Starbucks has launched a campaign to promote ready-made drinks as baristas continue to be bombarded with outrageous order customizations.
The "Made Ready" campaign is inspired by Starbucks' canned and bottled coffees, according to a press release announcing its launch on Monday. The company is collaborating with Chance the Rapper on the campaign, which includes a TikTok challenge "inviting customers to duet with him and share their 'Made Ready moment,'" the release says.
Three winners will get a personalized shout-out from Chance, a mini-fridge, and a one-year supply of Starbucks' canned and bottled coffees. One grand prize winner will have a live video chat with Chance where he'll "hype them up for their next big moment." The contest runs from Monday to July 11, and winners will be notified in August.
The launch of the campaign coincides with growing frustration over a wave of customers making lengthy orders that are overwhelming baristas and holding up lines. Some of the heavily customized orders are inspired by viral TikTok trends, including one that draws attention to secret menu items. Starbucks workers say mobile orders are pouring in "a mile a minute" with lengthy customizations to boot since the company allows unlimited customizations through mobile ordering.
Starbucks stood by its unlimited policy despite a barista tweeting a photo in May showing a long list of specifications a customer requested for their drink. The barista captioned the picture "On today's episode of why I wanna quit my job" and was later fired. Responding to the viral tweet, Starbucks told Fox News, "Customizing beverages at Starbucks and our baristas' expertise in helping customers find and craft the right beverage has and always will be the heart of the Starbucks Experience. There are many ways for customers to modify their favorite beverage at Starbucks and most customizations are reasonable requests from customers."
A company spokesperson recently told Insider that locations that frequently receive these time-consuming orders are "not illustrative of the customer and partner experience in a majority of our stores."
There are more than 170,000 ways to customize Starbucks drinks, according to a company blog post.
Starbucks is testing a new system for ordering off-menu drinks that have gained popularity on social media. The "brief test" will launch June 29, according to an internal memo viewed by Insider and confirmed by Starbucks.
The new ordering system is designed to alleviate some of the confusion that happens when customers see drinks online that aren't officially on the menu and try to recreate them. Sometimes these drinks are referred to as a "secret menu," and given names that baristas don't necessarily recognize, as there is no actual official secret menu.
"Starbucks is always exploring innovative ways to enhance the customer experience. As part of these efforts, this summer we are doing a limited test to help customers easily order popular social media customizations. Our customers and partners often come up with creative customizations and we look forward to hearing feedback on their experience using this digital ordering feature," a spokesperson told Insider.
The program is limited to just two drinks at first. The "Pink Drink Remixed" is a venti Pink Drink with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam, and the "Moon Drink" is made up of a grande iced matcha latte and two pumps of chai. They will cost $6.25 and $5.55, respectively. The two drinks were selected to "reduce complexity but still test the function," the spokesperson said.
A small number of customers will be invited into the test, and their experience alongside Starbucks workers' experiences will give the company insight into how this development could be implemented in the future, a spokesperson told Insider. Starbucks declines to share the exact size of the test, or any information about when it might be introduced more broadly.
The test will "make it easier for customers to order a beverage they see on social media, streamlining the process and saving you time while allowing the customer to order the drink they want," the internal update for workers says, "even if they don't know how to order it in "Starbuckian."
Drinks will connect to Starbucks mobile ordering through Instagram and Facebook. Customers can select the drink they want through those platforms, which will lead to a scannable QR code that can be accessed by Starbucks employees.
The Moon Drink gained popularity online after TikTok influencer Anna Sitar posted a video of herself ordering the drink. Lizzo used the duet feature on the video, and after taking a sip told fans to try the drink.
Promoting these drinks on social media also helps Starbucks deal with growing ingredient shortages by directing customers to ingredients that are available. Earlier in June, Insider reported on an internal memo of 25 ingredients and items that were put on temporary hold due to supply chain issues. The ingredients for these drinks are "in full supply," Starbucks says.
The coffee chain relies on fewer customers who spend more on customized drinks. In the second quarter of 2021, US same-store sales increased by 9% despite a 10% decline in the number of transactions. The growth was driven by a 22% increase in average ticket size as orders grow larger and more complicated. Additions like different milks and sauces (or shots of chai and extra foam in this case) can increase the base price of a drink.
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Instant coffee has a bad reputation for being heavily processed and lacking in flavor, but in the past few years, it's been catapulted into the modern coffee era. Small producers like Waka and Swift (who partners with roasters like Verve and Tandem on their blends) are leading the game with flavorful offerings made using new technology.
