I started this thread to talk about creative drink combinations at Starbucks and then decided it would be fun to do a totally open thread. Please feel free to talk about anything Starbucks related. If you want to talk about Flavored Via Ready Brew or favorite drinks or store experiences or anything else that is on your mind, this is the thread to do it in.
And now my contribution to the OPEN thread: All the best Starbucks drinks are thought up by partners. (Starbucks calls their employees “partners”). Two of my favorite creative beverages are as follows:
White Chocolate Vivanno (“Hunter’s special”)
- Order a banana chocolate smoothie.
- Add Java Chips.
- Substitute White Mocha for Mocha.
- Use soy milk.
This is a delicious Oreo-banana-like smoothie.
Another favorite of mine:
Black Tea with Orange Mango Juice (assuming the store uses Tazo Awake).
- Substitute Orange Mango instead of Lemonade.
- A tiny tiny tiny drizzle of mocha sauce on top. (It really has to be a tiny amount, otherwise it overpowers the drink.)
What’s your favorite creative beverage and who came up with it? What’s the story behind it?
This is an open thread. Feel free to talk about anything Starbucks related. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a wide open weekend thread, but it can’t hurt to try this one time!
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Give me a pump of pumpkin spice in my chai any day 🙂
Great idea for a thread! There are probably a bunch of stuff I could comment on. Re drinks I am pretty conservative and just like my iced green tea since I do not like drinks that are too sweet. I have to say of late that I have seen partners dragging in the store and interacting more with themselves than the customer. If I start a conversation with them, they will chat but I would think it would be nice to have the partner try to engage the customer more and have them more of the community. I also hope at some point SB introduces some of the new concepts they have in Seattle to other stores. I know corporate is in Seattle so there is an advantage to having new concepts there, but aren’t they cheating other SB customers by limiting the new products and programs? Is it always about the bottom line? Melody this was a great idea for a thread- thanks.
Captain Crunch Frappuccino: Strawberries & Cream Frappuccino + Toffee Nut
I want minis in Tucson!!!!! And a clover!!!!!!
*end rant* 🙂
I tweeted this earlier this week, but thought I’d post it here in longer format:
THANK YOU Starbucks for all of the local generosity you show in our communities. I have seen of lot of charitable giving by local Starbucks lately, whether it be for fundraisers, events, or whatever. My son ran his first 3k last weekend and Starbucks was a sponsor of the charity event. During the same week, I came across three different stores doing something charitable in their communities.
That’s good stuff so kudos Starbucks!
It makes me wonder whether or not Starbucks (the SSC) rolls up/tallies all of those activities on a national level. If not, they should.
Oh CD I adore you! Thank you for that reply to this thread!! My heart warmed. I have a blog article sitting in my drafts that I never get around to which is just about Starbucks and donations of time and money. Starbucks has given a lot to Seattle, just to PARKS alone. Yes parks! Along Eastlake in Seattle there is a small park with a big sign that Starbucks was a donor to improve the park. I am sure it gets lost in the shuffle of things and how many people never notice. Of course the name Starbucks is in the tiles along Pike Place Market when tiles were sold (donations) to improve the Market. And I have heard in the news about Starbucks helping to improve parks in Redmond. They always seem to have their hands somewhere in their local communities. God forbid that ever change. I would rather have no discounts and keep that intact for sure!
I love my iced white mochas 🙂 I wish I had something a bit more creative! Though I do like a honey almond latte sometimes.
I think it is great that SB contributes to the community and they certainly should promote that more. I either have missed promotions in this area or they don’t do it as much as in Seattle. Also, have to say we have met such a wonderful group of regulars at the SB we frequent the most and many of them have become friends.
What do you think? http://twitpic.com/2zsez7 Haha.
It’s any kind of drink, but the drink which is the best for me is drink with partner’s pride and love. Thank you Starbucks!
More samples of interesting drinks would be good. “Honey almond latte” is something I’ve never heard of. I would love to try a sample before spending $4 on something I may or may not like.
@Pam – I’ve seen partners sampling new seasonal drinks like the PSL, though these days mostly there is Via sampling going on. I know Kat and I think she works PT as a barista at an indy shop which is probably her Honey Almond Latte. You can ask for a packet of honey in your latte at Starbucks – I see people do this now and then.
Can’t get enough of the Mango Cream Frappuccino with vanilla syrup! Yum 😉
GAStarbucksGirl’s Captain Crunch Frappuccino sounds amazing, too! Would love to try that.
I like to make a variation of the green tea lemonade by pouring double lemonade, half sweet, and 1 scoop of matcha.
My other simple favorite is instead of using lemonade, use apple juice for a iced shaken unsweet green tea apple juice (aj is sweet enough).
