Starbucks store forced to serve Espresso Roast, customers told it's Cafe Estima

A barista at the lower Manhattan store told a customer: "We've been asking them to send us some [Estima] for days but they won't send us any and they won't let us change the sign, so we're brewing espresso instead. We're not supposed to be telling people." Are other stores having problems getting Cafe Estima? (Read the story at Eater.com)

Comments

I don't think that we are having a problem getting cafe estima.

But I think that the more important issue is that they "weren't telling customers that they were brewing Espresso instead". I realize that Cafe Estima is a Fair Trade and we are promoting it. But when you run out of it as the Coffee of the Week, you can change it. People are paying 2.01 for a venti cup of coffee, they should get what they want. Sometimes, the roasting plant runs out of stuff or orders get messed up, but don't say you are brewing our fair trade, when you are brewing espresso roast. Some customers know, and i find it rude to assume they don't!

Why are you using espresso roast to replace Estima? Why not use another blend?

oh.. you're using the espresso roast from those 5lb bags that you use for the espresso machine? and not from the 1lb espresso roast pacakages sold to customers?

ahh, now it makes sense. I assume the 5lb bag of espresso is cheaper per lb than anything sold to the customer?

The roasting plants were out of Cafe Estima. I ordered it for my store and was alerted that the roasting plants were out in portion packs but not in the 1lb. retail version.

[Sheik]

Like customers can tell the difference between all our coffee's anyway....

*eyeroll*

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP webmaster]

Sheik -- So deception is fine with you? Legendary service. Right.

[Sheik]

I never said deception was fine. Does it say that in my post?

I'm just saying that 99% of our drip coffee customers won't be able to tell a difference and/or won't care. It's not like they are brewing French Roast and saying it's LiteNote...

[buckyducky]

We have had no trouble getting Estima. And the other posters are correct,if you are out of C.O.W., just brew something else. We do it all the time. Sounds like a Store Manager is playing a game of CYA, or whoever placed the order is, at least. And unless you pay for a DM approved emergency order, you won't get more until your next order day. So the baristas may have been asking management for it for days, but it isn't coming till the next delivery does. This is a reflection on a poorly managed store, not on a deceitful company.

[~~the dmr~~]

Uh...Espresso is never supposed to be brewed as Coffee of the Day. It is covered in the Beverage Resource Manual and CORE Manual as to what it is acceptable for brewing as the Coffee of the Day.

If you run out of the featured C.O.D. the procdure is to choose a Bold/Smooth from left over prepack(what would be your brew-thru/managers choice)

Anything your were told otherwise is wrong. Also, 1lb flavorlocks should not be used for C.O.D. unless you have no other non-espresso prepacks or 5lb bullets available.

[Dumb question]

if there's not going to get more Estima till next week, why doesnt mgmt just change the sign?

It's not like it's going to be labor intensive and you're changing the sign every shift. change it once to what you are serving in place of the Estima.

Logical, no???

[JB]

I agree, Why not change the sign? Or, at the very least say "Sorry, we've run out. Would you like something else?"?

I think it makes sense.

[Theolaxor]

Most people dont even care what the COD is, as long as there is a light, a dark , and a decaf theyre usually happy

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

I just take whatever coffee there is around and mix it together.

[nycbearista]

I am thinking it must have been a delivery snafu - as mentioned above, since our store also could not seem to get any. We brewed through our leftover pre-pack COD and then yesterday I was forced to go into the 5# bags of espresso. Not a biggie, just change the sign on the shuttles, as was mentioned above, and inform the customers that you've run out of the featured Coffee of the week and are serving espresson roast instead.

To my mind it is a perfect chance to connect with customers about espresso roast, which is the keynote of our stores, the basis of all our espresso-based drinks. you can taok about how smooth it is compared to other blends, offer americanos at the bar, and so on. heck you might get a lifelong addict.... er.... FAN of espresso roast out of it, instead of somebody who just takes whatever we have to offer on a weekly basis.

in other words, it sucked for us, but it was an opportunity for better customer service and for making connections.

[StarbucksAssistantManager]

Poor decision making on the leader of that team. Managers have the ability to change coffee if we run out, or if the distribution centers run out as well. Even though it is fair trade month we should never be lying to our customers or misleading them, this is not the company that I work for and they are definately not following our missions statement and creating enthusiatically satisfied customers all of the time.