There's even a new category of instant-ish coffee: the single-serve pour over. This consists of an airtight package of ground coffee with a mechanism to anchor the coffee bag to your cup as you pour hot water over it. We mostly think of instant coffee as a powder that mixes with water to become a brew, but since the single-serve pour over requires the same amount of equipment and only a few more seconds of your time, we included a few of those in our list as well.
Verve's top selling coffee is its flagship Streetlevel Blend, with notes of stone fruit and citrus. In partnership with Swift, the company created this instant coffee version, with that same balance and signature notes of fruit. Each pack comes with six individually packaged cups, which are thin and easily transported even in a hiking backpack or pocket. It can be prepared with either hot or cold water, and is recommended to enjoy as a 10 oz cup of coffee. Ethically sourced from several growers in Guatemala from the Alotenango and Chimaltenango regions, this is top notch coffee that just so happens to be instant.
The best Colombian instant coffee
Waka founder David Kovalevski grew up in Israel, where instant coffee is much more common. When he came to the US, he discovered that there was no instant coffee on the market that suited his tastes. So, he founded Waka coffee, which makes a range of instant coffees meant to be just as satisfying as a cup from your neighborhood coffee shop. Waka does not have the same complexity as some of the others in this guide, but it is extremely balanced and satisfying, plus it's easier to dissolve than some others. It can be prepared in hot or cold water and the tiny packets are easy to stash in a purse or even a larger wallet.
The best single-serve pour over instant coffee
Meet the single-serve, single-origin pour over. Ethically sourced from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia, the tasting notes for this organic coffee are blueberry, citrus, and honey. Just open the nitrogen-flush package, pull out the bag of coffee, anchor it to your cup, and treat it like a regular cold brew, giving the grounds a few moments to "bloom" before continuing your pour over. You can buy them in packs of 6 or 10, all packaged in a wind-powered facility. If you are camping or on the run and need something quick but premium, it's hard to do better than these Kuju pour overs.
The best budget instant coffee
Whether instant or otherwise, you're generally going to pay more for better quality coffee. This is both because it costs more to produce and because growers are paid fairly for their work. If you've never once thought or cared about a coffee's tasting notes and you just want a satisfying cup of instant coffee at a budget-friendly price, the Starbucks VIA blend is a great option. Based on its classic Pike Place roast, with a rich, chocolatey profile, each serving is less than $1.50. This is one that should just be prepared with hot water. If you love your morning Starbucks, their VIA instant coffee may be the perfect instant option for you.
The best decaf instant coffee
Instant coffee AND decaf coffee? Each has their own stigma, and it may surprise you that we'd recommend either, let alone a decaf instant coffee. But, the Tandem Coffee Roasters Sun Lamp Decaf instant coffee is excellent. Portland, Maine-based roaster and shop Tandem partners with Swift to make their lineup of instant coffees, all of which are good, but you simply won't find a better decaf instant coffee out there. It has notes of marshmallow, graham cracker and green grape and, like many of the others, can be prepared with hot or cold water. Each pack comes with six individually wrapped servings.
The best instant coffee subscription
Swift partners with dozens of roasters across the country (and beyond) to make top-notch instant coffee, but they also have their own offerings. Founder Nate Kaiser worked in the specialty coffee industry for years before becoming fascinated by instant coffee and setting out to make a version that tasted good to him and his coffee buddies. Mainstay is Swift's flagship blend, with an array of fruit and cocoa flavors. The Swift Mainstay blend subscription is extremely customizable, with orders between 10 to 100 servings arriving every 1 to 9 weeks or months. The subscription can be paused, canceled, or skipped any time.
The best flavored instant coffee
If you prefer your coffee with an extra boost of sweetness and flavor, we don't blame you. Copper Cow Coffee, which is owned by women and produced in California, is sustainably sourced and offers several kinds of single-serve pour overs made to mimic Vietnamese coffee. Even their "Just Black" option comes with small packets of sweetened condensed milk. The Churro latte flavor, complete with ground cinnamon, offers balanced, customizable sweetness with natural flavor from added spices. Like a regular pour over, you do need to wait for the ground coffee to "bloom" but if you're looking for a (literal) sweet spot between instant and a freshly prepared cup, you've found it.
