Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Former Barista Question re: Nonfat Cold Foam (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by levoorhees
I am a former Barista \*cough 12+ years ago\* so my time with Starbucks predates coldfoam. Could a current partner clarify what the current coldfoam recipe is?
I'm talking if I ordered a coldbrew with regular, nonfat coldfoam. I notice sometimes I'll get plain nonfat milk, other times it seems to have a pump of vanilla in it. Othertimes, I've gotten coldfoam that was made with straight heavy whipping cream without any sweetner. (!) There's also times when I try to order 'regular coldfoam' and am told 'yes, we use vanilla sweet cream for nonfat' which I know isn't right.
I'm trying to be good and follow a regimented diet that limits as much sugar & milkfat as possible (boring and tragic, I know) so having vanilla sweet coldfoam, as delicious as it is, isn't the answer for me. I'm just trying to figure out what the current recipe is so I can order correctly and get the same drink each time, or very occasionally, with a single or half pump of vanilla. Thanks so much!
I'm talking if I ordered a coldbrew with regular, nonfat coldfoam. I notice sometimes I'll get plain nonfat milk, other times it seems to have a pump of vanilla in it. Othertimes, I've gotten coldfoam that was made with straight heavy whipping cream without any sweetner. (!) There's also times when I try to order 'regular coldfoam' and am told 'yes, we use vanilla sweet cream for nonfat' which I know isn't right.
I'm trying to be good and follow a regimented diet that limits as much sugar & milkfat as possible (boring and tragic, I know) so having vanilla sweet coldfoam, as delicious as it is, isn't the answer for me. I'm just trying to figure out what the current recipe is so I can order correctly and get the same drink each time, or very occasionally, with a single or half pump of vanilla. Thanks so much!
Upstairs_Raise7450 95 points 1y ago
Traditional cold foam is 150ml of cold nonfat with 2 pumps of vanilla.
Edited to add, I've noticed some of the baristas at my store aren't telling people the difference or confusing the 2 (vsccf and cold foam).
Edited to add, I've noticed some of the baristas at my store aren't telling people the difference or confusing the 2 (vsccf and cold foam).
levoorhees [OP] 42 points 1y ago
Thank you so much, seriously! And yes, that keeps happening to me if I ask for "the nonfat coldfoam with a pump of vanilla in it" I'll be told "yes, that's what our vanilla sweet cream is" and I'm like oh, those are two very different things/calorie anounts😂
Upstairs_Raise7450 12 points 1y ago
VERY different! Glad to help
persona-2 13 points 1y ago
All cold foam is 100ml not 150.
Detantevandaisy 4 points 1y ago
It’s 150 in European manuals
Machokeabitch 10 points 1y ago
I thought it was just nonfat. Iced capp would get the nonfat foam but there shouldn’t be vanilla in it.
Upstairs_Raise7450 16 points 1y ago
An iced cappuccino technically doesn't exist anymore and the cold foam when ordered is nonfat and vanilla.
galaxydisco17 -12 points 1y ago
I still occasionally make it for one customer, I always steam the milk to get the foam. That was what our recipe card said.
Upstairs_Raise7450 8 points 1y ago
Yeah, I mean we have had people ask and it's something that can be made, it's just no longer a menu item and discouraged (at my store at least) to make.
Detantevandaisy 1 points 1y ago
It still is like this!! The iced cappuccino with cold foam is officially called ‘cold foam iced cappuccino’ so it’s 2 different drinks. (Partner from Europe)
aspiringgrandpa 3 points 1y ago
do you blend on 3 or 4? i did this last time n blended on 3 and it came out wonky :(
madisonla 7 points 1y ago
4 is cold foam 3 is vanilla sweet cream foam / those variations (Irish. Salted caramel. Ect. )
medusas-garden 10 points 1y ago
AFAIK 4 was only used for cloud macchiatos unless that changed recently
aspiringgrandpa 1 points 1y ago
that’s what my shift told me, which is why i’m kinda confused 😭
PartlyCloudyKid 4 points 1y ago
4 on my blender says "dry cold foam" when running, so I use it for my personal drinks because I like the ~~thick~~. Or if the batch is coming out runny on 3, I'll bump it up.
lawrruhh 9 points 1y ago
Never thought about running it on 4 when the batch comes out runny!! I always add a splash of heavy cream to thicken it up, but I'll definitely use the 4 setting now. THANK YOU!
PartlyCloudyKid 1 points 1y ago
That's smart, too! I hope it helps!!!
Upstairs_Raise7450 2 points 1y ago
Personally I use 4, especially with vsscf
iamnotabarbie 27 points 1y ago
My store was tol 100ml of non fat and 2 pumps of vanilla
Missamum 5 points 1y ago
That is correct
Necessary_Low939 18 points 1y ago
It’s supposed to have vanilla but most don’t know or do it. Even my shifts didn’t know. I wasn’t taught to do it either edit: I found out here that we were. Most don’t like it in their foam (when ordering iced cap) so I don’t do it. If they complain I’ll remake it.
cookiemonstah87 6 points 1y ago
No one at my store does it. The manager and a couple shifts were even discussing the fact that they didn't know it's supposed to have vanilla, but now they feel like we have to keep doing it "wrong" because the regulars we have who order it would be pretty upset
Necessary_Low939 4 points 1y ago
Customers complain too
cookiemonstah87 6 points 1y ago
It honestly doesn't make a ton of sense to me to have nonfat foam and then add a bunch of sugar to it without the customer requesting it. But then I don't understand why our matcha and chai are presweetened, either. (Separate issue, but it makes me sad. I love matcha and chai. At any other coffee shop, dirty chais are my go-to. But I don't want them sweet, and I can't stand ours!)
