Although it isn’t part of the routine, I’d have to say it is necessary, especially for our thicker syrups like white mocha & LTOs. If you just let the espresso pull into the cup, the syrup and espresso will not mix. This decreases beverage quality and nobody wants all that syrup at the bottom of their drink.

I made the mistake once of syrup, ice, cold brew, foam and the syrup sat at the bottom of the drink and it was very hard to swirl it around.. Won't do that again 😅

Me too. It’s funny to me, because I used to work at McDonald’s and for iced coffee we would do syrup, cream, iced coffee, ice and then put the lid on and swirl it. I often catch my self doing it that way even though it’s technically not right but it’s just automatic sometimes, especially when it’s super busy and my brain is going a mile a minute