The dialogue between Starbucks baristas—the hands behind every beverage sold by the coffee chain—and customers reaches a new dimension on TikTok, where the former are candid about the things they dislike.
One barista lists things she wishes customers would stop ordering, like cold toppings on hot beverages. The video was posted by Tori Hewitt (@ttorih13 on TikTok) and has drawn over 21,000 views as of Monday, where other baristas and customers alike chimed in on the discussion.
“I’m a Starbucks barista and this is things that you need to stop ordering,” Hewitt says in the clip. “The first thing is cold foam on a hot drink. Hear that back real quick. Cold foam on a hot drink. And it’s insane. It melts instantly. If you wanted to foam on the drink, you can ask us for extra foam or whipped cream. Whipped cream is free of charge. Vanilla foam? It’s pointless.”
Hewitt then lists other beverage order additions that are unnecessary in her view, like adding vanilla sweet cream foam and caramel drizzle to a white chocolate mocha.
“What’s wrong with a regular iced white mocha?” she says. “With caramel drizzle maybe to spice things up? You’re paying $2.45 extra to jump on a bandwagon.”
@ttorih13 Please🫶 Thank you🫶. #starbucksdrinks #starbucksrecipe #starbuckshack #starbucksbarista #starbuckssecretmenu ♬ S H A K E I T O F F – ⚡️ Sped up sounds ⚡️
In a second video, she shares that some of the most difficult drinks to make are the ones created on TikTok, as the recipe is not standard and they are not created by Starbucks.
“Usually, when you order them, you don’t know what they are,” she says. “You give us the name, and we don’t know the name. We haven’t seen the videos of each and every secret menu drink. Let me just clarify for a second, we have no secret menu.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Hewitt via comment on the video as other communication methods were unavailable.
Some viewers, implying they themselves are baristas, shared their own frustrations with some of the beverage modifications they receive from customers.
“WHEN PEOPLE SAY ‘iced green tea unsweetened’ AND THEY SAY IT LIKE THREE TIMES TO MAKE SURE ITS UNSWEETENED BUT WE DO NOT SWEETEN IT!” one commenter wrote.
“I was a barista for 3 years and I DREADED MAKING ALL OF THESE,” another viewer said.
“We literally started telling people no cold foam on hot drinks bc one time it CURDLED in someones latte,” one user echoed.
Viewers who usually order the beverages she called out shared their own critiques.
“Got regular iced white mocha yesterday and they gave it to me without whipped cream and when i asked about it he said I have to ask for it,” a viewer said.
“I stand by my white mocha with cold foam and caramel drizzle,” another commenter wrote.
“Ok hear me out.. maybe that’s how they like the white mocha,” a user shared.
