Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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making a chai tea latte (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by hummash
how are some stores adding water to the chai? we only use the chai pumps and milk. is that not the recipe when you go on starbucks’ website?
desairologist 204 points 1y ago
Hot chai is standard pumps of chai, half steamed milk, and half hot water. Iced chai is standard pumps of chai and milk plus ice.
Hot chai always gets water by standard now and has for a looong time. If you look at the recipe cards this is the standard as well.
Hot chai always gets water by standard now and has for a looong time. If you look at the recipe cards this is the standard as well.
philosopher_cat_lady 61 points 1y ago
The reason the iced chai tea latte doesn't get water is the ice replaces the water
444stoned 42 points 1y ago
Everyone at my store jokes that hot chai’s get soft water and iced chai’s get hard water lol
fookyall 20 points 1y ago
Whoa what 🤯 I’m a green bean so I’m blaming that lol but I literally had NO idea there was water in the hot chai latte
YorkTownBratty 2 points 1y ago
I’ve been a partner for two and a half years. I never remember to put water in the chai. Everyone who orders gets it at full strength😬
lilkiosk 2 points 1y ago
Yup. This!
uwu420uwu 139 points 1y ago
If you’re ever unsure about a recipe, look on the ipad. Much more trustworthy that your co workers lol
Klaus_Unechtname 51 points 1y ago
Forreal literally every coworker tells me something different
philosopher_cat_lady 3 points 1y ago
Right?!
brattneybiscuit 76 points 1y ago
Hot chai gets half water and iced chai gets no water
givemeapples 28 points 1y ago
Yup! The best way I help people remember is by telling them chai gets water and to think of the ice as the water they are adding in for the iced version 😂
Assiqtaq 18 points 1y ago
I think you mean iced chai gets solid water.
deathbeforedecaf1984 24 points 1y ago
Hot chai get water to the sirens eye on the cup, then milk
a_rolley 14 points 1y ago
this was true for the old logo cups(smaller siren),,, now it's hot water to the sirens boob 💀💀
NervosaNervous 18 points 1y ago
If you go on the app, it tells you it gets water as well.
Miyuki782 16 points 1y ago
Drown the siren!! Half hot water, half steamed milk. Iced chais don’t get water, think of the ice as the water.
caughdeighy 16 points 1y ago
the reason Starbucks' hot chai latte gets water added is because it's made from a concentrate. the typical recipe for a tea latte is 1/2 tea and 1/2 steamed milk. pumps of chai concentrate + water makes the tea 1/2 of that recipe. i hope that makes sense! (i can't explain why it's not the same for iced chais though so don't ask lol, probably customer preference or something similar though)
oogaboogalemonscooga 9 points 1y ago
I think the ice melt counts for the water in that case?
caughdeighy 6 points 1y ago
i mean sorta, but we don't account for ice melt for any other iced drinks really unless we're pouring something hot into it (e.g. iced London fog or iced coffee pourovers) so it seems like a weird choice? but hey, most of what corporate does is illogical anyways 🤐
Responsible-Will6040 15 points 1y ago
Standard is half water and half milk… I’ve noticed there are a lot of lazy partners who try to change recipes in order to make the easier to make
MrsClaireUnderwood 10 points 1y ago
Hello friend!
For corporate stores, check the iPad for recipes. It's under store resources.
The chai syrup we use is a chai tea concentrate with sugar added. It's REAL black tea but just cut. It's the essence of a "tea latte", which is tea and milk and we all know tea has water!
That's why chai gets water and water *is* part of the recipe.
For corporate stores, check the iPad for recipes. It's under store resources.
The chai syrup we use is a chai tea concentrate with sugar added. It's REAL black tea but just cut. It's the essence of a "tea latte", which is tea and milk and we all know tea has water!
That's why chai gets water and water *is* part of the recipe.
victorious_gem 5 points 1y ago
I've always thought that hot water up to the sirens eyes, was just too much water 😓
[deleted] 1 points 1y ago
[deleted]
darkwolf523 3 points 1y ago
Hot chais comes with a water and milk
RubidiumRB 2 points 1y ago
Ewwww they add water? 😭
hummash [OP] 1 points 1y ago
yeah that doesn’t sound good 😭
AmauroticParoxysm 2 points 1y ago
Our store doesn’t put hot water in the chai because enough locals have specifically asked for no water, so we just stopped doing it. But yes, it does technically come with hot water.
gabby24681 2 points 1y ago
The actual box of chai has a funny little note about making sure to add enough water to properly bloom or something. Technically you are supposed to add water unless they request otherwise. That sounds like a cheat (not that I’m against those ie double batching always and forever) that your store decided to put in place. It does heavily change the drink though so that’s odd if your SM is encouraging it
here_forthefun 2 points 1y ago
Hot chai gets half hot water, half steamed milk. Iced chai gets only milk, no water. Don’t know if that’s what you’re confusing. Drink standards and recipes are on the store resources on the iPad
thisisrosieb 2 points 1y ago
The partner hub is your best friend for questions like these and will literally tell you the standard for everything lol!
jayessdubs 2 points 1y ago
Always refer to the iPad / recipe cards
Mikaylapancakes 1 points 1y ago
The reason we do it is to water down the chai since it’s a concentrate. I always just add a splash of water though and have never had a complaint. Anymore would taste gross and without it the chai spice is really strong
CLEf11 1 points 1y ago
Hot chais get water unless otherwise specified iced chais do not
bryceofswadia 1 points 1y ago
Hot chais are half water half milk, just like the brewed tea lattes.