The best adaptogen instant coffee
Adaptogens are supplements meant to help your body counteract the effects of stress. If you're a fan of adaptogenic mushrooms like chaga and cordyceps, you'll love the Four Sigmatic Instant Mushroom Coffee. Half coffee, half mushrooms, its flavor is still roasty and coffee-like (especially with a splash of milk) but the coffee helps prevent a caffeine crash and also is supposed to boost your immune system. For those who love their supplements and their coffee, this may be just the thing.
Our methodology
I've been teaching and training in the specialty food world since 2015. I teach classes on sensory analysis, pairings, and the origins of our favorite foods and beverages. As a solidly non-morning person, I also drink a lot of coffee.
I've tasted instant coffees from every major producer and chatted with the folks at Waka, Swift, Tandem, and Verve to better understand their processes, sourcing, and what flavor profiles they're aiming for with their instant coffee.
Flavor
Yes, even instant coffee should taste good. None of the "burnt rubber with a side of mud" flavors that we expect from the instant coffee of our grandparents' generation. Furthermore, it should be balanced and have unique character. It may not taste exactly like a fresh brewed cup straight from your local independent coffee shop, but it should be enjoyable.
Ease of Preparation
The point of instant coffee is making life easier for yourself. We gave extra points to those that are brewable with either hot or cold water and gave precedence to instant coffees that are available in single-serving packages, making them easier to stash in your backpack or purse
Sustainably Sourced
Like any other coffee out there, the best tasting instant coffee tends to be from brands who are transparent about where they source their coffee. Such brands also pay their farmers fairly, usually above the Fair Trade average. If it's in your budget, it's worth paying more to buy coffee from these brands, both because the coffee has more character and because you're investing in a healthier coffee ecosystem.
"One iced white mocha with vanilla sweet cream cold foam and extra caramel drizzle."
It might sound like a highly specific, complex coffee order, but some Starbucks workers hear it a dozen or more times a day.
Starbucks workers told Insider they're inundated with orders for the same TikTok-inspired "secret-menu" drink. It's based on Starbucks' iced white mocha but with the whipped cream substituted for vanilla sweet cream cold foam, and with an extra pump of caramel drizzle on top.
One barista in Tennessee said he makes "at least 15" of them each day. "It's the typical TikTok drink," he said. "The biggest one."
A grande version of the drink — Starbucks' medium size — cost $7.60 to order from four separate Starbucks stores on Uber Eats.
"I cannot stress this enough: I have made it dozens of times on just a single shift for the past two to three months," a former Starbucks shift supervisor in Baltimore said.
Both people spoke with Insider on the condition of anonymity.
"That to me is a really funny order," a former barista in Los Angeles said. She wanted to remain anonymous because there's a chance she'll work for Starbucks again, she said.
She said the cold foam had the same ingredients as whipped cream but a "slightly different texture" because the air is whipped into it in a different way.
Sometimes baristas read the stickers wrong and made the drinks with whipped cream instead, she said. Some customers would be fine with this, but others would ask the baristas to remake the drink over what she called a "meaningless" distinction.
Baristas' opinions are split on how good the drink tastes.
"I can't blame the customers — it's good if you've got an extreme sweet tooth," the former Baltimore shift supervisor said.
But a barista at a different store in Baltimore, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the drink was too sweet.
"It's just overly sweet, definitely gross," she said. "But people will pay $7 for that drink."
'The TikTok drinks are absolutely ridiculous'
When orders first started trickling through for the iced white mocha modification, the former Baltimore shift supervisor said they were "bewildered." But they said they got used to making bizarre drinks with lots of modifications.
"I'm just gonna accept it, and I'm just gonna make them," they said. "My job was to just make the drinks."
A shift supervisor in Maryland said some customers added modifications "just because they're there," while a former Beverly Hills barista shared a photo with Insider of an iced latte she had made with 12 shots of coffee, alongside five shots of hazelnut syrup.
"The TikTok drinks are absolutely ridiculous," said Stephanie, a barista in British Columbia who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Consumers might get more than just a jolt of caffeine when buying their next cup — high bean prices means that latte drinkers and home brewers alike should prepare for some potential sticker shock.
Yes, coffee may be the next good hit by soaring prices and product shortages. According to the Financial Times, arabica — the bean that's probably powering the cup on your desk at this moment — reached a four-and-a-half-year high in early June.