Necessary_Low939 3 points 1y ago
Unsweetened matcha is very expensive. If u ever look at the matcha powder from Dunkin, it’s very… not green because it’s a loooooootttt of sugar. I don’t know about our chai, it seems to me it’s because we alrdy of the teabag chai which is unsweetened. So why not make a sweeten chai.
Edit: sweeten matcha is just cheaper and it mask the cheap matcha. There’s different grades of matcha too!
Edit: sweeten matcha is just cheaper and it mask the cheap matcha. There’s different grades of matcha too!
BlackberryOpposite31 3 points 1y ago
Well know you know you’re supposed to so do it
Necessary_Low939 0 points 1y ago
The thing is… customer do complain about it that’s why I don’t do it.
BlackberryOpposite31 3 points 1y ago
The thing is… customers that want vanilla in their nonfat cold foam are gonna be disappointed.
Able-Fudge7855 3 points 1y ago
You could say to your regulars “great, grande cold brew with cold foam, do you want the 2 pumps of vanilla that comes in our cold foam?”
That way they learn the standard, you cover your bases, and they have the ability to order correctly from other stores. Win-win-win
That way they learn the standard, you cover your bases, and they have the ability to order correctly from other stores. Win-win-win
Necessary_Low939 1 points 1y ago
When they complain I’ll remake it.
eatass420vorelord 2 points 1y ago
I was originally told it was whole milk with nothing in it
Necessary_Low939 2 points 1y ago
Damn lol
mls91314 15 points 1y ago
283 here and I had no clue that regular cold foam had vanilla in it 🤦♀️🤦♀️
FfierceLaw 4 points 1y ago
Think there was a time when it did not
happybowlita83 6 points 1y ago
Cold foam is made with 2 pumps of vanilla, there was a time when it was made with just nonfat milk no vanilla a few years ago.
cpv_91 4 points 1y ago
It's really sad to me how low training standards have gone in recent years. I don't blame any of you (4 yrs or less) for not knowing the correct recipes. Training in its current incarnation is ridiculous. We used to get 2 solid weeks of training (117) before being put on the floor 'on our own'. We were actually given the tools needed to become knowledgeable about the job (recipes, machinery, coffees, etc) and those around us didn't give us secondhand, incorrect information because they, too, were properly trained.
This company is a train wreck.. It's seems the conductor just hasn't noticed the rest of the train has been off the rails for years.
This company is a train wreck.. It's seems the conductor just hasn't noticed the rest of the train has been off the rails for years.
ZaftigZephyr 1 points 1y ago
Too true
lethargicpunk 3 points 1y ago
I’m recently going back to a licensed store after not working for a year at another licensed store and it seems that licensed and corporate stores have different recipes/rules?? I wasn’t even fully trained to do anything at either stores, let alone the drink recipes. Their training has really gone down the toilet because everyone makes drinks differently. I’m sorry about your confusion, we’re equally as confused.
kikuuq 3 points 1y ago
It used to be just plain nonfat milk but sometime during 2020 they changed it to have a few pumps of vanilla in it. I think vsccf has gotten so popular newer baristas might not know the difference 🤔
mama_bibi 3 points 1y ago
What is milk foam? there is a button for it. Im assuming it is hot milk foam but wanted to be sure. Someone ordered an iced cap and I added coldfoam to her drink and then she complained about the price and said it should be milk foam so I put it on there for her and she still wasn't satisfied but she took it but the whole interaction is still bothering me because if it wasnt cold foam and it wasn't hot foam then what the hell did she want?
ZaftigZephyr 1 points 1y ago
Nonfat cold foam
Detantevandaisy 3 points 1y ago
In my country we have only 2 official recipes for coldfoam.
Either in the iced cappuccino = ONLY non fat milk, no syrup nothing.
Cloud macchiato’s = non fat milk, 4 EBS pumps vanilla or caramel, 1 pump of cream base.
We don’t even have heavy cream 🥲
Either in the iced cappuccino = ONLY non fat milk, no syrup nothing.
Cloud macchiato’s = non fat milk, 4 EBS pumps vanilla or caramel, 1 pump of cream base.
We don’t even have heavy cream 🥲
ayakowantsmemes 2 points 1y ago
Ever since sweet cream got incredibly popular, many just equate regular cf to mean sccf. Not all stores train well to teach the difference so a lot of baristas don't even know the cf standard :(
P_2_P 2 points 1y ago
It’s 2 percent and 2 pumps of vanilla they changed it right before covid went off. Original cold foam was nonfat plain.
uwumoment 2 points 1y ago
why was i never trained that cold foam gets vanilla…. i need to step my game up as a trainer 🥲
smoolbeean 2 points 1y ago
nonfat cold foam has always had vanilla. and for iced cappuccinos the recipe was steamed foam but now i just make it with nonfat foam because that makes sense
Brista321 1 points 1y ago
Uh got told it was sugar free vanilla and no fat milk**
Kryrieonn -3 points 1y ago
I wasn't properly trained for Cold foam, but someone told me that after a certain size the nonfat milk is supposed to get vanilla. If I remember correctly what they said it was venti+ it gets two vanilla.
BlackberryOpposite31 10 points 1y ago
Vanilla for all sizes. Not sure why only a venti would get vanilla.
Kryrieonn 3 points 1y ago
That's good to know.I didn't understand why either but since I never was trained on it, I went with it.
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