Iced chais are just all milk.
Iced chais are just all milk.
dayahorne 0 points 1y ago
I have never heard of putting water in chai, unless its the chai sachet tea bags, I have only know (or I was just trained this way) chai syrup and milk. And everyone in the store does this. My mind is blown.
hummash [OP] 0 points 1y ago
exactly, it wasn’t until recently one of the coworkers told one of our newest coworkers to put water in the chai I found out that was a thing.
[deleted] 0 points 1y ago
[removed]
hummash [OP] -1 points 1y ago
yeah we don’t put water at all, our lead actually says not to do that because customers will complain
[deleted] 0 points 1y ago
It gets water but imo tastes better as light/no water.
BookDragon1996 0 points 1y ago
So at corporate stores it's half water half milk at licensed stores (at least the one I worked at) its no water
59625962 -1 points 1y ago
Our tl for our tarbux makes us us use just milk because she says the guests say it tastes better
shikiP 2 points 1y ago
Yeah my store used to do smth stupid like that too but I know its not standard especially for corporate stores. This isnt true.
59625962 0 points 1y ago
Ik it's not standard but I just do as I'm told lol
Lasagan 2 points 1y ago
😢
bjorksbutthole -31 points 1y ago
Honestly a hot chai is technically supposed to get half water half steamed milk. However, my ss said that it’s not absolutely required and that it’s not against policy to do only chai and milk. Also it usually tastes better that way. I may be wrong though, but that’s what I was told
croissantboyy 47 points 1y ago
your ssv is incorrect, the only time it's only not absolutely required is when a customer requests it. if some store make it to standard and others don't then the customers are going to get confused and upset as to why it tastes different every time and will end up yelling at the baristas who make it to standard thinking that we are the ones making it incorrectly. it only does a disservice to other partners when you don't make things to standard tbh
bjorksbutthole 22 points 1y ago
my bad. i truly didn’t know. thanks for letting me know <3
croissantboyy 9 points 1y ago
of course!! it's a super easy thing to overlook until you've been in that situation. i've had people scream at me for putting water in their americanos because "the other starbucks never puts water in my americano, you made it wrong!!"😭😭
sushisenpaii 2 points 1y ago
I’ve been in this situation as well for a few different drinks! Both customers said that I made the drinks wrong but when I asked how it was made at whatever starbucks and they told me, the other starbucks were the ones that made it wrong 💀 Both customers were shocked that the other baristas messed up, not me lol
jackissosick -24 points 1y ago
95% of customers don't want water. They should just change the recipe. When I was a partner I would almost always not put water in because if I put water in, I'll probably have to remake it because they don't actually want it. The people who actually want water will usually say they want water
croissantboyy 18 points 1y ago
i respectfully disagree. my store is a pretty high volume mall store and we make the hot chai to standard with the water and very very rarely get people who had us remake it without water. usually if they don't want the water they will tell us when ordering because they know that the recipe requires it.
i guess it depends on the area we're in whether you'd get my experience or yours regarding the hot chais, but because of that divide i think starbucks itself needs to do a better job of informing customers that the chai gets water and then should change the recipe or not based on response. we don't get paid enough to get yelled at 😭
i guess it depends on the area we're in whether you'd get my experience or yours regarding the hot chais, but because of that divide i think starbucks itself needs to do a better job of informing customers that the chai gets water and then should change the recipe or not based on response. we don't get paid enough to get yelled at 😭
BusyLeek2351 2 points 1y ago
It sucks that you’re getting downvoted because you’re repeating what you were told lol. Reddit is wild
bjorksbutthole 0 points 1y ago
right lol. i even admitted i was wrong. people need to chill
Drewswife0302 -23 points 1y ago
Chai used to get water
Glum-Secretary2508 -21 points 1y ago
Water and milk. But customers like it better without the water and no one ever complains. These customers can be a real pain in the ass. So tbh as long as no one is complaining, do it the way you’ve always been doing it. And don’t worry about it.
variazioni 15 points 1y ago
until they come to my store where we make it standard and complain about the water. every store needs to be consistent and follow the recipe cards so customers aren’t confused
Glum-Secretary2508 -12 points 1y ago
Just make it how you please and if they complain. It’s just a simple fix and explanation
variazioni 7 points 1y ago
um…. no. if we made everything “how we please” how do you think that would go?
Glum-Secretary2508 -13 points 1y ago
No complaints from my store about beverage taste or quality. So it’s going pretty damn good
shmeep10 -17 points 1y ago
I was told by everyone that it changed and now it's only milk no water
Time_Championship_20 14 points 1y ago
nah i looked on the iPad the other day cause my store was split on which one was true. It still gets cut with water if it is hot 💓
shmeep10 7 points 1y ago
Ty !!
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