Current Events > My 10 year anniversary at Starbucks is coming up, AMA about Starbucks.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'll tell you all the secrets I know.

I dont mind Starbucks dunno why it gets a bad rap

how make coffee?

Dakimakura posted...

how make coffee?

Beans + water.

SaccharineSmile posted...

I dont mind Starbucks dunno why it gets a bad rap

It's super overpriced, but people keep buying it. The beans are better than the hate say, but not as good as advertised. If I didn't work there, there's very few drinks I'd pay for, but most are hard to replicate.

Why did you never leave?

i worked there for 1/10 of the time, it was miserable, why did you stay?

Why do they scorch the fuck out of all their beans, including their light roast?

AloneIBreak posted...

Why do they scorch the fuck out of all their beans, including their light roast?

that one's easy, they're a massive corp and they want their shit to be consistent. one way to ensure consistency with coffee is just to burn the shit out of all of it so the primary character is roast. can't tell the difference between origin profile if it all tastes like charcoal.

Cemith posted...

Why did you never leave?

I started working to cover rent while my SO went to college. She ran into some serious health issues in her senior year and never recovered. I've been in and out and in and out of college since 2008. I'm in Starbucks' free ASU program, but working Starbucks while going to school is terrible. It's school-work-sleep, repeat for months, and then you get scheduled outside your availability or stay late one day and suddenly you're behind on schoolwork.

I did quit briefly a few years back, to focus on school. Then a good friend of mine begged me to work for her, promised it'd be good, and it was until she transferred stores and then I moved states (fuck Florida). If I didn't quit, I think I'd actually be eligible for coffee break, where you get an unpaid "year off" with your job guaranteed to try different things or go traveling. But that reset for me.

Waxitron_Gazer posted...

that one's easy, they're a massive corp and they want their shit to be consistent. one way to ensure consistency with coffee is just to burn the shit out of all of it so the primary character is roast. can't tell the difference between origin profile if it all tastes like charcoal.

Yeah, they've said almost as much.
If you'd like to hear Howard Schultz fart about it: https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/celebrating-10-years-of-starbucks-pike-place-roast1/

In 2007, the Starbucks coffee team hatched a plan to reimagine brewed coffee. Back then Starbucks rotated all its brewed coffees weekly or even daily, with offerings varying from one store to the next. A tall drip coffee at one Starbucks store could be a floral, lemony Ethiopia Sidamo, while across town it was a spicy Guatemala Antigua. At the same time, some customers perceived Starbucks signature roast as burnt. The team set out to create their first coffee specifically developed for drip brewing, rather than a coffee press or espresso, one with an approachable balance of flavor and acidity when served black or with cream and sugar. They kept their project secret, even from Starbucks senior leaders. The code name: Consistent Brew.
The coffee team realized that it was something beyond a recipe, we would have to roast it differently to a make completely different flavor, said Brad Anderson, a 27-year partner and master roaster. It took a lot of testing, experimentation and exploration to figure out a roast curve that would achieve all that flavor without the roasty intonations.
Roasting coffee is an artform a delicate dance of temperature and time. After two months of testing, tasting and trying, the team created a new roast curve for Consistent Brew with a shape that climbs more steeply than the signature curve before flattening out as the beans are released in the cooling tray.
With the new roast, we softened the edges a little bit, said Linnemann. You get the full aroma but the smoky roasty bite is not so overwhelming,

I also went to a starbucks for the first time 10 years ago

just to pee cause it was the first public bathroom off the train station. I don't drink coffee.

thronedfire2 posted...

I also went to a starbucks for the first time 10 years ago

just to pee cause it was the first public bathroom off the train station. I don't drink coffee.

That's fine. Or bathrooms are generally open to the public by company policy. But because they're so popular and we don't really have time to clean them, they might not be the nicest.
We have REALLY good free water, too. Just please wait in line.

damm, a lot of research went into burning beans.

the barista at the one I go to always signs my name with a heart for the i

am I in

ChocoboMogALT posted...

