Let's pick up the chatter in this weekend's OPEN THREAD

This week's big earning news was met with yawns by Starbucks Gossip readers. So what SBUX gossip/news/outrage of the week is worth discussing? You decide! Anything SBUX-related topic is fair game.

Comments

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER]

I'll start out by posting this Los Angeles Times reporter's tweet:

Following @Starbucks for sole purpose of being able to tell them it's time to retire Pike Place and also sell/brew Christmas blend all year.

[mornbecomes]

beverage questions--

how many scoops of matcha in a grtl? the new cards say 2, 3, 4... was this always the case?

refill policy on hot teas- what does it mean? the beverage resource manual is obtuse.

[Friday!]

@mornbecomes: Yes, that was always the case--at least in my 3 yrs I've been at Sbux.

[ibblet]

yup 2 3 4. i=When you use the dry mixings you always use the same number you would put into a frap for that size. Like when people want vanilla bean steaming with thier milk for lattes.

[yenny]

Judge lets Starbucks end Kraft partnership

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/judge-lets-starbucks-end-kraft-partnership-2011-01-28

[Starbuckers, Inc.]

Anyone else experimenting with steaming all drinks to the extra-hot setting (on the Verissimo)?

We started doing this in my store hoping it would improve drink satisfaction. Then on Facebook I saw a non-employee friend from a different state post this: "Just burned the hell out of my tongue on a scalding hot chai. Thanks for making it 10x hotter than usual, Starbucks. #%@$&!!"

So I started wondering if other stores were doing the same.

[spence]

SAUCES should be served extra hot especially if they are receiving whipped cream. Not chai's. Just the sauces. ie. mocha, WM Caramel Brulee, Pumpkin Spice. The sauces cool the drink much faster than a syrup. Whipped Cream also cools the drink.
Use the less hot button for soy.
Cappucinos are a drinking beverage not a sipping beverage so they should also be served less hot.

[BAYAREABUX]

Starbuckers,

Don't think that you know better than the customer. If they want their drink extra hot, they'll tell you. Many times on this board we've discussed baristas omitting water from chai tea lattes because the BARISTA made that decision for the customer. Not okay. The best route to beverage satisfaction scores is by following the recipe, which ensures a consistent experience from store to store and thus a happier customer.

[P]

^ backing up bayareabux ^

[Starbuckers, Inc.]

"Don't think that you know better than the customer. If they want their drink extra hot, they'll tell you."

Oh, I agree. This is a management decision, not mine. But I think spence has a good point on the sauces.

[Crema_the_Crop]

Anybody have details on what the goings-on in Seattle this coming week are? My DM is headed there for a "leadership conference". I'm assuming they're announcing the details of the upcoming March "Anniversary" celebration??

[Jeff Tom]

Starbucks CEO Schultz's pay rose 45 percent in 2010 - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014069729_schultz29.html

[Former 3 year partner]

@mornbecomes: it's been awhile since I worked there, but I would assume it's free refills on hot teas unless they want a new bag. But a bag of tea is only I think $.45 (plus or minus, depending on where your store is) so if they wanted that, I would just charge them for a bag rather than for a hot tea, or put it in as an iced tea refill. But it's been 2 yrs since I worked there and my old store completely changed their POS system, so I don't know if you have all the options I just mentioned

[Former 3 year partner]

@STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER: I totally agree... not a fan of Pike Place. Never have been. I don't think XMas is available all year though (and absence makes the heart grow fonder, so people would lose their love affair with it if it was always available) but I don't see why they can't just brew House instead of Pike. It sounds appropriate to me: "I'll have a House coffee"

[javagirl666]

If you are "swirling" the espresso shot into the sauce as it is pouring, your drink will be just fine w/o making it extra-hot..unless requested by customer..if this weren't the case, dont you think the company standard would be to "steam all sauce based beverages extra-hot". I agree..stick with the recipes for consistency.

[shiftinspokane]

Pretty sure the standard is to steam milk for mochas at the hotter end of the spectrum- 170 degrees, which is extra hot on the mastrenas.

