#LIKE IT'S NOT THAT DIFFICULT I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SPECIFY THAT I'D LIKE THE NON NASTY VERSION OF MY DRINK PLEASE

[princessnijireiki]

sike I lied, bc I gotta have a Former Barista Moment…

I forgot starbucks default for adding a shot to a frappe is to blend it in, which is horrible bc espresso hates to be blended, it actually oxidizes, that's why it tastes like that (nasty)… I just got one with an affogato style shot instead, which costs the same but is objectively better

it's a non-issue in non-blended drinks, and I know what they're TRYING to get at— an actual affogato is 2 shots espresso (or liqueur) over top a scoop of ice cream or gelato, so sbux "affogato style" means it's poured over your whipped cream, which is also one of the more (only) logical sbux linguistic fuck-arounds— but there's ways to add espresso to a blended drink without fucking up the literal molecular consistency of espresso that don't have to be poured over whip, yk?

like what I used to do is add the espresso to the blender AFTER blending & then swirl the blender around real fast to distribute the espresso into the melting ice (ice/cold temps slow oxidation & sugar and cream bind to espresso to prevent oxidation, but most blenders are too choppy & aerate what's inside them too much for that to help if you add espresso before blending), and you can even stir it with a long handled spoon if you want before pouring it into a cup— this also lets you add decorative walls to your cup without disrupting it— and it literally adds all of 5-10 seconds tops to the drink prep process, less if you pull the shots while the rest of the drink is blending bc then you can multitask.

and it adds no extra cost except possibly 5-10s lost productivity time on the next drink, and that's IF your espresso machine can only pull two shots at a time, but 5-10s * millions of employees/locations is probably enough money multiplied out that sbux trains people like that to pinch a penny, plus, ultimately, most people don't actually know/care what they're drinking, and if you can taste the difference between drip coffee & espresso, let alone a fresh vs an oxidized shot, you probably aren't going to starbucks that often (or buying blended drinks) unless you have no other options.

tl;dr I'm a snob when it comes to proper execution of food prep I guess but get affogato style shots if you're ever adding espresso to a frappuccino™️ bc otherwise you're just paying for dying coffee flavor for no reason.