OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Is iced coffee really a hot product?

A Slate story says sales of iced coffee at fast-food outlets were up 38% in the year as of last March, and that there's still room for growth. I occasionally have an iced Americano, but it has to be over 85-degrees outside to get me to switch from hot. Discuss iced coffee or anything else Starbucks-related in the weekend open thread. ||Read "Iced Coffee: Hot Product?" (Slate)

Comments

[Matt]

Ok so I went to a diffrent store and they wrote Iced Coffee BC in the box and of course I called the guy out but then he proved to me by showing me the next flash cards and sbux has changed the code. So I toald my manager but she looked on the portal and they havent changed it on there.....so whats the code IC or BC???

[Will]

I think either would work...as long as they know what you're talking about.

Calling out guys at different stores for not marking cups correctly is the height of douchedom.

[energybolt]

Anyone else packing for New Orleans?! I'm looking forward to what is in our near future for our company! Safe travel to you all!

[Curious]

Looks like Clover isn't the only product doing the automated french press coffee. I was surprised to discover a local (2 location) independent coffee shop that serves a version of this with their very own trademarked machines.

Which led me to ask, how many other retailers are doing their own verion of "Clover" coffee?

I would love to taste a cup of "Clover" coffee and not use overburned beans. Especially now that Starbucks own the Clover company and no independent shops can buy the anymore.

[Janine]

I got laid off on Monday. Was this only in my area or were there other layoffs for Sbux then too?

[Yum]

IBC, right? As in Iced. Brewed. Coffee. I don't see why that would need changing...

But I think people are realizing cold coffee isn't that strange of a concept, maybe since so many fast food venues are serving it, too. Personally I think our iced coffee with vanilla and cream is hard to beat :)

[Edgar Estima]

I agree with Will. The purpose of cup-marking is efficient communication, so as long as the drink is being communicated efficiently, there should be no problem. Marking "VL" in the drink box is not efficient communication since the recepient is not expecting "VL," meaning it's not one of the pre-determined accepted values, so to speak. If at this particular store BC is the accepted value for iced brewed coffee, who cares as long as the quality of the coffee is untainted.

As for me, I am not an iced coffee fan. I can do an iced Americano but only with some sugar/Classic and milk. I usually stick, though, with my iced lattes and Starbucks Doubleshots.

[ShiftyinNV]

"I think either would work...as long as they know what you're talking about."

Yes.

I write IC. Not only do I not care what anyone in a different store writes, I don't care if someone in my own store writes BC or IC. I know what's being referred to. This isn't like GRTL vs. GTL where one letter means a different drink. Come on now.

[Natasha]

Has anyone that has been laid off / store closed gone to COBRA for the health insurance? I'm trying to figure out an approximate cost for myself and my family. Thanks!

[Ken]

I live in Arizona (its still in the high 80's even now in Oct). I get iced coffee almost all year round. Expecially in the afternoon. And honestly, I'm not a huge fan of starbucks coffee hot, but thier ice coffee is really pretty good.

[foxy]

Did anybody else get a ridiculous amount of Anniversary Blend autoshipped with their roasting plant order this week? We got enough that we don't need to order bold for a couple of weeks.

[burundi lover]

Is Burundi gone for good? It was one of my absolute favorites as an iced coffee. Also, any word on when the Philly area might see a Clover installed?

The code for iced coffee is "IC", they did change it for a brief moment then decided "IC" was easier. Those flashcards that the barista had was probably outdated. We were supposed to throw out old ones and order new ones.

Burundi is one of my favorites as well. But sadly, it is done. I still have anniversary blend coming out of everywhere and going nowhere!

[xtrahotonice]

hi, i have a totally unrelated question...so sorry, but i was wondering, to what temperature is soy milk supposed to be steamed? 140 degrees f? I looked in the BRM, but couldn't find a temperature. Just wondering.....

[espresso=love]

I personally think that an iced coffee with a splash of half and half is a delicious treat! And I love that you can drink it right away rather than waiting for it to cool (yes, I really love coffee!).
@xtrahotonice---It's supposed to be steamed to 180; I know this because at the Starbucks I frequent it's normally 180, but I always want it a little cooler (140) because my tongue gets burned easily.

[Redd]

I absolutely LOVE our iced coffee. I like that you really don't need any sweetener in it...and rarely any cream! I'm not a black brewed coffee drinker, but will definitely drink my iced coffee black.

After the free iced coffee card promotion, our iced coffee sales definitely went up. Before that promotion we barely went through the two pitchers we made a day, but after it ended, we were still going through 2 or 3 batches a day, and customers even admitted that the card had introduced them to the iced coffee and gotten them 'addicted'. Now that it's colder, we aren't going through it as much, but we have some very loyal iced coffee drinkers who would probably walk through the snow to get it!

soy is NOT supposed to be steamed to 180...its supposed to be steamed to 150.

[xtrahotonice]

see, i was told by a fellow barista that it was supposed to be steamed to 140, and any higher it burns. however, they couldn't produce the proof anywhere where it states soy gets steamed to 140. the BRM just states "milk" in general shouldn't be steamed higher than 180, but doesn't specify with soy. i'm baffled...

