Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Please can someone help (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by oldboyknight
Hi everyone, hope you’re all doing well. I would drink cappucino everyday for past 4 years through Starbucks in London where I was a student, last year March when the virus started I went back to my home country, now I came back and the cappuccino tastes completely different. The baristas in the store told me the milk is different but they don’t know for sure, I’m unable to understand which ingredient has changed? The bean, milk, something else? This is very important to me as I have mental health issues including OCD so I really need to taste the same cappucino coffee, I would be most grateful if someone could help me answer this, I’m willing to pay you for your help as well. Thank you once again.
Scuffleshuffle 20 points 1y ago
By milk is different, maybe the supplier changed and so the quality has changed?
Normally the drinks such as cappuccinos are made with 2%.
Normally the drinks such as cappuccinos are made with 2%.
Cannoli_ 13 points 1y ago
Hey there, I’m so sorry to hear you go through this distressing moment right now, I have OCD too and feel for you 😔 the first thing that came to my mind was how differently cows must be raised from London versus wherever your home country is, each government holds different safety standards and hormones they use or if they even use them at all I believe. Also, could it be that maybe you ate something before hand and it affected the taste of your cappuccino ? Or maybe a barista accidentally put in the wrong milk (almond, almond with vanilla flavoring, non fat, oat, soy, etc…) or added a syrup in by accident ? These are just all the possibilities I could think of. I hope maybe this could help a little, feel free to keep us updated if you figure it out by yourself ! Wishing you the best my friend !
oldboyknight [OP] 4 points 1y ago
Hi thank you very much for your reply, I think there has been a misinterpretation of my message, I’m not comparing my home cappucino vs the London one, what I meant to say is that after going back in March 2020 and coming back now, here in London only the cappucino tastes completely different, I have tried many stores here and have had it many times to be sure, it’s 100% different to what it was from 2017-2020. I’m trying to understand exactly what change has been made. Thank you so much for your reply once again
echowolf9 3 points 1y ago
Hmm, the recipe hasn’t changed since 2020 in the US. Right now stores are really struggling staff wise, and since Starbucks isn’t paying workers enough, it leads to workers producing less quality beverages. Some of the possible things that I could think of that would change the quality are if they use dead shots, the shots arent pulling in the correct time frame because the mastrenas arent calibrated, and possibly the milk to foam ratio of the drink (it can be hard for new baristas to foam cappuccinos properly and a lot of employees are new right now). I’m not sure how many cappuccinos you’ve gotten to confirm the difference, but the drink I get is made wrong the vast majority of the time and is perfect once in a while.
veganwifey 8 points 1y ago
It is also possible they went from the mastrena I espresso machine to the mastrena II in that time! The steam wand is very different in my opinion, and they are auto-calibrated for shots rather than baristas being able to manually recalibrate.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
oldboyknight [OP] 3 points 1y ago
The employees are the same but they are saying they think it’s the milk but they said we can’t confirm and I need to email Starbucks..
hmmyeahrightokaythen 2 points 1y ago
It could be that sbux has downgraded the quality of their beans bc another partner said they felt like the cold brew is different than before, but there are many factors involved so we can’t be sure, and I doubt that they’d admit it even if they changed the bean sourcing. There are a few items that I can think of that have been slightly different recently due to supplier constraints and ‘seasonal’ color changes… best of luck to you finding that go-to cappuccino again 🥺
echowolf9 2 points 1y ago
Are you getting dairy milk? Would the change from one brand to another be enough for you to taste the difference (sorry, I’m not sure if it would be noticeable to you)? If it’s one of the non-dairy milks, different brands are definitely very noticeable. If the change was a different milk brand there’s not much Starbucks can do as they can’t take outside food/drinks and use it on bar. If it is a different brand and it doesn’t taste as rich/tastes watered down, you could also try getting it with a higher fat content milk and vice versa.
Cannoli_ 3 points 1y ago
Ahhhh I see now, so sorry for misinterpreting what you were saying 😓 I understand better now, thank you for taking the time to explain to me ! I see how this is a really peculiar situation to be in :/ if I think of any other possibilities of what might have happened I’ll let you know but since I’m in the US I doubt I can offer much more help 😔
SunBusiness8291 9 points 1y ago
Any chance you had Covid? It is reported to change taste and smell for certain items long term.
LockAzzy 2 points 1y ago
If they have a different milk supplier, that could be it. As a person with mental health issues, I also know that sometimes I make things out to be very much a certain way, and then having again later it feels different. Could be a bit of both.
StWyncent 2 points 1y ago
There’s a good possibility that it is different milk. Or maybe the diet of the cows changed. If the cows diet changed it would definitely affect the taste.
Another possibility is the quality of espresso. Like what was said in another comment, they might’ve upgraded to newer espresso machines which might affect the espresso.
The origin of beans could’ve gone through a change that shifted the taste of the coffee beans.
There are too many varying factors to really nail down, unfortunately. I am sorry that you are experiencing this.
Another possibility is the quality of espresso. Like what was said in another comment, they might’ve upgraded to newer espresso machines which might affect the espresso.
The origin of beans could’ve gone through a change that shifted the taste of the coffee beans.
There are too many varying factors to really nail down, unfortunately. I am sorry that you are experiencing this.
DizzyCroutons 2 points 1y ago
Have you had several cappuccinos since coming back or was it just the one that was off?
oldboyknight [OP] 2 points 1y ago
Have probably had 20 times it’s 100% different to what is used to be from 2017-2020, colour is also darker and tastes very different.
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