Weekend OPEN THREAD: Discuss *anything* about Starbucks

Have something you want to get off your chest? A complaint about a customer or a barista? Or have a question about a Starbucks drink? Anything is open for discussion in the weekend OPEN THREAD. Let's get the chatter going! || Jump to the third page of comments.

Comments

[koolaid free]

@rebel:

Nope. I'm a long-term partner, but I don't claim to know it all...I learn something new everyday.

[nycsm]

Summer frappuccinos will be fully customized and reinvented. Anything you want, any way you want it.

From what I had heard, nyc is getting about 80 clovers. We'll see.

[Kay]

What kind of nut is the Toffee Nut Syrup made with?

[quitting]

LOL.

Kay, the Toffee Nut Syrup is made with Artificial Nut. If that doesn't appeal to you, I suggest Artificial Hazelnut, Artificial Cinnamon, Artificial Cherry, or Artificial Raspberry. Don't forget that Artificial Gingerbread and Artificial Pumpkin are available every fall. Yum!

[areyoukiddingme?]

I found out today that our daily frappuccino goal is higher than number of customers my store sees during the weekday. I can't wait for this promo to start!

[Erik]

I miss the lemon-poppyseed scones the most. As for coffee, I actually do not remember a peaberry at SB. I do miss Sulawesi.
@Ryan: peaberry kona is fantastic. A cheaper (and tasty, though not the same) alternative is Kauai peaberry. The poor-man's alternative to Kona, if you will.
@Julie re: two story SB's in San Diego
I lived in San Diego for quite awhile, and do not remember a two story SB. On the Pacific Coast Highway in Encinitas (a beautiful drive) there is a Pannikan's that is either a two-story or split level, depending on how you count. Perhaps that is the coffee house in question? It is an old, converted house, and I think it has been a Pannikan's for at least 20 years, if not longer.

[jetblue711]

I think the BRM says to charge for the most expensive per each sauce/syrup group once. For example, Grande 2pTN2pV Latte would be rung as a Vanilla Latte sub TN. Grande 1pV3pWM White Mocha would be rung as a White Mocha add Vanilla. A Grande +CR(sauce) WM would be rung as a White Mocha sub Carmel Sauce as they are both in the same category. Quad Tall Americano is rung as a Venti in a Tall cup. Water based drinks by shot/teabag (in USA) and milk based drinks by cup size. So an Iced Single Venti 2p White Mocha is still rung as a Venti White Mocha.
This is still confusing as I am writing it, there's gotta be a better system.

[Crema]

The truth is that bev. components are "accounted for" simply due to the astronomical markup on our beverages (namely brewed coffee). The cost-of-goods for syrups and the like (especially whipped cream) are absorbed by the prices we charge. Think of it as a big condiment bar behind the line that we baristas use. What the customers are actually paying for, like I've explained before, is the LABOR used to add syrups etc. to drinks.

[JRdrqz]

Hey NYCbearista
Or how about Darjeeling (sp?) and OM.

Jrdrqz

[me myself and I]

I thought we are supposed to charge for every group once if it is in addition to the regular recipe. So we charge only once for syrups, once for sauces (tough luck, if you add one of each group eg. TN Mocha) and once for dry ingredients that come on top of the regular recipe.
So as soon as you add something to it, the price goes up, but only once per group. If you add stuff out of all three groups you get charged three times. It doesn't always make sense, but that's how we were told and that's how I understand the BRM. Maybe I should go and read it again...

[Darth Sidamo]

I have an idea. With the new POS coming out why dont they program it so that when you ring it automatically adjusts the price. The code isn't hard. Somebody with normal Visual Basic or C++ training could do it. Just ring all modifiers and it chooses which ones based on Starbucks mythic interpretation (they leave it up for debate too much and then trump that with just say yes) to charge for.

Copyright. This was my idea. Royalties if you steal it Sbux.

[Andy, Shift Supervisor, Maryland]

Actually, Darth, I'm one of the stores that is on the new POS software, called "Simphony", and they've already done that. When you ring up drinks, it automatically computes the price for you. The problem is, I think the programmers, like many baristas, misinterpretted the BRM. So if someone orders a Rasberry Peppermint White Mocha and you ring up all these modfiers, it will charge you for a white mocha and one of the additional syrups, which, to my understanding, is wrong.

This new Simphony software is good once you get used to it, and i think, better overall. Much more visual and new looking. Somethings are bad, like you can only check sales from the registers not the back computers and it takes longer. But other things are better, like a Starbucks card transaction now only takes about 2 seconds or less to connect instead of 10 seconds.

[me myself and I]

I would always charge extra Syrup for a Raspberry Mocha or Peppermint Mocha. It is extra Syrup added onto a drink with a Sauce as the base flavor. As I said, it doesn't always make sense, but this is how the BRM is read by me and a lot of other people (Apparently even the programmers and supervisors of Simphony)

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

@me myself and I,

So the Simphony POS System automatically decides what to charge and not charge for? That would do wonders for consistency!

[1636339]

J. Rodriquez, is that your partner number?
Probably not the best idea posting that on the internet. You'll realize that when I steal your markout.