Cappuccinos are to be steamed to 140, soy and apple juice to 150. In the steaming guidelines near the front of the new BRM, it should say that.

[inopethflames]

i think the main thing is for fast food iced coffee, at like mcdonalds, this past year is the first year it became available at all or most restaurants. before this past year it was just starting i think. so of course sales will go up since its available at more places.

as for starbucks, i like the iced coffee, but when u have a card, you can get a flavored latte for 3.50 where an iced coffee is like 2.60 or 2.90 or whatever, and theres usually a lot of ice in the iced coffee, so i figure you might as well get the latte for not that much more cost.

i almost always get iced drinks. its a bigger size & i just like it better, although i like hot too, but im a person that is usually hot rather than usually cold. i will usually get iced drinks in the winter.

[Rob]

Indianapolis has one Clover machine (at an indy (no pun intended)). It's been here for at least 3 years.

Funny story...during Spring & Summer, I only drink Iced Coffee. Just a habit I picked up and like.

[baristagrl]

I worked at a different store this summer where I made the HUGE mistake of not marking my frappucino cups with the 'F' at the end of the frap type. You would have thought that I'd committed a horrible crime. Those baristas there were so bitchy...I will never work there again. And they need me a lot more than I need them...

[happybarista]

so. today, a regular came in-i don't know her name... should probably work on that-and i said hello, and started working on her drink. we were beginning to get busy. well when i handed her drink to her she told me that she came in the other day and was having a bad day, and that i made her day better because i knew her drink. and that made me all warm inside. i wish all customers could be this nice and appreciative. she's been coming to this store for more than a year and i don't think anyone knows her drink, probably because she isn't very talkative like the other regulars. and this made me think that whether we realize it or not, we actually do make peoples' days. many times when i'm on bar, i'm thinking to myself, "oh they are just waiting for their drink. they could care less about connecting or me in general." so i think this might help me to better connect with all of my customers.

there's my gloat for the day. lol

[happybarista]

oh we got thanksgiving blend today. i kind of like it. it tastes good with gingerbread syrup in it, too. my second cup, however, it tasted very thick. idk. also. in our shipment today we got 6 bottles of peppermint syrup - it wasn't on the manifest - so is this the new syrup for the peppermint mocha twist - or just a mistake in shipment?

[happybarista]

oh and the sumatra/french press gift set looks very fancy. and the tazo tea collection is cute. the advent calendar, alos cute. and i just want the aged sumatra for the little orange tin it comes in. :)

i love iced coffee, and i don't care whether how you mark it, but for the love of all things, rebrew it when it's supposed to be. i can't tell you the number of stores i've been to where i get iced coffee at 5pm and you can tell it's been sitting out on the counter since 6am. gross. please adhere to the 4 or 8 hour hold times!

[Ari]

I have to share this.

We have a regular, and she is such a sweet, lovely lady. We have an SS that shares her first name, and they became good coffee friends. Last week, the IT department of her firm somehow got downsized, and she was a victim of it. She found a new job, but it is in Crystal City, a bit far from our DC location.

Today I see her outside, so i left the counter (we were empty) opened the door and said, smiling "Get in here"! So she did, and today was her goodbye. The new job is happy news for her, and we are glad for her too. She spoke to the shift that shared her first name, and to me too. She then dropped a wad of fives in the tipjar (She so did not have to, it was just so nice to see her everyday.) Then she walked out to leave, I ran from the counter again and gave her a big hug. Then i saw the tears in her eyes. People like this make me want to be a better barista.

THIS IS WHY I AM A BARISTA

[I heart Clover]

We are still marking and calling iced coffee as iced size brewed coffee with BC in the drink box.
Since people have complained about waiting at the hand off plane for it,(they get it immediately at Dunkin...)we now serve our iced brewed coffee at the pos like hot coffee.

[Chris]

Natasha, i've been recently separated and when I was offered COBRA it was $375 a month for just myself. Hope this helps.

[Coffee Mistress]

Ari-

Your post made me smile. Thank you for sharing. I love moments like that. It's always good to have a reminder of why I signed on for this roller coaster ride.

Ive got a question. What is the max time that milk can be out on the counter at bar? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? I just want to know because all of a sudden my ASM says I cant have milk out on the bar, even during morning rush

[bitterbean]

There is a rumor, circulated from the SSC, that 1,300 managers are getting let go after leadership. Sounds unbelieveable, but I'd like to know if anyone else heard this, especially anyone from the SSC.

If your milk on the bar is above 41 degress and ecosure or the health department walk in, you get nailed with a critical.

I would love to hear more about the rumors at the SSC. I really hope they are not true.

Pat Nerr? Any word?

[Gord]

For the 1300 managers being let go rumour:

I'm not sure how much I could believe in it, I mean, that's a lot of positions to fill. How could they possibly do it?

I'm not saying it isn't possible, but how?

On top of that, why wait till after conference? Wouldn't it be a lot more cost effective to do it before and then not have to pay for all that extra travel? Just sounds fishy.