That's fine. Or bathrooms are generally open to the public by company policy. But because they're so popular and we don't really have time to clean them, they might not be the nicest.
We have REALLY good free water, too. Just please wait in line.

i was actually grateful cause Boston doesnt have many public bathrooms except for restaurants and a couple creepy underground ones

Did they give you anything for your Anniversary?

Have they given you full time yet?

Freddie_Mercury posted...

the barista at the one I go to always signs my name with a heart for the i

am I in

Actually, yeah, sounds like it.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

The Starbucks double shot was very unpopular and, honestly, kind of confusing when someone ordered it. The shaken espresso is incredibly popular despite just being a name change.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

- If I'm trying to cut calories: cold brew with almond milk and stevia/ sugarfree vanilla/ toffee nut.
- If I want a dessert: matcha frappucino made with oat or coconut milk, add frap chips, no classic, maybe extra caramel drizzle
- Just want some espresso: any of the shaken espresso drinks. Brown sugar is good.
- Some other stuff: salted cream cold foam is delicious and goes on almost anything. Strawberry acai with matcha is a nice blend of flavors. Ice green tea with matcha is good for strong sweet green tea taste. Add frappucino chips into any frappucino to make it better, e.g. vanilla bean made with oat milk add frap chips and extra caramel drizzle tastes like ice cream.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I'm legit kinda jealous. That looks great, I love the old logo.

You need to carry more ham and Swiss bagettes

there's like six baristas at my starbucks who know me by name

do they all hate me or do you think theyre ok with me

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Test proctoring: generally non-existent. Some classes will make you use a program that records all mouse movement and/or records you via webcam, but most classes don't. I could easily Google every test question...
Major is IT, with focus on networking. I wanted to do CS, but couldn't get in for some reason. But I'm liking networking.
How long did it take me? Uhhh.. I think I'm in my junior year seven years in. I'm often taking one class at a time because I don't have time to take more. Dropped a few classes, too.
Classes are either a semester or accelerated half a semester, depending on the season. I think 2-3 months.
Labs, yes, but not really hands-on. Programming and networking labs use emulation, like packet tracer, or obviously just writing programs. Not sure how a science lab would work.
I don't really like online school, tbh. Compared to in-person, I'm much less motivated and I feel like the lessons are much worse. It's usually just a shitty PowerPoint and a suggestion to read the book, plus some question ripped off other websites. You still have to learn the material, but I never feel like I'm being taught, I have to teach myself.

Bugmeat posted...

Have they given you full time yet?

I'm a shift supervisor, so yes. Some stores are easier than other for baristas to get full time, but you are supposed to be scheduled 66% of your availability. So if you have 60 hours your available, you should get 39 hours. But it depends on your state, the hours available at your store, your performance (generally more hours is the "reward" for good performance), and other factors. You can also pick up shifts at other stores. There's always someone who wants the day off.

Are there anti union propaganda posters in the break area?

Starks posted...

You need to carry more ham and Swiss bagettes

They're not very popular, tbh. So if we order 3 a day, either 3 people buy them all or no one buys them and they all get "donated". (Actually, stores are getting much better at truly donating our waste.)

Zithers posted...

there's like six baristas at my starbucks who know me by name

do they all hate me or do you think theyre ok with me

There's two types of people we know by name:
- regulars we like
- regulars we hate
If you're not an asshole, we probably like you. Even if you just come in and get the same thing everyday, it's nice seeing consistent customers.
But if you come in and bitch and moan and make us remake your drink despite it being perfect, we probably hate you, though we'd never say that.
Tbh, from my experience, I don't really have issues with most customers. The ones who are really bad we ask to leave. There's more to worry about behind the bar than John whose drink is always too cold or whatever. We'll just remake it and move on.

Trumpo posted...

Are there anti union propaganda posters in the break area?

Yes.

ChocoboMogALT posted...