Melody I love the creative vivianno drink
Mine is similar to yoours.
Banana chocolate vivianno with white mocha instead of mocha, whole milk, 2 bananas, and extra protein. It’s sooo yummy
Hi Rob! Nice to see you here! Hope to see you more often in the comments. Actually I wanted to say that I am familiar with your Starbucks aggregator type tumbler blog – http://sipsbux.tumblr.com/ – I’m not sure why you started that but I definitely check it now and then. It’s a quick way to get a good look at what is happening on a variety of Starbucks-related websites all at once, and so it’s quite useful! Thank you for putting it together! And I’ll have to try Green Tea Apple Juice – That sounds good!
Melody
And I love making this drink:
Venti latte, 2 ristretto shots, 1 pump white mocha, 1 pump toffee nut, whole milk, no whip, extra extra foam, and as I am steaming milk I sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon. The result is amazing. Definitely my drink
The White Chocolate Vivanno sounds delicious! I’ll have to give that a try sometime! I also really liked a Dark Cherry Java Chip Frappuccino. And, as always, a caramel mocha. Or peppermint java chip. Delicious!
My favorite creation:
Venti vanilla bean frappuccino
– Add banana
-Add protein
– Breve
-Only a grande scoop of ice (the banana thickens it)
– Half the base (2 pumps instead of 4)
Tastes like banana cream pie!
I’m loving the Via Cinnamon and Spice – drinking it right now! I was DEAD SET against instant coffee, but when I fell in love with the Iced Via over the summer, I decided to give the flavored hot Via a try. Next, I’m going to try the Vanilla. Mind you, I’m a black coffee drinker, no lattes or anything (ok, I’ll admit to a Spice Pumpkin latte now and then when its in season…) so the flavored stuff is a bit of a jump for me!
I’m just now tasting Thanksgiving Blend and Christmas Blend. What do some of you partners who have tried this think of it so far???! Anybody try any of the other top secret Christmas whole bean/soluble items???
I am soooooo glad to be back online after a week w/out a computer and now a NEW one, as I jump thru all these extended sign-in processes where I am not recognized:) Anyway, I want to comment here but will have more time tomorrow…..uh-oh, the thread will likely change. I am behind. I can find it anyway!
As usual Melody, thanx for all your words, everywhere! thanx thanx thanx. I look forward.
I have a few that I have created over the years(some have discontinued ingredients unfortunately). I am deathly allergic to bananas, so I have my own take on the smoothies. I fill the orange mango to the first line like you would for an orange mango smoothie, substitute passion tea for 2% milk(do NOT add protein like a regular smoothie), pour into the blender pitcher, add a grande scoop of ice instead of the vivanno size scoop of ice, add 3 pumps of creme base syrup for smooth texture, and blend. Very fruity, delicious, and banana/dairy-free!
Also, I have what some customers call a Chocolate Moo Moo. For an iced grande:
Grab a tea shaker(wash/sanitize afterwards), add 3 pumps of mocha, 1 pump of vanilla, a splash of breve(for creaminess) and the rest 2%, add light ice, shake, and top with a dallop of whipped cream, chocolate powder, chocolate curls, and lastly a few chocolate chips for presentation and added chocolate goodness!
My favourite is what I call a zebra – half white mocha, half regular dark mocha. so yum!
Is this a good time for me to complain about how I miss maple machiattos (yes I know it’s been 3 years but I really loved them) and how I would do anything in this world for Starbucks to have a pumpkin syrup that doesn’t have dairy in it.
Also…I cannot wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas blends to come out- can anyone share how they compare wtih last years?
Well, basically, I just want to say that I REALLY HOPE Starbucks brings back the Caramel Brulee Latte to the NYC area this season! That is all :-).
cinnamon dolce latte, one shot less for whatever size i order, plus about 2-3 pumps of white chocolate.
tastes like a cinnabon.
i’d also like to see the caramel brulee return 🙂
@Pam the honey almond latte is a fellow barista inspired drink 🙂 They’ve been springing made up creations on me all week lol. So if you wanted this you could just order a latte and ask for almond flavoring and honey. That’s all it is. It actually reminds me of the bubble tea drinks I like getting. It’s soft sweet flavor. It’s not an official coffee drink at the place I work 😉
@Elly your modified drink sounds DELICIOUS! I’m going to try that next time I get some coffee 😀
The White Chocolate Vivanno sounds interesting…YUMMY! Think I’m gonna take this tomorrow…:D
Got to tell you I am a raspberry addict! Raspberry mocha or a java chip frapp with raspberry and for a real treat I order one of those wonderful brownies and have one of the partners drizzle a little juicy raspberry on the plate.