[Gord]

For the milk on the bar issue:

Depending on where you are there are different health standards. In Ontario, 40 degrees is the max, where pretty much all of the States is 41 I believe. (I know one degree, but one degree won't help if the health inspector gets you).

So the short answer to your time question, is that there is no time standard. It's all about temperature and there are too many factors to make a time standard (for example, one store may have a lot of direct sunlight on their bar area, while another has none).

If your ASM recently attended a Food Safety workshop, I could easily see them wanting to make you put that milk back in the fridge every time. That's what you really should do anyway.

[bitterbean]

i heard they were going to look for any evidence while at leadership to 'let them go'. perhaps how we clock hours when we get back? maybe how we conduct ourselves? who knows... the number seems very high, but maybe they have ASMs in the pipeline to do the job for less... i mean, they are making the job something that doesn't require much thought or experience anymore....

[Anniversary B(l)EN(d)]

Hi there,

I am a partner from Germany and Anniversary Blend was cancelled here due the introduction of the Shared Planet(tm) program. So, I think the Anniversary Blend that was supposed to be brewed in Germany was sent to you by auto shipment...

Please have a cup of Anniversary Blend for since I am not able to have one this year... says the guy who is enjoying a french press of Christmas Blend 2008. Yummy.

Ben

[SBSiren]

Side thread, because I'm bothered by this and would love to hear what others think:

Over on the Oct. 3 OPEN THREAD on holiday beverages, I recently said this:

"Reading the open-thread conversation starter and then direct quotes from the workbook in this post is concerning to me. Do we think that sharing this kind of detailed product information here is the right thing to do? Seems to me that in these challenging times with lots of competition on our heels all the time that we wouldn't want to share this kind of info publicly."

***
Then @Jenna says this:

I don't think for &7 an hour any of us feel much allegiance to a company who likes to cut our jobs and hours and benefits. If it was that confidential, we would have to sign an agreement. Or, you know, it would only be available on the portal to Store Managers

***
And @BaristaBug says this:

"I agree with [SBSiren], part of the hiring papers when starting with sbux is a contract we all signed that states we will not reveal sbux recipes to anyone outside of work. and yea, let the customers come in a find out for themselves from their local sbux about the holiday drinks! way more informative than a bunch of arguing baristas online..."

***

What do you all think?

[JoeGuy]

How in the world could they let 1300 managers go... They have to have a manager for each store. The only thing I could think of was the rumor that they are going to pull store managers off the floor. And maybe low volume stores near each other may be ran by one store manager as a "dual" store manager. Any one else here these rumors. I have also hurd that district managers roles are changing big time. Any one else?

[Will]

SBSiren - I don't think sharing information among a select group of intense starbucks loving customers and employees is doing any harm. If it was, Starbucks wouldn't make it so accessable.

[Role]

Janine - what position were you holding before your lay off? and are you located in the United States?

[SBSiren]

Hmmm...On October 3, very specific details about our featured holiday beverage lineup and timing of our holiday promotion was shared - info directly out of the workbook.

That's something like 6 weeks advance notice for competitors -- who seem to be pretty interested right now in taking as many direct shots at us as possible.

To me, this seems like rationalization -- only select people will see the info? That doesn't quite ring true, this being the internet.

And @Jenna's reasoning is something like: Starbucks is irritating me so I don't really care if sharing info here is hurtful.

I'm really trying to understand: what's the motivation behind sharing Starbucks secrets in a public forum like this?

[sneaky]

The layoff rumor is correct but it's for ASM's and Shifts. The volume requirement for earning an ASM has been raised nationwide. If your DM hasn't told you yet, you'll here it at LC. This means there are now approx. 1300 ASM's that are not earned. In addition, the shift compliment (how many key carriers a store earns - SS, ASM & SM) has been reduced down. Going forward only 1/2 hour overlap from shift to shift and all SM's on the floor running shifts all day except 4 hours non-coverage a week.

Have fun a LC. It's gonna be a blast. . .!

re: sneaky's post on 10/25 @8:36am
It's like I've always said, more work and less labor hours to do it. Typical Starbucks. "Let's see how much we can get out of them (retail partners)."

I do kind of feel like the ASM and shift supervisor positions are a bit redundant. I think it would be great if SM's could be mostly non-coverage though. They could get more done. Of course you have the lazy SM's out there who will take advantage of being off the floor so maybe this is not a good idea. Who knows.

[king knows all]

@Posted by: Ari | October 24, 2008 at 05:55 PM ---- that so didn't happen. you made it all up. you just want to feel important and that your job matters in the world. it doesn't and this never happened.

***********************************

@JoeGuy about "How in the world could they let 1300 managers go... They have to have a manager for each store."

why does every store need a manager? just get rid of store managers and make the district managers more responsible for things like schedules, reviews, etc

make the assistant manager position responsible for day-to-day responsibilities that store managers do now. you could easily eliminate the store manager position and split it up between the district manager and assistant store manager positions. make the district manager head of non-in-the-store items and assistants head of in-the-store items.

besides, according to lots of people here, store managers sit around and don't do anything productive.

save $40-$60k a year over all stores and maybe prices would come down helping the customers out!