There's two types of people we know by name:
- regulars we like
- regulars we hate
If you're not an asshole, we probably like you. Even if you just come in and get the same thing everyday, it's nice seeing consistent customers.
But if you come in and bitch and moan and make us remake your drink despite it being perfect, we probably hate you, though we'd never say that.
Tbh, from my experience, I don't really have issues with most customers. The ones who are really bad we ask to leave. There's more to worry about behind the bar than John whose drink is always too cold or whatever. We'll just remake it and move on.

thats good. i just get the same shit every time. have only had to ask for something to get fixed like twice. phew. thanks for making me feel at ease. also good luck on the school stuff, very cool that youve stuck with it. i'm trying to get a job at a university so that i can get free schooling and take an eternity to get my degree as well.

Ive got an fully automatic delonghi coffee machine and it makes good coffee

but I know nothing about coffee itself other than its beans and water

is manually making a coffee such as grinding the beans yourself and using all the other non-auto parts actually that much better? How would I learn to do that? I dont know what I dont know

Been there for...four or so years now, maybe five.
I agree with most things you said.

I would like to emphasize something you said: please wait in line for water. No one cares or needs to know why you're in line. Everyone else is in line. Just wait. You're not doing anyone a favor by mentioning it, you're just impatient and trying to benefit yourself.

Years ago I knew a girl that was a cutie that worked at an in store Starbucks, one that's built into a larger business like target or something. She'd sneak some free specialty drinks for me sometimes at the end of her shift when closing up the kiosk, one of them something only she knew how to make cause it was an off the board recipe.

She was nice, that's all my input on this you answered other questions already

How are all the white girls getting those pumpkin spice latte's so thin?

Big fan of the roasteries

LeCh0nk posted...

How are all the white girls getting those pumpkin spice latte's so thin?

They won't be for long or they're not actually regulars.

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Ive got an fully automatic delonghi coffee machine and it makes good coffee

but I know nothing about coffee itself other than its beans and water

is manually making a coffee such as grinding the beans yourself and using all the other non-auto parts actually that much better? How would I learn to do that? I dont know what I dont know

As a barista, I'm just a cog in the machine, they don't pay us to know about that stuff. Espresso drinks are made by pushing a button. Brewed coffee is just made by following directions.
As a coffee drinker, grinding and brewing coffee can be easy, there's just some upfront investment.
I have an older version of this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ninja-Specialty-Coffee-Maker-with-Fold-Away-Frother-and-Glass-Carafe-CM401/400862556
Very easy to use and clean.
Grinding coffee is simple. Choose the setting, put beans in, grind, take ground coffee out. Depending on how you brew coffee, you might need an adjustable grinder.
Fresh ground coffee is much better than days-old ground coffee.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I'll go ahead and say, it's definitely not something I'd normally recommend to the general public. But if you like matcha, give it a try. The strawberry acai is very sweet but the matcha gives it some "depth." You can even get it blended and it comes out kinda like a slushy.

LeCh0nk posted...

How are all the white girls getting those pumpkin spice latte's so thin?

Metabolism and exercise. Though, they probably won't be for long if they keep drinking at Starbucks.
A grande PSL is 390 calories. You can take off ~60 by removing whipped cream and another ~100 by switching to oat or almond milk. A grande gets 4 pumps of pumpkin and each pump is ~30 calories, so you can cut a pump or two and lose some there. Or you could just work off those 400 calories.
Younger kids these days are getting the ice pumpkin chai (which is delicious), frappucinos, and any refresher with vanilla sweet cream cold foam.

KiwiTerraRizing posted...

Big fan of the roasteries

Never been, but I'd like to go. There's only 3 in the US, I think.

Ive only had black coffee from there and I loved it tbh
was VERY hot tho ehh

anyways are you happy working there? Do the customers look eager or should I say happy to get their orders?
whats your pay?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Yes, I'm a barista.
If you don't have disposable income, probably nothing. You could get a large hot coffee, then get a free refill using the app. You can even change it to cold brew or iced tea. Everything else is $6-8+ for a drink, is that worth it?
I've always thought the mocha cookie crumble and caramel ribbon crunch are absolute scams. You're paying more for less product because we do more work. Just add cookie crumble or caramel crunch topping to your frappucino instead.
Similarly, vanilla sweet cream cold foam is great, but it's an upcharge and it's just a waste to put it on some drinks. Something that used to be popular is the iced white mocha with vanilla sweet cream cold foam with extra caramel drizzle, that's just a scam. Just drink some sugar or something.
Refreshers are expensive, but few good substitutes. Secret time: They're all just flavored caffeinated grape juice.
Frappucinos are basically milk shakes without ice cream. There's an emulsifier that holds it all together.

