no i agree but i also think it tastes better without the water. i make it the correct way and when i am taking an order i ask if a customer wants the water or not. but when im on bar i feel like im purposely sabotaging someone's drink (even if thats what the recipe calls for) and it makes me feel evil in like, a good way. its a small thing but its the small things that get you thought the day lol

Honestly Starbucks is so cult-like and I think it's inevitable that the shifts give you corrections you just have to learn to nod or say, "I am making this drink correctly, to-standard, it is not me you should be correcting". At one point in time I met this shift who would do that, but she also focused on who precisely was doing something out of the norm and would have barista trainers shadow the barista who was doing anything non-standard.

At first I thought it was annoying as all hell but then I realized she was just suffering from the same problem that you are. I think you guys deserve way better and there is freedom and happiness that working at a small coffee company will bring you. You already have coffee knowledge so you're set, but working for a small business that focuses more on quality than pushing out 20-30 drinks in 10 or so minutes is also very different.

For example, in order not to burn milk, you're only realy supposed to keep the steamer on until the drink reaches 120 degrees, and more than half of the time the baristas at Starbucks don't aerate the milk and put the pitcher down on the machine too soon so the milk is flat and watery.

I quit working at Starbucks in part because I felt guilty for handing out anything there, I knew the coffee beans were already burnt to a crisp, we were always rushed to hand out anything and nobody had the time to make a proper latte, infact most people weren't even ordering coffee to begin with.

I see where you are coming from though, I suffered from the same thing and I got sick of being berated by shifts before peak to make things right even though everybody else did shortcuts daily and I was just trying to keep to standard. Honestly though, the Starbucks standard way of making drinks cannot be quality and I've tried just about every drink on the menu and it is just not as good without the proper tweaks and foaming, LESS WATER..don't get me going about the americanos it is such a waste of good espresso with all that water in there 😵😵‍💫.

this is the hill i die on. people can often go to a boutique shop and get something of, potentially, better quality, but they come to us, presumably, for the consistency, familiarity, and ease! that's the whole point of standardization!

ye i know !!! i'm just being a little shitter. i think it tastes better without the water and so do a lot of customers... so when i add the water it feels like im sabotaging a drink on purpose. its just funny in my head, but it gets me through the day lol

I got told that my first time thru training in 2017 and the next drink she had me make was an iced chai…. I just stared at her dumbfounded a minute and asked so how do I activate this one?

It literally says that on the box though.

completely understand! i try not to assume drive through drinks but if people come inside i might ask if they want to try something different/suggest something bc it'd be easier to remake it if they don't like it lol

I never put water in chais and I use the foam blender to make iced matchas... I thought I was being nice. You've given me a new perspective. Thank you.

This. My husband is diabetic, and if the carb content of something he is served is significantly different than what he expects, it can mess up his blood sugar the rest of the day.

What if I’m nice and want it made to standard?

i make it to standard regardless but i try to stay in the habit of asking customers if they want the water or not. if a customer is rude i don't ask lol

i see! we've been having a lot of customers complain that the chai isn't as spicy as it used to be. i hope my watered down chais are fixing that!!!

that sounds interesting but theres also this nice feeling when i pour the milk onto the watered down concentrate and watching the foam sit on the water for a moment before it sinks....... i would miss that

They’re saying people in their district exclude the water so it’s just chai concentrate and steamed milk. The correct way is to fill it up halfway with water and chai concentrate and the rest with steamed milk

they are 50% water 50% milk! water activates the chai so water = spicier chai, 100% milk = creamier chai. this is what i learned from the comments lol

they are 50% water 50% milk! your trainer was wrong i'm sorry!