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Even Starbucks regulars are probably ordering wrong, according to baristas and insiders.
People often think they have their Starbucks order perfected and know the best way to order it — but they’re likely missing out on the secrets and hacks that the employees know all too well.
Here are the biggest mistakes even the biggest Starbies fans make regularly, according to a Delish.com report:
How to take your ice
Customers often ask for less ice in their drinks under the impression that it will put more coffee into their cups — but that’s not the case.
Michelle Plett, a former barista who worked for Starbucks in the UK and Canada for three years, told Delish that asking for less ice actually increases the risk of your drink being watered down. Rather than getting more coffee, the barista will put in more milk.
“Starbucks already has a low coffee-to-dairy ratio, and so adding more dairy just makes the drink taste less good,” she said.
How to drink foam
One barista on TikTok said that if you get a drink with foam and either shake it up or stir it with a straw, don’t even bother getting the drink.
“That defeats the whole purpose of the foam,” she declared.
By using a straw, you miss out on the foam and you might as well have just ordered Vanilla Sweet Cream rather than Vanilla Sweet Cream foam.
The lids come with sippers so the foam can be enjoyed without a straw, she explained.
How to break the ‘pay-it-forward’ chain
Sometimes when you pull up to the window of a Starbucks drive-thru, a worker will let you know that the person in front of you took care of your order, and then they’ll ask if you want to keep the chain going.
Many people will say yes out of a feeling of obligation, but baristas say you should not feel bad for breaking it — in fact, some are relieved when it’s broken.
Some baristas in the comments of Reddit posts discussing the chain said that if a customer doesn’t break it, they will “soon enough.”
“After three cars it’s done. That’s my rule,” one admitted.
Users said that these chains can sometimes mess up the registers or make it confusing to remember what items go to which car.
How to order pastries
Plett told Delish that if you’re ordering a pastry from Starbucks, request for it to be heated on setting “two.”
“It’s just the setting for putting two items in, but melts everything and makes it more gooey and yummy,” she shared.
She also suggested asking the barista to open the sandwich up when heating it so the cheese can melt.
How to make the most of your Starbucks points
With 1 point gained for every $1 spent at Starbucks, regulars often amass a lot of points — and there’s a lot of debate on how to get the most out of them.
People have even gone so far as to calculate how much each star is worth in dollars when you cash in for specific items.
But Plett believes that the greatest deal that you can get from your stars is to use 300 points to get an entire bag of whole-bean coffee, as opposed to using 200 points to get just one latte or Frappuccino.
How to create the Frappuccino of your dreams
Sure, the Frappuccinos on the Starbucks menu are great, but many customers have come up with different creations over the years and some of them have even earned a spot on the “secret menu.”
Sometimes your barista might know what you mean when you order a Ferrero Rocher Frappuccino, but just in case you might want to go for the custom order. In this case, you would order a Java Chip Frappuccino with 1 pump of hazelnut syrup, 1 pump of toffee nut syrup and caramel drizzle on top.
How to order drive-thru
Some people might not realize that every time you drive up to a drive-thru speaker, not only can the person on the other end hear you, but they can also see you — and everything going on in the car.
“When you’re in the drive-thru, we see and hear almost everything you say and do,” one employee shared on Reddit.
“As long as you’re at the drive-thru speaker, the mic remains hot and doesn’t magically turn off after your order. Everyone working inside can hear everything you say,” they said.
“I’ve heard all kinds of s–t — people bragging to their friends about cheating on their spouses, people revealing they have cancer, or going through miscarriages. We can hear how you talk about us. We can hear how you talk to your family.”