For foods, the bagels are decently priced. A bagel and cream cheese is about $2.50, actually cheaper than a cake pop, which is now over $3. It's really just frozen bagels, thawed and warmed, but it's something. The popcorn is cheap at $1.50, too. And are marshmallow dream bars (rice crispier treats) are actually delicious, probably around $2.50.

I worked there for around 9 years and bowed out due to the forced sensitivity training + handling of the Philadelphia event + the expose of their, err, "forced labor" plantations. All that drama took place in the same 1-2 years for me and since I was a GM I couldn't handle the gallons of kool-aid and ran screaming. Haven't looked back.

When I worked there I surmised that all their local acronyms and certifications were in-house and was no real answer to an actual regulatory body. Management didn't like that at all.

When is the Smores Frappuccino returning!?

OriginalPlain2 posted...

Ive only had black coffee from there and I loved it tbh
was VERY hot tho ehh

anyways are you happy working there? Do the customers look eager or should I say happy to get their orders?
whats your pay?

Happy? Meh. It's not what I want to do at all. I don't mind the customers, but every store is understaffed by design. I would love an office 9-5 job.
Baristas start at $15/hr, can be higher depending on area. Shifts get +27%. You usually get ~2.5% pay raise a year, plus about $500 in stocks dispersed over 2 years. I always tell people asking, I don't think it's worth it if you don't care about the benefits. Free college through ASU, very good discounts on health insurance, dental, vision, and really good resources for trans people transitioning (though those resources are getting stretched thin a bit). Those are the main things, they also match contributions on your 401k up to 5%, have a 5% stock purchase discount, PTO (about 2 weeks per year if you work 40 hrs/wk), paid sick leave, parental leave for either parent, area specific commuter benefits (free ubers in some places), plus free drinks, food, and coffee every week.

ChocoboMogALT posted...

Happy? Meh. It's not what I want to do at all. I don't mind the customers, but every store is understaffed by design. I would love an office 9-5 job.
Baristas start at $15/hr, can be higher depending on area. Shifts get +27%. You usually get ~2.5% pay raise a year, plus about $500 in stocks dispersed over 2 years. I always tell people asking, I don't think it's worth it if you don't care about the benefits. Free college through ASU, very good discounts on health insurance, dental, vision, and really good resources for trans people transitioning (though those resources are getting stretched thin a bit). Those are the main things, they also match contributions on your 401k up to 5%, have a 5% stock purchase discount, PTO (about 2 weeks per year if you work 40 hrs/wk), paid sick leave, parental leave for either parent, area specific commuter benefits (free ubers in some places), plus free drinks, food, and coffee every week.

So what's your hourly wage as a manager who has been there a long time? I could actually see someone making a decent career out of it.

SparkMark1 posted...

When is the Smores Frappuccino returning!?

How many paygrades above me do you think is that decision?
Anyway, believe it or not there's still supply chain issues ongoing since before COVID. Starbucks has mostly been focusing on producing its core items, avoiding new and seasonal items that aren't just new ways to use what we already have. It's been getting better recently, we finally seem to have peach and strawberry refresher in consistently. Smores has always seemed to perform well and people still ask for it, so maybe next summer?
Though, I have a conspiracy that some Starbucks higher-ups lost their taste from COVID and have been coming up with terrible ideas, like the pineapple refresher.

C-zom posted...

I worked there for around 9 years and bowed out due to the forced sensitivity training + handling of the Philadelphia event + the expose of their, err, "forced labor" plantations. All that drama took place in the same 1-2 years for me and since I was a GM I couldn't handle the gallons of kool-aid and ran screaming. Haven't looked back.

When I worked there I surmised that all their local acronyms and certifications were in-house and was no real answer to an actual regulatory body. Management didn't like that at all.

