I’ve worked with loads of people who don’t drink coffee, even supervisors. It’s not a requirement by any means, you will be expected to describe coffee drinks but you can learn to do that without actually trying them

Starbucks has lots of popular drinks without coffee anyway, like iced teas, refreshers, and creme Frappuccinos

Of course you can! I prefer tea myself, so I pride myself on being the Resident Tea Expert (Although Starbucks Tea is a crime against tea). I don't like the taste of coffee/espresso either, and the caffeine hasn't helped me since I have narcolepsy.

Although your shift or SM may want you to taste something every now and then, it's not essential to the job. A customer may ask how a specific thing tastes, and you could either ask your coworkers for their opinion, list some vague descriptors, or try a steamer/cream base (neither have coffee or espresso in them, just the flavoring and milk).

Starbucks still has tea, although it's super basic. Two black teas, two or three green teas, and one or two herbal teas. (There are also pre-made iced teas, but it's just black, green, and herbal). People will mostly order the "Medicine Ball" or Honey Citrus Mint Tea, which is an absolute pain to make thanks to shortages and people who are clearly sick asking for it. I really like the Earl Grey though, because it has some lavender in it! If you get the chance, try the London Fog latte! It's Earl Grey, Vanilla, and Milk, hot or iced. Do be careful though; many baristas don't have much experience making iced tea lattes.

Starbucks also has Matcha, but I don't really agree with how it's prepared.

TLDR; Yes you can! It is not required you drink coffee, and a good Store Manger would appreciate a barista with different tastes!

I literally joined for the tea and they starting taking away the White Tea. Rip beautiful 🥲💕

Lots of our partners don’t.

i don’t like coffee & i don’t like tea and i’ve been there for over a year, so.. no you don’t need to like coffee LOL

I don't drink coffee, and I'm a shift supervisor. I can tolerate the taste of it in some things, but honestly, it's just not something I enjoy and I don't drink it, though I'm also a big tea fan. Throughout your training and employment, you'll have access to plenty of resources that break down flavor profiles so that you can understand what you're making (though, to be honest, you don't need that great of a grasp of it). You'll also know what other people enjoy most and what's popular, and can try syrups and stuff with other people. All of our coffee has descriptions either on the bag (for retail bags) or on the store iPad's resources, and every recipe card for each drink describes its flavor notes. Most of the time the most information people want is how sweet something is or how much caffeine is in it, though.

Other than that, learning how to put flavors together is more about understanding what complements them than actually liking the flavors. For example, a raspberry white mocha with blonde shots works well because the notes of the blonde pair well with the raspberry. When people ask for a non-menu drink it's one of my go-to choices - and I don't like coffee or raspberry.

Absolutely! I rarely drink coffee and I just finished training on espresso!

Yes, I don't drink all of the sugar drinks. I got most of the ice coffee lol low sugar stuff was the best.

[removed]

As someone who’d never drank coffee once in their life before, and thought a latte must be some complicated drink. I can tell you that coffee expertise is not needed to join at all.

Definitely don't need to drink coffee. Honestly a lot of our drinks either don't have coffee or can be made without. You'll find what's popular if customers need recommendations. Most of its pretty self explanatory in that respect.