[asdfjkl;]

I absolutely hate the pour-over method for brewing, and quite a few of our customers do too.

Oh, and frappuccinos are the most retarded invention ever.

[Waltie]

If by "retarded" you mean "loved by lots of people and make a huge amount of money for Starbucks." Then, sure, they're "retarded."

[Darth Sidamo]

Just because it makes tons of money does not mean it has a place in an Italian coffee shop. Britney Spears has sold a lot of records. That of course means she is immensely talented.

[SD]

2 story store in San Diego=

5th and F in downtown SD. Check it out. Could be a cool place with the right team.

[Waltie]

"Just because it makes tons of money does not mean it has a place in an Italian coffee shop. Britney Spears has sold a lot of records. That of course means she is immensely talented."

No, but the fact that she has made a lot of money doesn't make her music retarded, nor are her fans. People like fraps and they make a lot of money for Starbucks. So that makes it a win win in my opinion, whether or not you'd find it in an Italian coffee shop. My store isn't in Italy anyway so it's all good.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

The pour over method is part of the Third Wave of coffee.

[Catherine]

I order a non-fat vanilla iced coffee almost every time I go to Starbucks. Most of the time they put vanilla in as a sub. But if they don't, at least it is free anyway with the use of my registered Starbucks card.

[Darth Sidamo]

I guess there are no Chinese restaurants where you live because you are not in China?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc

Yes her fans are definitely not mental. You can tell obviously by her 8-15 year old girl fan base (With the exception of the 40 year old man that lives with parents) that her songs that are written by other people, recorded and edited as heavily as a photo of Chelsea Handler in Maxim, is mind blowing. Money does not equal talent or mean that it is a good thing. That is like saying Hitler was a good person because he was an elected official. It's simply not true.

[Waltie]

Nobody ever said money equals talent (although, one might say that Brittney Spears has a talent for making money). I was simply saying that products that make money and give people enjoyment and satisfaction are not "retarded." They are unqualified successes.

And there are plenty of Chinese restaurants where I live. Though I doubt the cuisine you find there is all that similar to what you'd actually find at a typical restaurant in china. You don't think fortune cookies are actually Chinese, do you? But they are fun and people like them.

[shi(f)tsupervisor]

Does anyone else - and forgive me if I missed similar posts on here - think it's atrocious and absolutely ridiculous that Howard made a huge speech at the end of our surveys about how the "company will be focusing on partners now" and how they had "asked too much of us already"... And then, right as summer rolls around, they completely revamp the entire frappuccino line. Thereby basically destroying the small amount of soul we baristas have left.

[Melody]

@ShiftSupervisor - I've got a copy of that HS speech on my blog. I've heard it and I don't get how re-inventing the Frappuccino destroys barista soul?

It's been in testing for like 2 years in numerous cities. I even know a few baristas in a few of those market, and they dont appear to be worn down from a Frappuccino. The hard part will be the outcry of customers who only want what they know and don't want to change - That could be a loud cry from customers.

Just confused what you mean. Sorry.

[newfrappssuck]

b/c the new fraps are asinine, take up an incredible amount of space, require a ton of training, and will lead to numerous customer complaints.
Test marketing it does not make it a good idea or a good product.
I do however find the word retarded juvenile to the inth degree

[Christinschu]

making the new frappuccinos is easy! Sure it's an extra step to the process, but in reality that only takes a second.

I love that we don't have to make cubes and cubes of frappuccino prep. So I'm not sure how you think new frappuccinos destroy the barista soul.

[Frappagyna]

I have a question to those who may know. We have problems with the pastry case at our store, and I can't seem to get anyone to listen to me. In looking in all the books it seems that the pastry case should be BELOW 41f as a standard. That is what it says in the pastry book and the equipment maintenance book.

Our DM will not let us turn the baffles to allow cooling into the case, meaning that our pastry case is constantly at around 75f-80f. The DM says that it ruins the pastries (it does make them pretty cold, i'll admit). When I raised this issue I was told that the 41f rule doesn't apply anymore, but no one seems able or willing to point out documentation for this.

Call me old fashioned but I think that a cheese danish at 80f is pretty gross....

Thoughts on what it should be, how to deal with it, and what others do?

[Leslie]

Has anyone else run into any problems with the new POS system and partner markouts? I havent worked yet since the new system was implemented, but when I went in today to get my weekly Earl Grey markout, the POS would only give me the 30% discount, and wouldnt let anyone mark it out. We havent tried marking out whole bean yet. Anyone know whats up there?

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

Leslie,
Have you not heard the horrible news? Tea Markouts have been suspended until the end of June due to low inventory. It's on the portal. I get tea markouts more often than coffee, so this makes me realllly sad ;(

[Christinschu]

frappagyna: I have worked for Starbucks almost 4 years and have NEVER fridgerated the pastry case except for when we had Summer Berry STack, or what ever it's called.

I have never seen direction to do so, or at least never noticed it. I have worked for dozens of DM's, in 3 different states, and in 7 stores. As far as I can tell, no one keeps their case cold.

