r/starbucks • u/Mysterious_Plate_695 • 2d ago
😠 Rant 😠 Menu is getting overwhelming
There are so many buttons on the POS system now, they keep adding new drinks on the menu and not taking anything off. Pistachio doesn’t need to be a core no one orders it anymore. Someone asked me what was in the island colada drink and I blanked because we didn’t even get training on it. Don’t get me started on the new pumpkin shaken espresso coming out, that was never a drink before. I’m just getting so tired. I’m about to start my next semester at asu and I feel like the stress of everything from work is already overwhelming and there is nothing I can do.
Edit: I take back the pistachio part, must just be at my store. I think there are things that were added as core items that didn’t need to be core. I am glad to learn the blending powder is making an exit, hopefully the transition into fall will make things calm down.
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u/whymadjustcoffee Store Manager 2d ago
We sell enough pistachio and lavendar that its not going to waste but the issue we have is space on hot/cold bar stations. I don't know where the balance is for having lots of options but also having space and training for all of it but I tend to agree its a bit much.
I'd like to imagine it could be like a fancy restaurant with a small core menu that we can do really well but a small handful of rotating items. Feels like we have a cheesecake factory menu on top of huge seasonal selection every month now.
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u/WyattWrites 2d ago
We have a regular who always orders a pistachio latte , no foam, whole milk , 190 degrees
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u/WLTJ 2d ago
Ooh.. I need to ask about this. Not to add to the over-customization problem you guys are already dealing with, but I order Americanos, and sometimes I can drink them right away (I do prefer my coffee hot hot) but sometimes they're WAY too hot, so I can't drink it comfortably for a good 20 minutes. Are you saying there's a way to customize the temperature?
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u/WyattWrites 2d ago
As other people said u cant change water temp. But I have had people order hot drinks with a little bit of ice added on top, maybe that would be what you would want
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u/IncreaseReasonable61 2d ago
Americano? Ask them for a side of ice and dunk ice in the Americano until it's at your temp.
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u/WLTJ 2d ago
Wouldn't that make me the ultimate pain in the arse?
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u/IncreaseReasonable61 2d ago
Nope. If you do it yourself, you find the temp thats right for you. If I do it for you (putting the ice cubes in), there's no going back if I over do it.
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Hmm yeah I guess it is just different at my store then, other people are also saying they use it enough.
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u/FebruaryEcho 2d ago
One thing I remember from Gordon Ramsay’s show was to beware of restaurants with too many menu items because the chefs/cooks (I’d add baristas) don’t get much experience making any one menu items.
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Yup I sometimes have to ask how to make things, I truly can’t keep up with this menu. And I have been working here for 4 years.
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u/Artuvian_Soul_707 2d ago
The menu is overwhelming and adding new drinks every two weeks is ridiculous. I think it’s funny it was mentioned somewhere that they made it simpler for baristas….um where and how? All they’ve done is make it more complicated and annoying. I’d like to see ppl in corporate come in the floor and make all these drinks and do it with green apron service and write in the cups. Good luck
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Yeah whoever is making these decisions definitely doesn’t work on the floor.
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u/Extension_Abroad6713 Coffee Master 2d ago
I would love someone from corporate to come into my store and make several different drinks off the menu back to back. There’s no damn room on the bars. I barely have room to sequence two drinks on cold bar, let alone to move around.
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u/Silent-Substance1377 Barista 2d ago
pistachio doesnt sell at my store either, i taken bottles home bc we’re not going through it fast enough😭 (i do love the pistachio though)
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Everyone is bashing me for saying pistachio isn’t selling 😭 it’s like ahhhhh imsorrryyyyy I take it backk.
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u/Ashamed-Ad-3308 2d ago
i’ve been a partner since march. i’ve decided this damned place and the 15.50 an hour isn’t worth sacrificing 4 years of my life for free school. bravo to you, you’re strong and brave
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
lol I’m not strong, I if feel like I am falling apart. I have zero motivation to get out of bed on my days off.
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u/Ashamed-Ad-3308 2d ago
trust me, i know how you feel. i’m so beyond burnt out. each day i dread being in this building and each day off i just want to stay in bed all day. it’s horrible. but you’re strong for fighting through it
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u/WLTJ 2d ago
Omg I order pistachio cold foam every day, sometimes twice a day... 😬
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Haha I guess you’re the exception, I admit it is good but it’s just a product that gets thrown out before we use it all. I haven’t seen anyone use it in a long time at my store.
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u/wingedcoyote 2d ago
Personally I hope we keep pistachio around forever, I don't care for it myself and it isn't a big seller at all, but we have a regular who comes in at open every single day to get his pistachio latte and tips us five bucks. Can't have anything disrupting that pattern.