[Hipsterdufus]

last time I looked it WAS company standard to steamextra hot for sauce based beverages. It was in the BRM but might have been omitted in the most recent BRM revision.

And 'swirling' is NOT a company standard so your argument isn't logical. Why recommend one non-standard over another non-standard because the other isn't a standard?

Also, 'swirling' will do nothing to keep the temp from falling. It will mix the drink better, but the reason most steam sauces extra hot is because the sauce is room temp and brings the temp of the steamed milk down and the WC is cold also bringing the temp down.

[Friday!]

We've been steaming all beverages (unless requested) at extra hot for almost a year. I hate doing this, but I'm not the SM or DM. Supposedly our beverage quality was poor; I guess this made it better.

[spence]

Sauces are supposed to be steamed extra hot. That's not my idea. Check your books. It says to steam the milk closer to 170 degrees.
Bonus: Your satisfaction rate will go up. However, it you "extra hot" your syrups, your satisfaction rate will drop.

[javagirl666]

Are syrups not kept at room temperature?

[ibblet]

they are kept at room temp but the sauces are so super thick and if you dont extra hot it or swirl (who has the time to do this 0.o) it then there is gonna be alot of goop at the bottom of the cup and you wont has as much of the flavor

[javagirl666]

LOL.

[Doppio Con Karma]

@ ibblet
With br2 its easier than ever to swirl the cup while the shots are pulling. You should only be working on two beverages at a time.

[hipsterdufus]

well yes, syrups are room temp as well, but they are not as thick and there for do not effect temp as much. Also, most syrup drinks do not by default get WC.

[BAYAREABUX]

170 is not extra hot -- its within the 150-170 degree window on your thermometer. All drinks should be served within this window unless its a kids drink, apple cider, or customer request. Now, that doesn't meet you can't use your best judgment. For a cappuccino, I cut off the steam at 140 and let the temp slowly rise to 150 after the steam is finished. For a mocha or white mocha, I'll kick the steam back on for a few seconds after it shuts off auto steam. I agree that closer to 170 is a good idea for sauce-based beverage.

For as long as I can remember extra hot has meant 180. I've been around twice as the maestrena has and I could care less what its preprogrammed buttons do. If you really want to make great beverage, use manual when it counts.

[MonkeyJoe]

BAYAREABUX: If Starbucks had wanted extra hot to be 180, they would have designed the Mastrena to steam to 180 when the button was pushed.

[lattelady]

How many shots in the old Starbucks Double Shot?

[shiftinspokane]

The iced Starbucks Double Shot beverage should get two shots in a tall, 3 shots in a grande, and 5 shots in a venti, with the same number pumps of classic syrup as number of shots.

[Hirayuki]

Any word on new SF syrups in the works? As the weather warms up (extremely slowly here in SE MI, as it turns out), I've begun dreaming of a trenta iced coffee in exciting new SF flavors. (So much for trentas being calorie bombs.)

[Staxman]

@bayareabux: Right on! Baristas thinking they know better than I do, and the inability of store managers and customer service @ corporate to understand the issue, is why I no longer go to Starbucks.

[Waltie]

Instead of steaming all drinks extra hot, stores should do a root cause analysis to look at why the wait times are so long as to make a 160 degree drink feel luke warm at the time of pick up. Steaming extra hot is probably just a crutch for some other problem that continues to go untreated.

[wyld]

Open question to baristas, how is the newest register software working for you?
From the technical support toll-free number having its own category for it right at the start of the call I'm feeling a little less than optimistic that my store will have a smooth roll-out when it is installed this week. Especially since our back office computer has been constantly crashing all weekend despite numerous service techs replacing every removable part within it.

So, what kind of system bugs/etc. can I expect, and how have you worked around it?

