Coupland really seems to be very creative. I've been shown this a few weeks into the job and ever since then several times a year. It's not new, it's not even creative anymore. People should think of something new (and funny, btw.).
You can built really great art out of those cups. And unoffensive ones, too. :-)

[iced_short_cup]

is it only in my store/district where we're supposed to use shot glasses for iced drinks? (except M, WM because of the swirling?)

i've gone to some sbux where i see (syrup), milk, then the entire cup under the espresso spout, then ice. the esp and milk doesn't mix a majority of the time, and you end up with an iced CM loooking type of drink. obviously there's no stirring involved. or even worse, i see milk, ice, then espresso.

what are some of you guys doing?

***here's my take on stirring:
i usually swirl. but if there is a lot of heavy syrup (M, WM, PS) requested (i.e. a tuxedo mocha: a grande would have 8 pumps of syrups total!!!), i would stir regardless of whether or not it was requested. the way i see it: i wouldn't want to drink it otherwise. who wants two ounces of sugar at the bottom of their drink? not me. (but hey, i never add sugar to my drinks, thank my mom for having bland cooking.)

as for ICED GRTL: i know this isn't standard, but here is how I do it:
pump the CL into the cup
then into the iced tea shaker, i mix up the other ingredients. then pour into the cup. and NO, it doesn't take up a lot of extra time, because it saves you the time to (1) wipe up the mess you made doing it the other way, (2) you get fewer clumps resulting in a lesser chance of having the drink returned to you to be remade.

i'm really quick on my feet, and am really fast on bar, so maybe this is why it works for me.

[annonymous]

after talking to my coworkers today, i realized that PHC is often a miss. if a customer walked into our store, they would receive a different combination of P,M,V depending on who is on bar

so, i am assuming the same goes to the rest of the country. (mind you, our store is made up of 95% of partners who've transferred from other stores due to closures.)

the syrup recipe for a tall (figure out the other sizes yourself) is:
3 mocha
1 vanilla
3 peppermint

it is NOT:
-1.5 mocha 1.5 peppermint, 1 vanilla
-3 mocha, 3 peppermint, 0 vanilla
-3 mocha, 1 peppermint, 0 vanilla

holidays are coming up. let's get this right.

we're all good partners. but we're human, and often times miscommunications take place. pls do not label us as "retards."

[Richard]

JUST A THOUGHT...

I'd still be using it as an insult, so I don't think it would matter. But thanks.

[CamSpi]

So I tried Yukon and Anniversary Blend... and I love them! I read some negative reviews, but I am a fan. Yukon is just a mellow as I remember it. Just very... balanced with that slight signature Indonesian herbal flavor. And Anniversary, which is an all Asian-Pacific blend, tastes marvelous. Not thick and muddy like Komodo, but those surprisingly smooth mushroom tastes which are from the aged Sumatra beans. (I wish I was able to taste Anniversary with a press of aged sumatra beans like I did last year!) Anyway, those are my two cents on the two returning coffees...

[read your damn recipe cards!]

I wouldn't put milk in a tea shaker... they're supposed to be dairy-free, and you're supposed to sanitize them if ya put milk into one.

Not to mention that if your customers who now expect a shaken grtl come to my store, they'll think I'm wrong.

[Will]

"it is NOT:
-1.5 mocha 1.5 peppermint, 1 vanilla
-3 mocha, 3 peppermint, 0 vanilla
-3 mocha, 1 peppermint, 0 vanilla"

IIRC, It WAS 3 P/3 Mo last year for the Pep. twist.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you're mistaken.

[foxy]

Yes, Will, but not for the PHC which is what the post was about.

[I'm also a Starbucks shift.]

I would like to toss a gripe out here. I am dairy intolerant as many people are.
Many to most people who order capuccinos are also dairy intolerant. That is why we order capuccinos. I do not like soy milk but I can handle the foam. I cannot handle the milk without a lot of stomach pain. PLEASE STOP GIVING ME LATTES.