The commodity soared as high as $1.70 before settling around $1.50 — well over last year's prices of around $1.13, according to data from Macro Trends. Experts say the cause of this inflation is a record-breaking drought in Colombia, protests, plant funguses, and a huge backlog of coffee waiting to be shipped.
"It's a big headache," Carlos Mera, an analyst at Rabobank, told the Financial Times. "There is plenty of coffee waiting to be shipped from producing countries, where the protests earlier this year interrupted the coffee flow."
German coffee maker Tchibo says it will raise the price of coffee by 50 cents a pound. Typically, coffee buyers have contracts with their suppliers that solidify the price of the beans for roughly three to six months. But when those contracts expire, there could be a surge in coffee price, The Financial Times reports.
Starbucks is running a limited test that allows customers to order drinks that became popular on social media through ads on Facebook and Instagram.
Over the weekend, I was excited to see one of the ads come up while tapping through Instagram stories.
When the ad comes up, you have the option to swipe up and try the drink, which of course I did.
I was served the ad for the Pink Drink Remixed, a social media creation based on the Pink Drink, which was itself initially a fan creation that was added to menus.
There are two options for ordering the drink: order ahead as you would with any mobile order, or order directly from a barista.
The ad has a QR code that the barista should be able to scan, along with a written out way to order the drink.
I wanted to test out the QR code function, so I visited the closest Starbucks near my road trip route in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The scanner was not able to pick up the QR code from my phone, though luckily I still got my order.
Starbucks says that it is getting scans from other locations in the program, so this isn't the case in every store.
The barista helping me told me that he's seen different scanning equipment at different stores, so not all locations necessarily have the same equipment.
I got to watch the worker make my drink, which consists of a Strawberry Acai Refresher with coconut milk, topped with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam.
The drink tastes something like strawberry short cake turned into a milkshake.
It's not my favorite, but I can see why people might like it. The drink comes out to $6.41 with tax for a venti. While I think it was worth a try, I won't order again.
Customer-created drinks on social media have always been part of Starbucks' business and introducing a way to make ordering them easier for customers and baristas seems like a necessary next step. I think this could be the future of Starbucks, once some bugs are figured out.
Black Rifle Coffee Company wants to be the Starbucks for conservatives.
Evan Hafer, the founder and CEO of Black Rifle Coffee Company, recently told The New York Times he founded BRCC as a pro-military, pro-law enforcement and anti-hipster company. He and two other veterans run the business and prioritize hiring other former armed service members.
Here's everything you need to know about Black Rifle Coffee Company:
What is Black Rifle Coffee Company?
Black Rifle Coffee Company is a small batch coffee company that sells out of locations in Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Utah. The store also ships brews nationwide through its Black Rifle Coffee Club membership, according to its website.
A BRCC spokesperson told Insider the company employs 530 people, more than half of whom are reservists, military veterans, and military spouses. BRCC would not share the names of its investors.
BRCC's offerings include the Freedom Fuel Coffee Roast, Liberty Roast, and AK-47 Espresso Blend Coffee Rounds for around $15 for a 12 oz. bag. The Black Rifle Coffee Club membership costs $25 per month.
Who owns Black Rifle?
Veteran Evan Hafer founded Black Rifle Coffee Company Salt Lake City, Utah in 2014. Before founding Black Rifle, Hafer served in the US Army for 20 years as an infantryman, a Special Forces soldier, and a CIA contractor according to his LinkedIn.
Other members include Tom Davin, co-CEO and Marine Corps infantry officer veteran, and Matt Best, the executive vice president and former CIA contractor.
Black Rifle Coffee Company is owned by the "veteran community," Hafer said in a YouTube video.
"I started Black Rifle Coffee Company to provide a high-quality coffee to the pro-American and Veteran communities," Hafer wrote on the company website.
What brands does Black Rifle Coffee have a business relationship with?
Black Rifle Coffee Company sells its products in Bass Pro Shops
BRCC has sponsored episodes of the "Slightly Offensive" podcast hosted by Elijah Schaffer, an employee of the right-wing media publication The Blaze.
BRCC came under fire from some members of the far-right following an episode of the podcast titled, "Kyle Rittenhouse: Homicidal Maniac or American Hero?"
Rittenhouse, a teenager who killed two protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, wore a Black Rifle Coffee Company T-shirt in a photo posted by "Slightly Offensive." The show's host also attached a discount code for BRCC merchandise to the photo of Rittenhouse.
