what did you get wrong at first?(self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by izxbellix
i see a lot of baristas on here and tik tok talk about something they had done completely wrong for months when they first got hired. what was yours?
i’ll go first. i never knew the strawberry creme fraps got classic until i was messing around reading recipes
BatWeary82 points1y ago
for the first couple of months i made chai lattes with espresso bc my trainer told me “all lattes get espresso” so it made sense to me at the time?? i also made the guava passion fruit drink with passion tea. very misleading name
Kindly-Wear-629024 points1y ago
One of my old shifts kept making the guava passion fruit with the passion tea. We tried it one night and it actually wasn’t bad at all.
Lampinglamp10 points1y ago
omg this reminds me of someone who told me all chai lattes get water (regardless of iced or not) and i was like “..???” turns out i was right and i am newer than him
overturned237 points1y ago
Same! The first chai I made was a dirty chai, so I thought all of them got espresso
Ordinary-Theory-82891 points1y ago
Wait…what’s supposed to go in the guava passion drink? We only had it for a couple of weeks after I got hired and I always made it with passion tea lol
BatWeary2 points1y ago
pineapple ginger syrup, guava and coconut milk. my t was way better with the passion tea imo, we were doing people a favor
StormTheParade54 points1y ago
uuuuhhhh my memory is super foggy, but IIRC the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew (VSCCB) is supposed to get cold bar pumps of vanilla, not hot bar... or the other way around, I don't remember. Whatever it was, I was doing the opposite for like a full year lmao
Also for one I *almost* did but thankfully didn't do... thanks to a coworker trying to trick me... the first time someone ordered a drink "upside down" i almost literally handed them the cup upside-down. I was handing it off normally and the coworker goes, "wait, that's supposed to be upside-down when you give it to them." I remember making eye contact with the customer, drink still in hand, and the world just paused for a second while I calculated it all in my head...
MonstrousGiggling6 points1y ago
Holy shit, I love pulling stuff like that on co-workers but that's a really daring one to tell someone, that's hilarious.
StormTheParade6 points1y ago
he was our resident "prankster" at the time lmao and I was a super fresh hire! That happened in maaaaybe my second week?
It also "helped" that I was super familiar with Dairy Queen and their whole upside-down bit, so serving something literally upside down didn't seem too ridiculous to me at the time hahahaha
philosopher_cat_lady5 points1y ago
It's full dose pumps of vanilla. No one knows how to make that drink. 1, 2, 3, 4 full dose pumps of vanilla; cold brew; ice; splash of vanilla sweet cream on top poured slowly so it mixes with the coffee slowly.
irritablegarlic5 points1y ago
well it’s half the amount of full dosed pumps. If normal iced t/g/v/tr drinks get 3/4/6/7 it’s half pumps bc the vsccb is 1/2/3/4.
philosopher_cat_lady1 points1y ago
Except that 1 is not half of 3 and 4 is not half of 7
irritablegarlic2 points1y ago
starbucks doesn’t want us doing half pumps with non-half pump bottles, it’s hard to control because you have to guess if you went down enough on the pump. so they’re not gonna do 1.5, they’re gonna round it down to 1.
[deleted]1 points1y ago
[deleted]
accountedthrowaway533 points1y ago
putting actual caramel syrup in the crunch fraps 😮💨
adventur3unknown16 points1y ago
Slightly unrelated but I read crunch Fraps as crunch WRAP like crunch wrap supreme and got really confused
inkburd4 points1y ago
Wait y’all are telling me that it doesn’t get caramel syrup AND dark caramel? 🧍🏼♀️
accountedthrowaway53 points1y ago
just yesterday my coworker told me that it only gets dark caramel blended inside… and when she asked me what ive been doing with the dark caramel i told her i used it on top of the bottom layer of whip and was on it doing regular caramel syrup in the frap 😭
thejoecake1 points1y ago
okay but does it get the dark caramel on the bottom or am i crazy
accountedthrowaway51 points1y ago
yea! whip on the bottom, then dark caramel, then the frap, etc etc
Torirock103 points1y ago
wait aren’t they made with dark caramel sauce though .. or do u mean u used caramel drizzle??