[drive]

Lil Momma:
When you are on maternity leave, you are on "leave." There is an entire "leave department" devoted to this. Look through your info and call the number for the leave department, which will send you the paperwork. Your insurance hours are not reduced. There is a formula for that based on how many hours you usually work -- I forget exactly, but the leave dept can explain it. If you have some kind of bad medical complication, you can go on medical leave for up to 26 weeks. Make sure you and your docs fill in the paperwork exactly. If you have any questions, the "leave department" is very helpful.

[Moe Szyslak]

I tried the anniversary blend in a press on the weekend...loved it!

[BoldToday]

@ I'm also a Starbucks shift:

A cappuccino contains equal parts steamed milk and foam (plus espresso, of course). If liquid milk upsets your stomach so much, you can always order your cappuccino dry (bone dry, extra dry, etc.). Or get an espresso macchiato.

[Brown Dot]

since when does the PHC get vanilla? It hasn't for the last 7 years...

[Aces of Eight]

Yeah, I thought the phc was 1 part peppermint 1 part mocha (in other words same amount of each) and no vanilla because it was not necessary to add vanilla to sweeten a beverage that had peppermint in it...

[mckey]

For the past 8 years as a partner PHC has gotten vanilla.....
tall 3p 3m 1v
grande 4p 4p 1v
venti 5p tm 2v

Please read your recipe cards

[Confirmed]

yup PHC has always gotten vanilla.

[mckey]

for those of you that refuse to make an iced cap think about a mocha, hot milk topped off with cold whip cream. whats the difference besides the order...

[me myself and I]

The difference is, the iced cappuccino is gross.

Anyway, as long as I am a barista I've never ever even once put vanilla into a phc. Since I usually take some pride out of following the standards, I will definitely check the recipe card if there is going to be one this year.

[Aces of Eight]

wtf are you talking about phc has always gotten vanilla... I'm almost certain it wasn't on the recipe cards last year.

Don't say it is confirmed and not show some sort of proof.

We can look at the recipe cards this year (I am sure we will get them) but don't act like you are sure without proof... that is just ridiculous.

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

Aces of Eight,
The Holiday Materials from last year are still on the portal. Feel free to go look. I just did. And yeah, there's vanilla in there. It's just a hot chocolate with peppermint added. Of course there is vanilla. I've always thought that a venti PHC was disgusting because with the 5 pumps mocha, 5 pumps peppermint, 2 pumps vanilla, it has 12 total pumps. Sick.

[CamSpi]

I was just thinking today... in the past two years I've worked for Starbucks, I haven't put foam on the pumpkin spice lattes because it gets whip cream. that's correct, isn't it? do you put foam on it and then whip? I'm going to double check the recipe cards tomorrow.

[meme]

I need help how do i ring up an ICM with white mocha instead of classic and breve instead of 2%? And when this customer brings it back for a refill how do I ring it? thanks

[Christin]

Meme you just ring icm sub mocha sub breve. Then for refill you ring refill IC sub mocha sub breve

[ICM?]

What is ICM? Iced Caramel Macchiato? Iced Cafe Mocha?

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

Why would you put foam on a PSL?

It gets whipped cream, instead of foam -- just like a CDL or Mocha or White Mocha or Gingerbread/Gingersnap Latte. The recipe has always been the same.

It is the Toffee Nut Latte that changed the recipe to not have the whip a few years ago.

Also, Vanilla has always gone into PHC. It is basically an HC with P added

And since when is a Zebra/Tuxedo/Black-and-White Mocha made with full pumps? Which region of the country does this? You ring it in as WM sub Mocha. It is GENERALLY (there is no recipe card for it) made with 2 pumps WM and 2 pumps M for a Grande, etc

[regionmap.blogspot.com]

This is a very touching , If I only could have had an idea I wish I had read the material on here sooner. Thanks for sharing everything this is a very nice blog

[bcshift]

You know what I'm not loving right now, the micro managing of chalk signs. I understand the daily offerings and all that..