I have no fancy drink. Actually, I’m very plain in my drink desires. Bold, brewed (or Clover, if I’m near it) coffee, particularly the once in a blue blue moon Yirgacheffe. maybe I’m a purist, as opposed to ‘plain’, in this sense??? But, since the best of the best is rarely available, then I’ll have (still plain): iced grande quad doubleshot w/skim & 2 splendas OR, in winter: 4shot tall skim cinnamon dolce, TON of GOOD foam.
sorry, nothing creative, nor am I interested. I was thinking for a minute that maybe this came with ‘age’ then I was remembering growing up, my mom worked in a candy factory, so we always had a few bowls of chocolates sitting on our buffet…it never interested me. (different story with one of my sisters!) so, I’m thinking, my tastes are simple.
so glad to be back!
Nice idea for a blog Melody. I like the different drinks people come up with. Say I noticed you said Starbucks was on the tiles at Pike Place Market. Probably hidden in some obscure location. Next time you are there check out my Mother’s tile. It is in row 1, or maybe 2, 7 in from the news stand on the 1st Ave. entrance. What a location! Every time I’m down there I dust it off.
Wow… The last couple days have been whirlwind! Finally sitting with cup of Mocha Via – compliments of Melody (and some very enjoyable blog reading) I have never been a fan of instant coffee. Via is not instant coffee.. It may dress up as Instant but clearly it is not.
I recently moved back to Arizona. The Mesa area. My oldest daughter can tell you where every Starbucks is from here to the California border.
The one closest to the house has been a varied experience. I have been getting lite coffee Fraps with sf flavors and extra shots. My daughters have most recently been drinking the toffee mocha fraps.
Not huge leaps of adventure.
The reason? When the barristas don’t seem to be able to get the simple stuff right it’s hard to be adventurous. Yes. There are many other Starbucks here. Just not as close.
I won’t turn this into a rant. : )
Where I used to live in Delaware – we had (for a time) two Starbucks in grocery stores. My son and I loved on of those stores sooo much. My son called our favorite barrista Princess – noting she was too young to be the queen of coffee and surelyshe would get better over time
I could say to her- I’m not sure what I want – she would Sk “hot or cold?” and the. “trust me?” of course! Whatever she did was always wonderful!
So- we are currently in search of barristas we can consistantly count on and then let the adventures begin!!
I have noted some if the great ideas here to try. Thank you!
And Melody – thank you so much! I love the blog ~ and the tweets! You are building a great community!
@elly and @coolwatyr –
@Coolwatyr – That is a great reply in this thread! There is so much there to respond to that there is no way I can touch on even a fraction of that. I’ve done that before where I just asked a barista to pick out a beverage for me, and I have never been disappointed. I know the store experience can really fluctuate from place to place. I have a huge bias that downtown Seattle is the creme de la creme of Starbucks, but I KNOW there are great Starbucks everywhere, and I’m just very colored by my Seattle bias.
Hey since you are in Arizona, have you tried the “mini” test pastries/desserts yet? You may have said that before and I missed it.
Building a community was one of my goals when I started the blog. It’s actually still a “small blog” and not a big place, but it makes it so we can all get to know each other. I smile every single time I see regulars posting like, CD, DeniseR, purple1, DadCooks, Nathan, Sebastian and Nob. We’re all becoming friends over coffee is the way I see it.
@Elly – I really liked the Caramel Brulee Latte too. I was very surprised at myself because mostly I don’t even drink espresso beverages, but it was delicious and I really did order them now and then over the winter. Perfect rainy day beverage. But if it comes back, it has to come back with the topping too. I thought it was an almost buttery drink! That doesn’t sound good as a latte when said like that but it was! Hopefully we can keep campaigning to bring it back.
Has anyone been to a store with the new rules? http://goo.gl/kbLD
My store south of Denver International Airport on Tower Rd. is using them. It was noticeably slower service, and I suppose impatient customers will get frustrated, but I really think it improved my Americano. The partner behind the bar was careful with each drink, even when 6 of them were lined up to make.
If service is slow because of less-than-stellar overall service and my drink is still poorly made, I get annoyed. But I’m all for taking longer to make a drink because of attention to detail!
My random Starbucks thought: If the drink orders are standard for the most part why when I order a Soy Chai latte it taste different almost every time? I noticed with some other drinks too. But especially with my soy chai. I get the feeling that each barista learned how to make it differently.
You guys are all much more creative than I am! I guess I don’t like to stray too much from what I know I like…although I admit I’m continually intrigued by the captain crunch frap
@Melody I’ll switch back to Turner… Don’t know what I was thinking!