Brownbaristahh7 points1y ago
They used the caramel syrup you put in standard caramel fraps
Torirock103 points1y ago
ohhhh. i used to do that too. i’d do caramel syrup and the dark caramel stuff too. lmao very sweet drink
Careful_Analyst_290932 points1y ago
Attempting to correct customers.
Customer: “I want a grande americano”
Me: “Would you like any cream or sugar?”
Customer: No
Me: (repeats order and gives total) “alright you are all set” :)
….
At the pickup counter
Me: (calls out the drink)
Customer: “Does it have cream and sugar?”
Me: “No”
Customer: “I wanted cream and sugar.”
Me: “Not a problem. How many sugar?”
Customer: (aggravated) “TWO!!”
Me: “Of course” :))
I don’t even fight customers or correct them. Not even worth it. They get mad, claim they said it right the first time, and then are aggressive. I just smile and play ignorant. Decreases 80% of unnecessary stress 🙄
breadloafin14 points1y ago
I get this but ughhhh I hate doing it because in my mind it just enables entitlement and further stupidity
Careful_Analyst_29098 points1y ago
It does…. I felt like that too which is why I would correct until this one lady blew up on me in front of my SM and DM and she was rewarded with a recovery card for me doing exactly my job…. So if Starbucks wants to reward bad behavior, I can’t do anything about it and will protect myself from further hostility.
Vincent_Cromwell2728 points1y ago
I didn’t use the Hobart for like 2 years cause ours always caught on fire on the inside and the shifts never called it in.
violentfemme1711 points1y ago
I’m sorry…what the fuck? I have so many questions.
Vincent_Cromwell275 points1y ago
The coil would catch the plastic tray on fire on the inside lol and we’d just dump ice in it like no biggie.
kimememememe1 points1y ago
What is a Hobart??
Vincent_Cromwell276 points1y ago
The dishwasher.
kimememememe7 points1y ago
That context made the thought of it catching fire all the more terrifying thank you
[deleted]0 points1y ago
[deleted]
wikipedia_answer_bot-5 points1y ago
**Hobart ( (listen)) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smallest if territories are taken into account, after Darwin, Northern Territory.**
More details here: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart>
*This comment was left automatically (by a bot). If I don't get this right, don't get mad at me, I'm still learning!*
Pretty classic but putting water in iced chais for months
emmmily25710 points1y ago
I also did this haha. And on the first day of the unicorn frap I was adding a scoop of vanilla bean powder to each frap and I have no idea why I was doing that 😂
ThyKingToker9 points1y ago
And you know what! It probably didn’t taste any different for it. That thing was a sugar nightmare
sophenya9 points1y ago
Oh my god I did this too!! One time a woman at the window saw me do that to her iced chai and yelled at me saying it doesn’t get water, and I was like “all our chais are half water half milk” and she was like “uh they NEVER make mine like that!!” So I just remade it for her and called her a bitch in my head bc she was so rude and then I told my shift lead about it and they said “no she was right, iced chais don’t get water. Only hit chais” 💀😭
paigemclachlan3 points1y ago
oh no!! That lady still didn’t have any right to yell at you though 😭😭
itsnotbritneybitch21 points1y ago
I made a cappuccino using the chai recipe (half water half milk)
533890915 points1y ago
😂 this is my favorite. That sounds so bad!
devinboyd981 points1y ago
We have a regular that asks for this like 3-4 times per week, I can’t imagine it tasting good😂
monzoink18 points1y ago
Never put blueberries in the blueberry oatmeal for the first couple months because for some reason I thought dried blueberries were already in the bag or something lol and nobody told me
PavlovianNinja4 points1y ago
Don't you just give them the pack of blueberries? I'm confused now.
ThyKingToker5 points1y ago
We do. But their fresh in the fridge blue berries so we can’t keep them “Ready to hand out” in the bag. So we have everything else in the bag and throw in the berries at the end
monzoink3 points1y ago
Correct
ironic_nic18 points1y ago
thinking macchiatos get an extra shot instead of shaken, americanos and flat whites.
Torirock1014 points1y ago
omg i made a strawberry frap today and put vanilla in it. 😳
NiteLiteOfficial12 points1y ago
i made myself a pumpkin cream cold brew daily and never knew to add vanilla to the cold brew. changed my world one day when my manager said “let me make this one for you right”
MathSmooth450612 points1y ago
I knew the macchiatos got one less pump but I also thought they got one extra shot. So I was out there making venti iced quad macchiatos for a solid 3 months.