[baroosta]

@wyld - the biggest problem with simphony is that the ibm registers cannot handle the simphony software, even with a memory upgrade that comes with the simphony installation...one of the techs that came out to my store to fix a crashed register said that sbux corporate knew that the regiaters were too outdated to handle simphony but they had invested so much money in simphony they rolled it out anyway

the mws computer is not connected to the pos anymore and you get a windows desktop with new apps...so it is nice because the portal or whatevers open can be minimized because you can only clock in and out on the computer in back

like everything else at sbux simphony is a good idea that is simply rolled out too soon...

[baroosta]

And when the register crashes it takes at least 10 mins for it to restart because it has to load windows and then the simphony software...

[spence]

We have had symphony for 6 months or more. They have crashed 2 or 3 times during that time on my specific shifts. It's been an inconvenience during those minutes while it warmed up but certainly nothing to stress over.

[BAYAREABUX]

All of the Mastrenas I've worked on steam a "kids" drink to 130, even though the BRM and recipe cards say 120.

If espresso machines were perfect there would be no need to adjust the grind and the machine could make the coffee while we staff the floor with just 1 barista. I've never been a fan of the "set it and forget it" approach to milk steaming. It makes sense to me that "extra hot" would be past the red "normal serving temp" window on the thermometer. In many years with Starbucks I can never recall an "extra hot" customer returning their drink for being too hot!

[anon]

They have returned them for that reason in my experience. If you steam it too extra hot it tastes burnt and some people will return it. I have seen it happen. The trick is extra hot but not too hot. Follow the manuals, whatever they currently say

[javagirl666]

We dont use thermometers anymore.

[Crema_the_Crop]

There is a difference between serving temperature and the temperature at which you stop steaming. In general, add 5-10 degrees of "coasting" to the temperature at which you cut off the steam. Also, the digital thermometer on the Mastrena has a considerable amount of "lag" to it. The "serving" temperature of a kids drink is to be "no higher than 130 degrees". So it makes sense to mandate that baristas are/were to stop steaming at 120 (using standard thermometers on Verismos). Also, there is no longer any instruction in the most current version of the BRM (available online only) or the most recent version of the recipe cards to steam cappuccinos, apple juice, or soy to the previously advised 140 for capps and 150 for soy/apple juice.

Also, has anyone else been told that it is acceptable to steam two short milks in the same pitcher? I.e., two kids hot chocolates together? My SM seems to think this is the case. I don't see why it would be so. I get that it's a lesser amount of milk and that you have to steam at least a tall each time, but it keeps you in routine and keeps the production pace the same. Also, we are getting smaller pitchers which will enable us to steam short sizes without waste...

[Barista Basics]

"swirl"ing is now a part of the new training materials for making sauce based beverages.

[simphonyhater]

Simphony is AWFUL. From a mgrs perspective it sucks because you are constantly having to exit what you're doing to let people use the time clock. Writing a schedule takes much longer now..not to mention anytime a register freezes and you want to restart it, it takes upwards of 15 minutes before it's usable again. During peak that 15 mins is PRECIOUS when it's your expediter reg. This was just confirmation that I am in fact a Mac, and not a PC.

[Waltie]

I'm not in love with Simphony. I like being able to modify drinks without having to void out the entire order, but just about everything else is kind of not that great.

[R1]

Simphony means pushing about 3 times more buttons than we did before to accomplish the same transaction. It's not helping speed of service or repetitive motion injury. It wasn't hard to find RTD items or am or pm pastries listed all on one screen. Sifting through all the categories and screens in Simphony is time consuming and frustrating. I am not pleased.

[notthathard]

beverage questions--

how many scoops of matcha in a grtl? the new cards say 2, 3, 4... was this always the case?

UH YEA...just wow

[pullyourheadoutof]

"last time I looked it WAS company standard to steamextra hot for sauce based beverages. It was in the BRM but might have been omitted in the most recent BRM revision.

And 'swirling' is NOT a company standard so your argument isn't logical. Why recommend one non-standard over another non-standard because the other isn't a standard?"

Actually "swirling" is on the recipe cards now big shot. And no, nothing about making them extra hot. Get your info straight if you are going to flame others for not having their's so.