Starbucks Barista

Starbucks Barista

Green Siren

Central, TX

Female, 26

After working all day in a cubicle, I'd spend my nights as your friendly, neighborhood Starbucks barista! I remembered your name, made each drink exactly to your specifications and did it all with a bright smile. I've served celebrities, worked both drive thru & cafe stores, worked every holiday and have kept the customers from knowing about all the craziness that goes on behind the scenes... until now. Ask me anything.

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Last Answer on June 12, 2016

Best Rated

Because you can actually overdose and die from caffeine, are there policies about cutting people off at some point?

Asked by JESS123 about 12 years ago

No one's ever asked me this before, so I had to do a little research. From a policy standpoint, I never heard of one. For the quickest death by caffeine through Starbucks coffee, a 150 lb person would have to drink 31 grande brewed coffees. Don't like brewed coffee? Then you'll have to drink 68 grande lattes to die of caffeine overdose, and I'm pretty sure the sugar would get you first. Also, to overdose the caffeine all has to be in your stomach at the same time... which isn't possible. source: http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine

Where does Starbucks make their cakes and brownies (espresso brownies, blueberry crumb cake...yummmm)? Are they not so tempting after you've worked there a while?

Asked by anemone almost 12 years ago

They're typically made by a local bakery to Starbucks specs each day and distributed out every night. Some pastries are easy to get sick of pretty quickly, but for the most part, I actually find myself craving certain pastries now that I never liked before working at Starbucks.

If I buy one small coffee, can I sit in Starbucks on my laptop and use their internet all day or will they eventually kick me out?

Asked by Bostonian about 12 years ago

We will kick you out when the store closes :) But in all seriousness, I have heard this happens in NYC and other large cities that don't have enough sitting room if you haven't purchased anything, but I've never heard of it happening as long as you make a purchase. My store had a lot of students come in for study groups where only one or two would get a drink... but we never kicked them out.

Did you know that Starbucks coffee’s caffeine content is astronomical compared to other chains? Is that why it’s addictive?

Asked by PabloMX about 12 years ago

This actually surprises me. I've worked in other coffee shops and the caffeine content on the brewed coffee is the same. In espresso, it is a little higher than the average shot, but I'd always assumed it was the sugar that was addictive for most people. At Starbucks, 1 shot of espresso is 89 mg of caffeine (avg is 77 mg) and 8 oz of brewed coffee is about 160 mg of caffeine. Furthermore, dark roasts will have less caffeine than light roasts since the roasting process also affects the caffeine content. A venti vanilla latte, that only has the standard 2 shots of espresso has 178 mg in a 20 oz cup (and about 43g of sugar). A venti brewed coffee on the other hand will have approx 400 mg caffeine in a 20 oz cup (and no sugar).

If a customer who's CLEARLY homeless walks in to use the bathroom, does the staff ever stop him from doing so? Or are you instructed to let anyone and everyone use the bathrooms?

Asked by Yuk City about 12 years ago

I think the policy is up to the individual store manager and/or manager on duty at the time. In my experience, most of the homeless customers were regulars (so to speak) and we always let them use the restrooms, but that is not always the case. If it were a homeless customer I didn't recognize, I'd probably let them use it anyway.

Do baristas always expect tips? Is it a big part of your income?

Asked by Jayme about 12 years ago

I would say that it's REALLY nice, but not necessarily expected. The only time I found myself ever expecting to receive something was if the customer had a) a really complicated order or b) a really large order. But that said, I'm a huge advocate of tipping. Yes, it's the barista's job to smile, be pleasant and make you a perfect drink, but they're paid minimum wage. The extra approx $1 an hour they get from tips can make a HUGE difference for the week. If a customer can afford to shell out $6 daily for their drink, an extra 10-25 cents shouldn't break the bank.

If a non-Starbucks coffee shop were to open across the street from your store, would you guys be concerned about competition? Or is Starbucks just so big and entrenched that it really wouldn't affect you?

Asked by Tony T.T. about 12 years ago

I honestly can't speak to that, but I suspect Starbucks wouldn't care. On that note, I worked in a local shop that was across the street from a Starbucks and there was plenty of coffee drinkers to go around. We were the highest traffic and revenue generating store in the city... followed closely by the Starbucks across the street.