But the "Your Barista Is" board was our chance to be creative, to recommend what we wanted. Now it's all about promotional drinks and pairings. God forbid I recommend a cup of African red bush. They've sirens eye'd the hell out of everything.

I love this new local store concept they're going for now, with recycled materials and raw wood and metal.

I'm taking a trip down to Seattle this weekend and I'm definitely going to 15th ave. I can't wait to try a clover coffee for the first time.

[Tired sift]

for the past three days i worked at least eight hours without a break, everybody is sick and tired of hours being cut and with Sbux massive profits there is no need for this. but what are ya gonna do? I am a health care slave.

[Voice of Reason!]

Tired shift-

It’s all about the profits and the lies they can tell the share holders. Don’t worry; they can’t keep the truth away from Wall Street forever. If you have Company stock, sell it now! Get your resume freshened up.

[Christin]

ICM is Iced Coffee With Milk

[ATL_barista]

@LegendaryorBust, ever since I've worked for Starbucks, we have been told a BWM gets 4 pumps of each syrup.... But, I always explain to customers that aspect and ask if they want 2 pumps each instead. Maybe it does depend on the district/region.....

[iced_short_cup]

LEGENDARY OR BUST

a BWM is essentially a M or WM with added syrup. What you are saying is that if someone asked you for a tall vanilla chai tea latte, you would put 1.5 pumps of V and 1.5 pumps of CH into the drink.

Or if someone asks you for vanilla in their coffee, you automatically add the amount of syrup pumps corresponding to the size of the cup of coffee. You don't decide that it is too sweet and only add 2 pumps for a grande unless the customer demands it.

I understand that CM have one less pump of vanilla because there are two sources of sugar, but that's a standard SBUX drink. a BWM is something a customer requested. It's not even on the POS.

[iced_short_cup]

i understand the reasoning to split the syrups (2 pumps WM and 2 pumps M for a grander)

I just believe that unless they state how many pumps they want in their drink, you put the amount (depending on size) that would've normally gone into the cup.

At my store, we encourage customers to have us remake their drinks if it is not to their liking. We even tell them at the register when they're tyring out a new drink and may/may not like it. If it is too sweet for someone, they can give it back and have me remake it for them.

[annonymous]

a tuxedo mocha isnt a standard drink so as long as you have both mocha and white mocha its ok

[is it so hard to be civil]

I always ask how many pumps after I tell them the standard for a drink that size. That way it's all up to the customer. They can't say you made it too strong or not sweet enough. I also charge for the white mocha sub mocha. If the total number of pumps exceeds the standard for that size cup the I charge for both. If you're cute I don't.

[Beantown Bearista]

When someone orders a Tuxedo or black and white mocha, I always offer the Marble Mocha Macchiatto as a substitute. They usually love it, and it becomes their new favorite drink.

[crema_the_crop]

Oh my god, look at this thread. If there is any proof needed that the organization is in disarray and one step away from total chaos, I don't know what more you would need....

[SSC Dog]

Lil Mommy,

I suggest that youshould contact Starbucks Leave Administration at 1-877-SBUXBEN (1-877-728-9236)and discuss your situation with them. They should know how to handle it. Please call as soon as you can.

SSC Dog

[Bentley]

Hey guys,

Has anyone received a call from a lawfirm about Starbucks and how they are trying to get a case together to sue starbucks for labor issues?? It seems crazy to me.... Anyone know anything about it??

[BigD]

Bentley - nope. Heard nothing about it... what state? or is it national?
...I'm in the Chicago area, btw

[Bentley]

BigD,

Yea, I live in California, it was strange, a law firm has been calling the partners and telling them they are putting a case together about labor issues and to call them regarding our issues with starbucks, as far as not getting paid overtime, or not getting paid for meal violatations and that we would be entitled to money. I have not called because it sounds very strange to me! Just wondering if anyone else has heard anything... thanks!!