[coffeeguy]

The offical procedure is to simply change the sign and brew as similar a coffee as possible to the estima blend.

If it were me that would probally be either Gold Coast or Yukon.

This story is full of crock. I'm sorry but why would a store not simply change the sign and brew a diffrent coffee?

It makes no sense. Even if a customer gets upset that the coffee isn't Fair trade you can simply point them to our C.A.F.E. practices and share a bit about our companys commitment with them.

[coco]

We have plenty of Estima in So Cal. What you brew each day should always match what is on your sign. Learned from experience when our Regional Manager reamed us for not having the correct signage on the COW sign. He lives around the corner!

[averrycafinatedbarrista]

if we run out of estima (which, in my store, is entirely possible, we tend to brew something similar if we have it and we try to inform our customers that we have run out of it, change the sighn etc.

but, i do agree, that most of our customers do not care for that. the offer is there, and i can talk about coffee all I want, it does not change the fact that all they want is a simple cup of coffee.

and for those that demand only fair trade coffee (which, by the way, only one customer has done so far) i brew a french press especialy for them while talking about fair trade and the CAFE standard that starbucks clames. both of us walk away englightened and nobody gets angry (although she was rather annoyed about waiting four minutes for a cup of coffee. she expected me to have it in two...people these days)

[Rae]

Telling me that it was really Estima would just prompt me to try one of the other Coffees of the Day. Estima has to be one of the worst coffees I've ever tried.

We ran out of estima, but we didn't brew something else, our manager told the person doing COD that day to open up those preground estima packages, that no one buys at our store.

[Deusx]

Wow, this couldn't possibly be people with an agenda stirring shit up? The effort (and risk) of serving on coffee and claiming it's another isn't worth it. What possible reason would someone have to do this?
Coming from that area, I would wonder who would have an agenda to stir up trouble with a bogus story.

[JUSTME]

DMR I've read the Beverage Resource Manual and CORE Manual and see where we never should brew espresso roast has the COD (which now is know as the COW) but it also says never brew the french as a COD also and Starbucks has offered that as the offical scheduled COD during the past 12 months. Maybe it changed and we missed a memo?

[coffeegal]

A barista at the lower Manhattan store told a customer blah blah blah and yada yada yada. I've heard baristas say the STUPIDEST things to customers. They make stuff up on the spot and sound like they know what they are talking about. It drives me crazy, things like the dark roast brewed coffee has less caffine than the mild/medium blends or you can save a shot of espresso if you add syrup or the iced coffee is good for 24 hours. All these starbucks stories (lores) that get passed along by the ignorant. Don't believe what you hear from the baristas check with the asm, rm's and coffee masters.

[jabanga]

a non-story is more like it. some barista said something to somebody that most likely wasn't true.

[Me]

Are there no other stores in the area? When we run out of our COW we simply call up one of the other 6 stores in the area and transfer out some of theirs.

We are not supposed to brew Espresso as COW, ever, but you know what, when worst comes to worst, you do- its coffee! Plus, when we've had to do it at my store people have LOVED it brewed drip. Who'd have known!

[Lauren]

If this caught the eye of corporate -- I hope there's hell to pay.

There is no excuse for deception. There is no excuse to follow your manager's advice if he tells you to tell your customers the wrong thing. Stand up for yourself and the company AND the customer. Tell them the truth.

I either smell bull, or I say this is an awful thing.

As far as espresso as cow: the resource manuals used to state that we would brew our top 8's as cow, but they've since moved over to a "Primary and Secondary" stance (instead of bold and mild) and started buying coffee that's lowest considering market price. We're no longer supposed to brew espresso or french (but you're right, it has been on the coffee calendar) but they do support the notion that they'd rather have some coffee rather than no coffee.

I just think that a lie to customers, even if it's small, says a huge thing about an organization and should never be done.

(ps, espresso as a drip is amazing)

[Deusx]

Actually Coffeegirl, the darker the roast the less caffeine is left in the bean. Realistically speaking, the difference wouldn't be noticeable unless comparing our lightest roast with our darkest, but it is a fact none the less. That is not an starbucks urban legend, its fact.

