It’s fun sometimes to try and guess, but, honestly, I’m right like 1/4 times! I see a group of teenagers. I’m thinking fraps or refreshers. One gets a latte and the rest just want sweets. I see an older man and am thinking straight coffee or espresso. He wants a mocha frap.

I find a lot of the time it depends on the weather and day. Rainy mondays are going to net more straight coffee or lattes, hot weekends are iced tea and refreshers. It can also depend on time of day. Obviously we see more retired older folks or people heading to their jobs early in the morning and are aching for caffeine. Towards the end of the school day is a rush of teens wanting treats. Which then turns into study groups!

You’ll have regulars, but not every regular is there every day. We have people that only show up on days where we’re offering specials like double star days. Some people only come by on certain days, others come back a few times every day. Most have certain spots or chairs they like and will come in early to claim, lol. I can keep going if you’d like, I love writing and coffee house settings are so fun!

I’ll just give you some of my evening regulars from my perspective. I’m a 10 year barista in multiple hometown coffee shops and these are my die hard coffee shop regulars I’ve seen at multiple places. I usually make up nicknames but I also knew the name of many regulars.
These are just real life situations that I guess have developed into stereotypes after awhile.

1. Joe- medium white mocha nonfat he worked real estate at the local condos that were just built in our small logging town. He was muscular mainly worked on upper body strength, overly orange tan, and was convicted of taking advantage of his daughters friends at house parties he organized at his mansion.

2 Kate- large iced white mocha decaf two pumps of white mocha soy no whip cream. She would order 4 at a time. We would ice 1 which she would drink and leave room for ice on the other 3 mochas. She would put them in the fridge and drink them throughout the week. She is a sweet woman in her 50s with frizzy bleached hair and lots of eccentric rings on her fingers.

3. Misto- small soy misto with 2 splendas. He’s a gay man in his early 50s who is married to a surgeon. He’s usually just finishing his workout when he comes.. or maybe going to work out it’s about 7pm. He drives a Mini Cooper. He’s very sweet. Wears really thick black frames glasses that are round like Harry Potter.

4. Earl grey- medium earl gray tea. Splash of 2% He came everyday in the evenings around 5-530 and weekend mornings 730. Drove a blue sport car. Handsome petite man in his early 50s. He sat at the front booth and read the paper and did usually the crossword puzzle. I always imagined he was widowed. He just seemed like he had a simple quiet life.

5. The crew- this consisted of 4-6 men that would meet and talk politics in the mornings. I’m assuming they were all retired because they stayed until lunch time on weekdays. They all ordered “just a cup of coffee for here” Conversations would get heated.

6. Alyssa- medium zebra mocha (white and milk chocolate) nonfat no whip cream. She owns a local boutique and always dressed in a unique boho style. She can in around 9am before she opened her store down the street. She drove a gray vw beetle.

7. Kurt- 2 quad espresso large ice water Kurt is a local EMS who sometimes convinces his coworkers to get coffee before their night shift. He drinks the 1st quad espresso and saves the 2nd for later. He has long hair on the top of his head and he has gauges in his ear with a lot of tattoos.

8. PJ- large white hot chocolate blueberry oatmeal or cheese danish on a plate with a fork. Pj came in on the evenings. Has bright red short spikes pixi cut. She’s very polite and always refers to baristas by their names. She has been a regular at a couple stores and even had a stalker!

9. Stalker man- Orders a medium coffee in a large cup “top it off with some water” . He stalked Pj at her work and he would also sit in the corner of the coffee shops and take photos of PJ and the baristas working. He would sometimes have a friend meet him and they would watch women together and try to talk to the young baristas when they got their refill. We’ve had to call the cops on them and they’ve been banned from 2 local coffee shops for their behavior.

10. Doug- Iced 1/2 decaf doppio espresso 1 pump mocha splash of heavy whipping cream. Doug is an elderly man. We call his drink “the Doug.” He comes in the evenings around 630pm. He always talks about the weather. It’s usually too hot out for his taste. He feeds the family of robin birds that live near his garage. He meets is adult grandchildren for coffee in the summertime.

I’ve worked for starbucks for five years and I’ve put people into two categories: people who modify their drinks and people who don’t. But besides that, drink to people stereotypes are just that, stereotypes. Expect the unexpected and you’ll never be caught off guard on bar.

Older people tend to order more standard drinks like : misto/au lait, latte, cappuccino, cups of coffee or plain espresso shots

Soccer moms can be a wild card but generally I think they like Frappuccino’s , especially with seasonal flavorings.

Kids generally like more colorful drinks so they tend to go for refreshers like pink drinks or Frappuccino’s.

But this is just from my experience so maybe there’s someone out there who’s worked more and has more knowledge of types of people and their drinks.

It’s the strangest thing, but in my store, a couple and their dog are like 75% to get 2 fraps and a puppuccino

Young professional woman- caramel macchiato, extra shot, soy milk. Older gentleman- black dark roast coffee, 6 stevia (usually tips) . Teen girl- the prettiest looking frappuccino. College-aged guy- cold brew with foam. Older woman- white mocha. Athletic woman- refresher, light ice. Business guy- any latte with several extra shots. Soccer mom- dirty chai late. Hipster- matcha latte or doppio. Grumpy older lady- "You know what I like" what apparently means coffee with too much vanilla syrup. Bonus: girl who drags her boyfriend in.. he usually pays and has no idea what to order. She probably gets a cake pop. Also two teen girls who stare at the menu and whisper to each other for several minutes before ordering. Middle-aged person- whatever, but will definitely tell a trainee the drink is wrong and try to keep both drinks. Hope this helps lol, that basically covers all my regulars.