Brownbaristahh10 points1y ago
Put caramel syrup in caramel macchiatos
kimememememe8 points1y ago
Using dark caramel for regular caramel frappucinos 😅
borrowedurmumsvcard10 points1y ago
you did them a favor
terriblescreenwriter7 points1y ago
For like 2 months I never put mocha in the double chocolate chip cream frap
icelessTrash24 points1y ago
Single chocolatey chip
Lampinglamp7 points1y ago
i thought the medicine ball was made with mint majesty and jade citrus
LavalampClock6 points1y ago
when i first started i thought iced lattes got steamed milk 😬
EffervescentWalrus6 points1y ago
I didn’t put water in hot chais so it confused me when people ordered “a no water chai.” I’d say “oh lattes are made with milk so there’s no water in there like brewed tea :)”
I also didn’t steam the lemonade for the honey citrus mint
nutmegkoffee6 points1y ago
flat whites are the bane of my eternal existence. if I remember to make the shots ristretto, I forget to use whole milk. I don't think I have ever remembered to make it with the extra shot either.
izxbellix [OP]5 points1y ago
i haven’t made a flat white correctly since i got hired and it’s probably gonna stay that way lmao
TheCatBall2 points1y ago
Have you ever tried a Flat White? Assuming you can drink milk, try one made correctly and compare it to one made wrong. This experience might help you remember to make them correctly.
persona-21 points1y ago
We have a blonde flat white trend going on where I’m at. It’s all the buttons.
goddessofwaterpolo6 points1y ago
Strawberry fraps for me too. I also didn’t realize chai lattes got water 😭
KnownUnderstanding566 points1y ago
i put liquid cane in the refreshers for MONTHS (this was several years ago when liquid cane came in the iced teas by standard)
scrubnoppon7155 points1y ago
I have a few that I like to share with newer partners so they feel better about making mistakes:
- One time sent out oatmeal with no hot water. Like, just the oats in the cup without water. They didn’t even come back or anything.
- forgot to put vanilla in Caramel Macchiatos for like a MONTH. surprised nobody said anything here either
- Put caramel syrup in Caramel Ribbon Crunches (people actually enjoyed this one tho)
- Didn’t put mocha in Java Chip
- Forgot the classic in Matcha and strawberry fraps for like, a good while
- put ice in nitro
…And would you believe I’m gonna be a supervisor soon?
itsdaytime5 points1y ago
TIL strawberry creme frapps get classic 😬😬
izxbellix [OP]3 points1y ago
glad to make this post a teachable moment lmao
kmoonster5 points1y ago
Grind the beans for brewed coffee. Whole Bean, meet basket. Finger, meet Button. Cup meet...Hot Water?
Kings_and_Dragons5 points1y ago
The biggest one was telling frappachinos apart. Like thought Java chip didn't get mocha, and thought the double chocolate chip got coffee. I also didnt put classic in any fraps until all this was explained to me how I was messing up.
Another big one is cold foam. I spent the *longest* time not putting vanilla syrup in it because I thought it was supposed to be plain foam. That one I don't really feel bad for, no one ever explained it and I just used logic to figure out the recipie.
punkish1382 points1y ago
Wait classic goes in fraps?
Kings_and_Dragons1 points1y ago
Yeah. By standard classic goes in the strawberry creme frapp and the matcha frapp. Nobody told me this when I started and I only found out by coincidence later. 😶
punkish1381 points1y ago
Are those full 3/4/6 pumps?
icelessTrash4 points1y ago
Iced venti lattes getting a 3rd shot. I swear it just didn't come up or only once and didn't penetrate. And most training bevs we make talls
Many-Medicine68363 points1y ago
I gave every single size of the iced version of a drink an extra pump of syrup... when I found out I was wrong I was devastated.
asunya3 points1y ago
putting hot water in ICED americanos 💀💀💀 also forgetting the vanilla in caramel macchiatos,,,
Missamum3 points1y ago
I, for like a solid week, was putting liquid cane syrup into every shaken beverage. Including refreshers. Cause my trainer told me to just follow the shaker if I forgot what went in it.
