Where do they grow coffee beans and why does the secret menu matter?

Starbucks Workers United has publicly complained about viral secret menus, saying complex custom drinks add to baristas' workload without matching pay. The #starbuckshack tag on TikTok has nearly 5 billion views, and customers increasingly bring posts into stores. Some baristas report that a quarter or even two-thirds of daily drinks are hidden custom orders.

Baristas often have never heard of the recipes and the ingredients are not always in stock, yet customers expect exact recreations. If a drink does not match the photo, it may be refused or refunded, and ordinary buyers face longer waits. The dispute is about labor and ordering habits rather than where do they grow coffee beans or where did the coffee bean originated.

Starbucks Workers United recently publicly expressed dissatisfaction with popular online secret menus, pointing out that these complicated custom drinks are adding to baristas' workload. As the #starbuckshack tag on platforms like TikTok approaches 5 billion views, more and more customers are bringing posts into stores and asking for recreations, yet baristas often have never heard of the recipes and the ingredients are not fully available. Some baristas have to make a quarter or even two-thirds of their drinks as hidden custom orders each day, and if the final product does not match the picture, it may be refused or lead to a refund request. This ordering trend fueled by social media not only tests baristas' adaptability but also triggers complaints from ordinary consumers about longer wait times.

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Recently, Starbucks Workers United expressed dissatisfaction through tweets about some widely circulated and complicated secret menus online. They implied that the company has not given baristas pay matching the growing number of orders, while the difficulty and time required to make drinks continue to rise.

At present, a large number of Starbucks "money-saving guide" posts have emerged on social media, teaching people how to order in discreet ways to reduce spending, and this content is continuously forwarded and spread by netizens.

According to overseas media statistics, the #starbuckshack tag on TikTok has nearly 5 billion views. Some accounts dedicated to digging up and sharing Starbucks secret menus have a considerable number of followers.

Faced with an endless stream of secret menus, many Starbucks baristas have already become accustomed to them or even numb. Many of them admit that they have never heard of some secret menus, and the ingredients are not always available, yet more and more customers in stores demand that baristas must serve drinks exactly the way they specify.

A Starbucks barista told the American food magazine Eater that about a quarter of the drinks they handle every day are hidden custom orders. Customers often assume by default that Starbucks baristas are capable of making anything they want.

Some customers even insist on strictly following the steps in the post, and once the final product does not match or closely resemble the online picture, they will refuse to take it and ask for it to be remade.

Such orders are indeed very time-consuming, because baristas have to stop what they are doing to study the recipe and figure out how to achieve an effect similar to the picture. Some also take the drink, taste it, say they do not like the flavor, and then ask for a refund.

Another barista mentioned that about two-thirds of the drinks they make are orders with strange recipes. Now, whenever they see young customers entering the store, they feel inexplicably nervous, because making a secret drink is truly exhausting both physically and mentally.

As one of the first brands where secret menus became popular, Starbucks once gave secret menus official recognition. International Finance News once reported that Starbucks spokeswoman Maggie Jantzen said in an interview with CNBC that it was precisely the emergence of these "secret menus" that enabled Starbucks baristas to master the methods for more than 170,000 customized beverages. However, because these personalized custom drinks are attractive, some drinks will eventually be included in Starbucks' official menu.

That said, as people's creativity keeps updating, many Starbucks baristas have begun complaining on social platforms: some customers' requests can really drive people crazy. It was previously reported that a Starbucks barista was directly fired by the store for taking a photo and posting a complaint about a customer's drink request, with the caption "Why I quit today," on the grounds of invading others' privacy.

However, after seeing those order shares, many Starbucks partners said they could relate. Facing such an order, any barista would feel overwhelmed, and even the sticker has borne a number of characters it should not have to bear at its age... This also prompted more partners to share their own experiences, and one order looked like this:

The customer asked to add 63 pumps of various syrups... (Generally speaking, one pump can be 7.5 ml, 15 ml, or 30 ml, and different measuring pumps are configured according to the sweetness and viscosity of the syrup.)

With secret menus increasing day by day, not only Starbucks partners are full of complaints, but even ordinary consumers have expressed dissatisfaction, believing that customers who order this way are rather selfish. After all, Starbucks is originally a brand known for fast service, but once baristas cannot make these custom items well, the customers behind them all have to wait longer.

Although customers need to pay extra for these ingredients and baristas only need to make them as requested, and the ingredients themselves are safe, this does not mean the resulting combination will necessarily taste harmonious.

Some secret menus do look good, but certain requests are better kept within limits. In the end, you pay a lot of money, but the finished product does not taste good. What is the point?

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.