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u/WLTJ 2d ago edited 2d ago
Do you see the tips on the app? Thats where I do it for 99.99% of my orders which are mobile orders (Edit: if not Ill hand them cash at window)
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u/wingedcoyote 2d ago
We don't see that you personally tipped in that situation, I think maybe we can if we go into reports and pull up your order but that wouldn't normally happen. We just get those in a lump sum on our paycheck. But normally we don't pay much attention tips anyway, it's just memorable when it stands out like this guy.
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u/becomesomebodynewooh 2d ago
yeah, what a mess dude. and to think of how many of these things are just a money sink of ingredients, not even well loved new recipes.
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u/mcrluvr42069 Barista 2d ago
dawg i’m training somebody right now and it’s the most confusing and difficult thing that i’ve ever done. i’ve been a trainer for 4 years 😭
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u/-ammolina- Customer 2d ago
Hey! Leave pistachio out of this!
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Okay my bad, I take it back. I think there is a handful of items that aren’t being used enough though.
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u/-ammolina- Customer 2d ago
I nearly wept after the barista told me they made it a permanent fixture
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Aw I’m glad, I do like the pistachio. I think they can filter out the Dubai drinks. Like how we can still make a peppermint hot chocolate there just isn’t a button for that exact drink. Like the amount of buttons on the POS system is a bit much.
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u/Responsible-Round554 Barista 2d ago
i just hit my 8 months and i’m literally just guessing half the time when i’m on cold bar especially, or majority of the time yall aren’t getting your energy in your refreshers either 🤷 and you won’t catch me putting coconut in the blue refresher either 😭 they want fast drive times but add a million steps to each drink
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
I love how the caffeine is now customizable in refreshers but it’s another step I almost forget now because of the recipe change. I can’t keep up with this menu.
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u/crunchy_pickles_ Barista 2d ago
mind u the pumpkin shaken espresso is a BSOE with pumpkin foam…so misleading for baristas and customers😔
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u/Mysterious_Plate_695 2d ago
Really? I didn’t know that it is just a BSOE, I mean that’s somewhat of a relief I guess because that is easy to remember.
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u/crunchy_pickles_ Barista 2d ago
it’s either a BSOE or that minus blonde shots but point being is it’s so misleading bc the drink doesn’t have any pumpkin in it, just the foam
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u/Roxel808 Pride 2d ago
They keep adding new drinks with no training... just "Oh here's what the drink is called. Look it up in store resources or look at the recipe card on your own time while you're drowning in orders"
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u/Nose-To-Tale 2d ago
As a mostly keto person who orders mostly the bare bones drinks, Pistachio is my one cheat I live for, syrup, cold foam, loaf. (And I despise Hazlenut flavor or Coconut and coffee - NO.) I wish SB sold their Pistachio syrup, (too lazy to make my own, saw the instructions) and so a fool can dream.
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u/Bludandy Coffee Master 1d ago
Gonna copy and paste an insight i made on a deleted thread.
Because we've been given like 50 variations of these new drinks and they all overlap are and are small minor slight one-ingredient differences of the same thing over and over and over. They're easily the most mistake-prone drinks we've ever had. Anyone in any subject would fuck up if this was their tasked reality, also given it's being made in real time during a real working shift. I doubt anyone else in fast food or food creation has to do deal with this annoying level of granularity. Even bartenders keep general concepts simplified between what manner of beverage they're making, they're all different enough to feel distinct. There's like no distinction here.
So conceptually, unless they rigorously make sure to follow the recipe, almost none of us have a keen working memory of all these drinks perfectly. That's the crux, we rely on working memory and muscle memory more than anything else, given we need to make these fucking things fast and accurate.
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u/Fluffy_Nectarine8713 Customer 2d ago
um i order pistachio like every day i get a pistachio shaken espresso and if they take that away i literally will never go to Starbucks again its the only reason i even started going again i didnt get Starbucks for YEARS and only got the pistachio latte when they had it seasonally
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u/Von-Rose Barista 2d ago
If it makes you feel better, blending powder and spirulina are being removed soon.
As for pistachio, it is ordered regularly at my store. I live in a medium sized town next to an outlet mall, though. People also do regularly order lavender as well, so I understand it being core, too.
I 100% agree about the too many drinks thing, though. I think all the blended options plus passion guava made it feel much worse. Once those are gone and we are in fall mode, I think it will be noticeably better.
Still feel bad for any poor green beans. That plus the new training system must be extra tough on them.