myceilingfans3 points1y ago
it was the cold brews and still is. i continuously do not know the cold brew drink recipes, what gets vsccf what gets vsc and what syrups go in it and the whole cutting with water.
borrowedurmumsvcard1 points1y ago
if you have a keg you don’t need to cut it with water. we just pour ours out of a pitcher so we have to cut it. but here I got you
the 1/2/3/4 pumps are supposed to be full pumps so if you have a half dose pump of caramel or irish cream, you have to do double 2/4/6/8
vsscb- 1/2/3/4 pumps of vanilla. water up to the first line. cold brew up to the third line. about a centimeter of just sweet cream. Ice to the top
scccb- 1/2/3/4 pumps of caramel. water up to the first line. cold brew up to the third line. ice an inch from the top. sweet cream cold foam with 2 salt packets blended into it on top
iccb- 1/2/3/4 pumps of irish cream. water up to the first line. cold brew up to the third line. ice an inch from the top. sweet cream cold foam with 2 pumps irish cream blended in.
juskerface2 points1y ago
Isn't the salted caramel one 1/2/3/4 vanilla, caramel and salt in foam?
borrowedurmumsvcard2 points1y ago
oh yeah I forgot they changed it. we still do it the old way for some reason
asunya1 points1y ago
the recipe for salted cream cold brew changed over the summer, it should be 1/2/3/4 full pumps of vanilla and the foam has 1 full pump of caramel and the two salt packets :-)
ghetto-skooter3 points1y ago
i thought the vanilla bean had vanilla syrup🤣 for months i was giving people EXTRA sweet vanilla bean craps
LegendOfJakelope3 points1y ago
Wait... you guys are putting classic in the strawberry frappes? 🤯
Bhaisaab864 points1y ago
In everyone’s defense, there was a time like five years ago where every few months Starbucks would update the stcf and gtf recipes to have no classic. Then classic. Then no classic. Then classic. Etc. That was a frustrating time.
ghetto-skooter3 points1y ago
and also matcha fraps, it’s standard
philosopher_cat_lady3 points1y ago
I put dirty dishes in the soapy water in the wash sink. I labeled coffee beans as expiring in seven days, but it's six
Bhaisaab865 points1y ago
Coffee beans are seven days though. Seven days once the package is open, 24 hours once the beans are ground.
philosopher_cat_lady0 points1y ago
They're seven days including the day they're opened so six days from that day. That's exactly how Starbucks worded it on a shelf life chart that was in my old store. And they only worded that shelf life in that stupid way, every other shelf life is worded as to the period of time \*from\* today that they're good for sale.
Ordinary-Theory-82893 points1y ago
What’s wrong with putting dishes in soapy water? That’s how you wash dishes lol
philosopher_cat_lady1 points1y ago
That's what I said! But your dishes will get a lot cleaner if you rinse all the food off before you soak them. The point of the detergent solution is not to get the dishes soapy, it's to cut through the grease stuck to them. If you're throwing dishes in there covered in strawberry dust and whipped cream, not only are you getting the water very dirty, therefore needing to replace it more often, but it'll take more rinsing to get all the dishes rinsed clean. And sometimes they simply don't come clean. I share a sink with the cafe department of my Target, where they serve Pizza Hut pizzas and chicken wings. One of the employees soaks her greasy dishes in the sink. I do not use that water: it covers my dishes in grease which is way too much for the soap to handle
biscuit10333 points1y ago
I made iced chais with water for like 4 months 😭
Shellbean002 points1y ago
For months I forgot venti iced drinks got an extra shot.
crzyshiba2 points1y ago
Oh I got many 1.) for the HCMT I thought grande got 1 mint and 2 peah lol 2.) also didn’t know strawberry fraps got classic 3.) the caramel ribbon crunch I would also put caramel syrup instead of the dark caramel
lanceofruin2 points1y ago
used to make honey citrus mint tea as just jade citrus mint tea with one packet of honey LOL no lemonade or anything
notfigurative2 points1y ago
the top thing i always got wrong on bar was caramel macchiatos... no one told me it's vanilla syrup at the bottom not caramel!!
whittyd632 points1y ago
I did not steam matcha powder in the milk for matcha lattes.
