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‘You’re welcome’: Former Starbucks barista shares how to save money on dirty chais in viral TikTok

Viewers had mixed feelings about the hack.

Photo of Clara Wang

Clara Wang

christine kominek, starbucks app

Popular TikTok creator, Big Brother contestant, and former Starbucks employee Christine Kominek (@meanychristiney) explains how to save money on a dirty chai at Starbucks in a viral video that has amassed over 2.4 million views and 342,000 likes since posting Tuesday.

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The video features Kominek sitting in her car and going through each step of ordering Starbucks’ popular dirty chai latte to get the most bang for your buck. She plans on doing a series on hacks to get fan-favorite drinks for less.

“Let’s start with the dirty chai. This is a chai tea latte with shots of espresso which is extremely popular. Most of you say, ‘Hey can I get a grande chai with two shots?’” says Kominek.

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Instead of asking for a chai tea latte with added espresso, Kominek suggests asking for a regular latte with a pump of chai syrup.

“The chai syrup is only 60 cents. But if you order a grande chai with two shots of espresso, you’re paying $1.60 for those shots. And the grande chai and the grande latte have the same base price,” she says.

Kominek broke down the savings in a follow-up video, using a venti size of both drinks as an example. The difference in price amounts to $2.10 when ordering that size.

Some alleged Starbucks employees in the comments are concerned with Kominek spilling company secrets.

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“As a six year partner… You’re not sticking it to the company. You’re sticking it to your former fellow partners,” says @saracopp1.

“Idk I have mixed feelings. We were staffed according to product we sold and when you do this it really messes with staffing bc you get a cheaper drink,” says @icebergbiahead.

Others are excited for the series to continue.

“Okay now let’s do iced caramel macchiatos,” says @luisveliz.

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The Daily Dot reached out to Starbucks and Kominek for comment.

Editor’s note: Due to a technical error, our original message to this TikToker may not have been delivered.


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