It does in fact mess with the quality of the pastries.

PS why would your danish be 80 degrees? Should be room temp, which is what I think most people expect. I would actually DISlike a cold danish.

[Christinschu]

@frappagyna again:

I looked in the food and pastry manual, it says that the REFRIDGERATED FOOD Case needs to be under 41 degrees, they are referring to the section that hold sandwiches and rtd drinks. There are clearly two sections to the food and pastry manual. One section is for the pastry case, the second section is for the refridgerated food case. The refridgerated food case being the RTD section, the part customers have access to.
There is no temperature requirements for the pastry case portion.

[Christinschu]

I really should have edited my posts :/

[Ratch Tech]

The starbucks at CSU San Marcos is 2 story. The lobby is one and then you have to go outside and upstairs to get to the lounge area.

Horrible customer service, but double story.

[Kenyagal]

Has anyone done the new repeatable method training? Learning to fold a Tshirt? Arg! And then becoming a frapucino robot. Major step 1 - pump in the coffee. Major step 2 - add milk to the lower line. Major step 3 - pour ingredients into blender etc.... OMG and have you tasted the new frapucinos? There is some chemical aftertaste that I can't identify but it was still on my tongue an hour after I tasted the new CRF. I agree that the new customisable blended drinks are a great idea and the texture is very nice but that aftertaste.....ugh

[unclehowie]

ok, i know everyone hates selling VIA and hates the new fraps coming out. I am a long time partner that is really impartial to a lot of the new changes. granted, I hate having to feel like a used car salesman, but overall I think VIA is a good thing. I would guess that if you would look at our profit margin on VIA it would be huge. That stuff can't be that expensive to make and at a little under a dollar a pack, it's a gold mine for us. Ultimately I would have to believe that by tapping into that market and selling the crap out of VIA then that would lead to better benefits (or at least retaining the ones we have) or other perks! (ha ha get it...perks) with the new fraps coming out, how is it retarded to make one of our most popular drinks just as customizable as everything else we sell? Also, the more fraps we sell the more labor we will be getting (technically) now don't go thinking that I'm drinking all the kool-aid, but on these two things I am pretty optimistic. also, did you guys check out this link...what you think? http://www.starbucks.com/blog/10113/starbucks-listens-to-customer-request-for-more-sizes.aspx

[aprilfoolssucka]

dude, it's a joke

[Uncle howie]

Are you serious it's a joke? I was looking forward the hillbilly ladies at my store ordering one for their three yr old

[I know, Right?]

Re: charging. If you check the BRM on the portal, it was just updated again 11/09, I assume to clarify. The rule (still) is that you charge for the highest cost addition, and sub everything else. It uses specific examples, so I'd definitely check it out.

[DownWithHS]

The new FRAPPUCINO is genius. It takes up roughly the same space, is a time saver on the front end, the consistency is better and is easy to make (this coming from a 5+ year partner). I capitalize FRAPPUCINO because far too many tools call it FRAPP. It's not a frap, we have a trademark on Frappucino, frappe is a different company.

CDC and DC RP plants have to move up our start date, so I actually fully implemented it today and my customers are raving about it.

@Koolaid--You have a button on your POS that says "SUB". It adds every inclusion at no charge. Use it and stop overcharging customers.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

The pastry case is supposed to be at ambient and not cooling the pastries as you might think.
Also, yes the retail tea are no longer available for mark-outs due to product analytics.

[Paula Wild]

Does the U.S. Starbucks respond the same way Great Britain does?

Recently, British Royal Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees, and to request that they send some of it to the troops there. Starbucks replied, telling the Royal Marines thank you for their support of their business, but that Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it,
and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee. So as not to offend Starbucks, maybe we should support them by NOT buying any of their products!

[Andi]

No Tea mark outs till June 28! Yes have to love it since I only mark out tea! Thanks Starbucks for not making enough! BTW we a have been out of a few teas for weeks, and are zeroed out on the order each week.

[buck'it]

Just finished the frap training today. if you had to do the t-shirt thing too them you understand the stupidity of the whole over and over and over the instructions thing. it sucked. all i have to say is that if it take someone 6 time to learn how to make a caramel frap when they have been making it before then they are stupid and are not fit to serve water to dogs. I read the instructions over a week ago on the portal and knew exactly what to do. plus we have to follow step by step stickers. a monkey could do it.

[Sharon Botha]

Visited America and thought I must try starbucks as I love my coffee. It was one of the worst cups of coffee I have tasted, so disappointing.
I just threw it away.

[nunya]

Sheesh. I charge them extra just for being a picky pain in the ass. Just drink yer damn mocha and shut up.

[buttonpusherhater]

Word on the street is Sbux is going to start outsourcing the buttonpushers to FSN. A win for everyone!!!

[Jian ( blooming tea )]

Why is it Starbucks coffee in the Philippines doesn't taste as good as in the US? a bit disappointed why I got to a newly opened branch here near my hotel.

[onprcntr]

FSN still can't handle it. Their network is terrible. I have had to clean up after them numerous times. The 901 has come a long way though. most of the issue are resolved with the exception of a still Steam Probe