justtimingthepast2 points1y ago
After 6 months of pumping vanilla syrup into each whipped cream flask instead of the steaming pitcher I had to ask my store manager to bring up the recipe and show me personally, because I couldn’t believe we’re supposed to be pumping it into the steaming pitcher each time.
borrowedurmumsvcard1 points1y ago
wait what?
justtimingthepast1 points1y ago
When making whipped cream, the standard is to put 4 pumps of vanilla in the steaming pitcher, then fill to the max line with heavy cream. For six months I was putting the four pumps in the whipped cream canister instead. Doesn’t make a huge difference, but it will be off by an ounce or so because of the room the syrup takes up.
borrowedurmumsvcard1 points1y ago
I still do it the wrong way I guess lmfaoo. I don’t think anyone at our store learned to do it with the steaming pitcher. but good to know haha
finzablazin2 points1y ago
None of us knew we were supposed to put caramel in the salted cold foam CB. Caramel wasn’t in the name at first!
Ok-Invite7072 points1y ago
I didn't put vanilla syrup in any of the caramel macchiatos for the first couple weeks on bar 😑
I'm also still confused on how to make iced cappuccinos & very confused as to why we put simple or vanilla syrup in it as a standard, when a normal cappuccino doesn't.
audiob1ood2 points1y ago
Standard recipe for an iced cappuccino:
- Ice in the cup to the top black line - Pull shots into cup. While its pulling, foam nonfat milk in the foaming pitcher (150mL/200 mL/250 mL) - Pour cold nonfat milk into the cup to the top black line - Top with the nonfat foam and a nitro lid.
Hope that helps 😁
Ordinary-Theory-82893 points1y ago
It’s made entirely with nonfat? And why ice first?
angeliic1 points1y ago
in my experience, nonfat milk foams really well for some reason? which i guess makes sense considering dairy with more fat (i.e. heavy cream) doesn't foam up that much
Ordinary-Theory-82891 points1y ago
Well yeah cold foam is always made with non fat but I usually use 2% for the milk
audiob1ood1 points1y ago
No idea, to be honest. This was just how my manager taught me.
ton1balon11 points1y ago
I didn't know that mocha cookie crumbles get java chips until literally a few days ago, and therefore are just regular java chip fraps but added an extra dollar and change big oof lol
devinboyd981 points1y ago
I start training new baristas tomorrow so this thread is coming in clutch. Making notes as I go about points to hit on with my new green beans.
JustOneMoreChapter041 points1y ago
Forgot caramel macchiatos had caramel drizzle. Never put water in the chai, forgot to put caramel drizzle on the caramel frapps.
cyan_reynolds1 points1y ago
Someone told me we warm pumpkin/banana bread on bagel dark instead of loaf. Our ovens weren't the best so I guess they could've thought it needed longer. I would think they were hazing me, but they weren't really the type so idk.
arealglitterchico1 points1y ago
Low hanging fruit but I didn't make Machiattos with vanilla for the longest time. I'd either put caramel syrup or nothing at all lol
I didn't know the matcha frap came with classic syrup for the longest time, although no one really orders it
catarinavanilla1 points1y ago
This is more related to cleaning, but I would use the white rags to clean the bathrooms 🤢🤮 honestly no one showed me the proper method, just handed me an empty caddy to stock and told me to do bathrooms. Realized a while later I was meant to use paper towels the whole time and I was horrified with myself but also it made sense at the time given what I knew.
Coffeeaftersex1 points1y ago
I used to put 2-3-4-5 of honey blend on the HCMT instead of 1-1-2-2
borrowedurmumsvcard1 points1y ago
….oh no
Coffeeaftersex1 points1y ago
Until one of my partners corrected me lol
borrowedurmumsvcard5 points1y ago
I still do 2/3/4/5 oops
Bhaisaab861 points1y ago
Not me, but every time I see someone make a vanilla sweet cream cold brew they put a good 4+ ounces of sweet cream. Even after coaching literally everyone that it gets ice up to ¼ inch to the top and a SPLASH of sweet cream. They still overload the drinks. That plays a big part in how much sweet cream we go through.
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large- scale community websites for the good of humanity. Without ads, without tracking, without greed.