[~~the dmr~~]

As for the French Roast not being used as Coffee of the Day/Week, I believe that is just something that was over looked and fell by the wayside. The CORE my store currently trains with is 2005, and our amalgimation of BRM ranges from 2004 to 2006. The best explanation I can give would be if French Roast was used as a promotional COD (think Estima with the "new" Estima packaging and gift packs) or it was done as a seasonal thing (maybe around Valentines day with Verona)

[Heather]

Coffeegal: if you hear a barista saying something wrong or doing something wrong, that's the perfect time to do a little on-the-spot coaching instead of getting angry with them. They're not making this stuff up on the spot, it's information (albeit misinformation) that's been passed down TO them. If you're passionate about it and have the knowedlge yourself, then take the opportunity to impart reality to your fellow partners! (It's like the opposite of Ask For Help, but I think it's still connected.)

[Jimmy Chang in NYC]

This story has so much b.s. written all over it. And yes, espresso roast from a coffee press is awesome.

Get over yourselves on this obvious bogus story and get on with your lives.

[Donald]

"Actually Coffeegirl, the darker the roast the less caffeine is left in the bean. Realistically speaking, the difference wouldn't be noticeable unless comparing our lightest roast with our darkest, but it is a fact none the less. That is not an starbucks urban legend, its fact."

Actually, that's not strictly true. Roasting coffee has such a negligible effect on caffeine content that, for all intetents and purposes, it has no real effect at all. Dark roast has pretty much the same caffeine level as light roast. It all depends on the beans themselves, the soild they grew in, etc.

Also, espresso has been officially COW a few times over the past year, so the idea that it should never be served as such makes no sense. The store shouldn't be lying to customers, however.

[Z-PHANTOM]

If your SM or DM want you to deceive customers, you should write into Mission Review.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

I think customers are some gullible. They will believe almost anything as long as you are wearing a green apron and say it with a smile.

[bo]

however donald:

while the differences in OUR coffees may not be huge, if you were to compare any of our dark roasts (or ones with components: VER/GCO) to your standard McD's or like coffees, you'd see the difference...

the caffiene is in the moisture, which is lost the longer you roast.

i think the issue the gal was having was that people assumed lighter bodied coffees have more caffiene than fuller ones, which isn't nessasarily accurate (like HOU vs SUM)..

and yes, espressso and french can be brewed for COW. the fact that DRM wrote COD says to me that they are old school...
and it was once a rule, however is no longer one.

[imabarista]

Rae- Estima is one of the 3 best smelling coffees we have.
Until brewed....then it is in the top five.

I love the taste, btw.

[coffeeguy]

You know i've always found that I just perfer Gold Coast over Estima when I'm looking for a nice strong smooth coffee.

I don't know just something about that extra Body that Gold Coast has is so much more filling.

[Laurie]

i dont know about you but i have boxes upon boxes of FTN on my storage shelves.

[coffeeguy]

It all depends really.

What you sample to customers sells. when a bag of beans goes out and our charity is good for coffee we often mark out the coffee as sampled and grind it up into single batch portions for our whole bean customers. It's a good way for them to try new blends they would not normally try. They seem to like the idea.

coffeegal: got the messgae? It's YOU who are spreading false info...Dark roast has less caffine in it. You need to brush up on your coffee learning before you teach new partners the wrong thing. Looks like it's you who is spreading the wrong info that bugs you so much...

[IMHO]

Darker has less caffeine than lighter??? only if you're talking about taking the same bean.

There are too many variables that affect the amount of caffeine in the final cup, from the growing conditions and the actual genetic make up of the plant, to how the coffee is roasted and brewed.

There's no way of knowing if that particular batch of Breakfast Blend has more caffeine than that particular batch of Caffe Verona.

If a customer is looking for more caffeine rather than a flavor, your connect-discover-RESPOND should be a conversation about # of servings... "if you have 4 shots of espresso, you're certainly going to ingest more caffeine than in just 1 shot".

Throw a shot of espresso into a cup of dark roast and you can be fairly certain that there will be more caffeine than in a cup of light roast... you're getting 2 servings in one!!

[John Molina]

Oh, no! Some human made a mistake! Alert the media!

[Blackwasser]

Cafe Estima needs to be taken off the bold selection. I would have been quite pleased to find out I have an Expresso Roast instead of an Estima. I don't believe Estima should be classified as a Bold. However, advertising one thing and serving another is a big mistake. I would not trust that I was getting what I was buying until I tasted it. Not a good move by this store.