As a barista, I just viewed that training as a paid vacation. It was such an absolute joke.
Slave labor is an unfortunate fact of life, but at least Starbucks tries to do something about it. I don't know if you can buy any truly ethically sourced coffee, but do other companies try?

Neat, grats on the near 10 years.

My girlfriend started as a Shift Lead 6ish months ago... From what she's said, the management seems, we'll say lacking.

Having a cold brew brought home every day is nice, though. And the punkin bread is legit tippy top notch.

I hear ya. I work in the movie theater industry and we are just recovering from supply chain issues.

Two questions regarding the name procedure:

1) What do you do if a customer absolutely refuses to give you their name?
2) Have you ever intentionally put a different or weird-sounding name on an order if the customer was particularly rude? Like so that they may not recognize when their order is up and end up waiting longer than they needed to.

I ask about #2 because I would inconvenience asshole customers when I worked at McDonalds. Like I would call their order but if they werent paying attention I wouldnt make the effort to call them again, and when they came up to throw a hissy fit asking whats taking so long, I would truthfully tell them I already called them lol

Razor posted...

So what's your hourly wage as a manager who has been there a long time? I could actually see someone making a decent career out of it.

I was considering posting my paystub, but that's kinda sketchy.
I get $19.90/hr right now as a supervisor. Managers are salary and average around $70k, depending on sales and bonuses and whatnot.
When I quit I had my bonuses reset, of course. Otherwise I'd be making $23-24/hr. There is a cap probably around there. Doing some googling, the cap for SSV's 10 years ago was $13.75. When I quit in 2021, I was getting paid $14.52/hr as a shift - now baristas start at $15/hr.
If you can make it to store manager, you can have a career, but I don't think anyone lower is really making much more than they need to live.

Most ridiculous customer youve had to deal with?

FolkenRawr posted...

Neat, grats on the near 10 years.

My girlfriend started as a Shift Lead 6ish months ago... From what she's said, the management seems, we'll say lacking.

Having a cold brew brought home every day is nice, though. And the punkin bread is legit tippy top notch.

I've had 13 different managers, I think, it's hard to keep track. Your experience will differ VASTLY depending on store, coworkers, and manager. The old saying, "people don't quit jobs, they quit managers," is definitely true at Starbucks. Some have your back, some are down in the trenches with you, some are corporate slimeballs that couldn't steam a latte and can't actually manage.
Yeah, some of our pastries are way underrated. Try the pumpkin cream cheese muffin, especially if you can get one for free.

YugiNoob posted...

Two questions regarding the name procedure:

1) What do you do if a customer absolutely refuses to give you their name?
2) Have you ever intentionally put a different or weird-sounding name on an order if the customer was particularly rude? Like so that they may not recognize when their order is up and end up waiting longer than they needed to.

I ask about #2 because I would inconvenience asshole customers when I worked at McDonalds. Like I would call their order but if they werent paying attention I wouldnt make the effort to call them again, and when they came up to throw a hissy fit asking whats taking so long, I would truthfully tell them I already called them lol

1. Most baristas would probably leave it blank. I have enough customer experience I'd just ask something like, "Would you like to be Batman today? I just need a name for the order, it doesn't have to be yours." If they still refuse, I'd probably type, "noname."
2. Rude? No. No reason to create conflict.

I did once have a rude customer who wouldn't speak up and said her name was "mmmmzy." My coworker heard and asked, "Crazy, is that your name? C-R-A-Z-Y?" She just nodded, so he put it on the cup. Of course, her name was "TRACY" and she was PISSED.
If a customer is joking around, I might joke around with their name. "Bob? Oh, short for Bobert! Cool!" "Drink for A-a-ron!" I actually got a guy named "Kane, like the wrestler," today and we talked about the Rock coming back to WWE.
The only people I've ever purposefully made wait in line are people who try to order stuff at the handoff, especially waters. It depends on the store and how busy it is.
And, yeah, if someone doesn't pick up their drink after the second time I YELL it out, I'm not going to keep bothering. Don't have time for that. It's kinda hard to get other baristas used to projecting their voice, though, and many will just call out the drink without the name. But then there's always the chance someone grabs the wrong drink which just means you're remaking at least two more drinks.