I don’t know what it is about Starbucks that makes me expect my drink quickly. Perhaps it’s because I know they’ve put in machines and processes to improve operational efficiency? When I go to my local coffee shop, I expect things to take a while, because of their attention to detail. I can’t go there when I’m in a hurry. It’s hard to explain. But maybe it’s time I expect the same thing from Starbucks – A slower process, but a superior beverage.
I think that the new beverage routine will get faster as baristas become more comfortable with it. And it really, really does produce a better drink. As time goes on the connection you get with partners will improve too. Once we don’t have to concentrate so hard on the routine we’ll have time to look up and enjoy our customers, which will hoepfully help you guys to enjoy us too!
@camspi – do you have the two new ‘secret’ Christmas coffees? So far we’ve only received regular and decaf Christmas blend.
My partners are already sampling the Caramel Brule too. I meant to have one today but forgot, oh well, tomorrow is another day! (@Melody – yes, the topping will be back too)
These are GReAT. Would be nice if they could all be pulled from starbuck’s mobile iPhone app where u can make your own drinks, save them and assign drinks to your iPhone contacts. Just saying. But I’m bookmarking this to refer to next time I have drink block.
time for Canada to chime in.
The Beverage Repeatable Routine works. I can honestly say that we weren’t told to “slow” down but to take time with each drink. That is a very different statement.
We have successfully launched the BRR in my store and the average wait time for a beverage on a 2/3 person floor is 35 seconds. If the BRR is done right drinks get handed off in a consistent pace with little to no mix up when handing off drinks to the correct customer. there is no batch steaming due to the “new” milk steaming procedure i use the quotations because it’s always been supposed to be that way since espresso excellence. one drink one pitcher.
the reason were to use one machine is to ensure quality and to pace ourselves. it’s not a race it’s the pace thats important. With every second saved those seconds are to be turned toward the customers to offer world class customer service.
i know it might sound like i’m blowing smoke… but honestly i was on bar for 4 hours at my store and used this procedure with lines out the door there was over 20 drinks lined up and we were short staffed with one espresso machine broken. i had a wonderful barista support and i just nailed that rush. i wasn’t tired or mentally exhausted and i can honestly say i talked to more customers then that i would have otherwise. plus my station was clean all the time since i could focus on making the drinks 2 by 2 perfectly…
All this negativity within stores re: change is what kills it… you need buy in for it to work or you’re setting yourself up to fail to prove your own point…
I fully support & encourage quality over time. Throw in passion to create a quality product and I know I’m going to get an excellent beverage every time!
@Melody – the minis are great. Just a couple bites enough to enjoy a little something. They look beautiful as well. I vented a bit in my last comment ;). I’m all for teaching and training – I just wonder if the job is a good fit when a couple months in the basic beverages are confusing.
I look forward to trying the shops in Seattle. I’ve added it to my list of places to go – things to do.
I am definitely a fan of quality over the speed of receiving my beverage. I always leave enough time while I am in the store to not be rushed. Occasionally bad things happen with the drink that I don’t notice until I have gotten to work, but the baristas are always nice and understanding about it. It’s not that I’m in a rush usually…just don’t want to burn my tongue! 🙂
I would so much rather a barista tell me its going to be a few extra minutes for my drink because something was slightly off than to try to hand off a beverage just for the sake of moving the line along. It’s a level of trust and connection to me.
During the heat wave in L.A. this summer, I told Nicole the barista I wanted something cool…. she made me a Venti Mocha Frapp with 2 mixed shots and 2 floating shots of espresso. It certainly was an interesting drink!
http://twitpic.com/2up1es
Coolwatyr, you are very near my store! I work at Cooper and Warner(Gilbert, AZ). You should visit us sometime. We are very passionate and knowledgeable. We also have the new Starbucks Minis if you are in for a delightful new treat!
So far the SB I frequent the most has not put into effect the new rule about making drinks and when I asked the baristas about it they all responded with negatives comments and I got the impression they would ignore this rule as long as possible.
I wonder if there is a way to find out if Howard ever lets anyone buy him a drink? Is he so scared that having someone buy him a drink would mean he is beholden to them? I think it is a nice gesture and perhaps Melody one day he will let you buy him a drink. BTW does he ever visit other SB locations outside of Seattle?
Hi purple1 – I can only hope that someday I can sit down and have coffee with Howard. I would gladly buy him his double short non fat two thirds full latte. My ears get a bit of HS gossip now and then, through the “contact me” form, through twitter and through real life. I love that people often tell me their stories. He has an enormous travel schedule. One day he might be in Georgia or Southern Calif or Hawaii or NYC and then back in Seattle before you know it. He gets around to A LOT of Starbucks.
@Diele – we will definately visit your store! Tis the end of the month & the Starbucks fund is depleted for now (sad, I know). I’ll talk to my daughters about a vist next week. : )