Hafer said in a statement that BRCC does not sponsor or have a relationship with Rittenhouse, but the company believes "in the integrity of the legal justice system" and supports law enforcement officials. Supporters of Rittenhouse have since turned on the coffee company for its position on the teen.
— Black Rifle Coffee (@blckriflecoffee) July 9, 2021
What are Black Rifle Coffee Company's ties to Donald Trump?
Hafer told The New York Times he voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election, but a BRCC spokesperson said the company is not affiliated with any campaign or political party.
Donald Trump Jr. endorsed Black Rifle Coffee Company in 2017 and said he met with the company's leaders.
"Great coffee, great guys and great Americans," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted in November 2017. "I've had the chance to meet and hang out with them. Try it."
Though Hafer told The Times he disagreed with the mob who stormed the White House over Trump's baseless claims of election fraud, a photo circulated depicting an insurrectionist carrying zip tie handcuffs wearing a BRCC hat.
"How do you build a cool, kind of irreverent, pro-Second Amendment, pro-America brand in the MAGA era without doubling down on the MAGA movement and also not being called a [expletive] RINO by the MAGA guys?" Hafer told The Times.
(This story was updated to include additional details of the controversy surrounding Kyle Rittenhouse)
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Coffee subscriptions offer a unique luxury: never having to wake up, shuffle to the kitchen, and realize in horror that there's no coffee in the house. For many of us, a morning caffeine boost is non-negotiable, and the peace of mind in knowing that you have a steady stream of coffee coming makes a coffee subscription worthwhile.
And, there's really a coffee subscription for everyone. Maybe you like switching up what you're drinking each time, or maybe you want someone to curate your brew for you. Maybe you want a subscription for cold brew; either bags to make your own, or simply a cold brew gallon delivered each month. Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it in the outstanding offerings below.
I've been working in the specialty food world since 2015, eating, drinking, learning, teaching. For these rankings, I tasted through the available coffee subscriptions, both from roasters and otherwise. This is what I was looking for:
Flavor and quality of the beans: Tastes vary, but there are some objective flaws in coffee beans, such as beans tasting burnt. This was less about how much I liked each selection personally and more about how balanced the coffees were and whether they matched their flavor notes.
Ease of setup: Coffee should make our lives easier, as should subscription services. If a subscription was confusing to set up, or to understand when and what coffee was coming, that knocked off a few points. The best subscriptions also offered notes on preparing the coffees they sent.
Ease of customization: If you're traveling, slowing down on caffeine, or simply don't want to continue your subscription, that should not require three emails and a phone call. Subscriptions were prioritized that made it easy to pause or cancel a subscription. Extra points were also given to subscription services that allowed the subscriber to customize the beans they received based on flavor profile and preferred method of brewing.
The best coffee subscription overall
Trade's coffee subscription service designed to turn coffee drinkers into coffee lovers.
Pros: Huge variety, easy to customize the coffee and shipping
Cons: All the choices could be overwhelming for some
We think Trade's subscription is the best of all worlds. Its mission is to "unite the nation's top roasters directly with drinkers," with more than 400 coffees available from roasters such as Joe, Atomic, and Broadstreet.
As you're setting up your subscription, you tell Trade how you prefer to brew your coffee, how you take it, your ideal roast and flavor profile, and the company matches you with your ideal beans. You know exactly what's coming, the roaster's schedule for roasting, when your bag was roasted (probably within the past few days), and why you were matched with it.
It's easy to adjust your delivery schedule, the exact beans you're getting, and discover new favorites. Trade makes exploring coffee a fun, zero-headache adventure.
Driftaway is a tiny, sustainability-focused roaster, offering personalized coffee subscription boxes.
Pros: Easy to set up, lots of information about each origin
Cons: Just one roaster to choose from
The tricky thing with choosing a subscription gift is that it's often hard to pinpoint the recipient's preferences. For that reason, Driftaway makes an excellent gift. Every new subscriber gets a Coffee Explorer Kit, consisting of four 1-oz bags. Your recipient ranks each coffee, giving Driftaway insight into their preferences for future deliveries.
The gifter chooses between a one-year, six-month, or three-month subscription, delivering either every month or every two weeks (there are more options if you're subscribing for yourself). The size of each delivery can be 8 ounces, 12 ounces, or 1 pound, and they can set up either a whole bean subscription, a ground subscription, a cold brew bag subscription, or a "Mystery Kit" where the names are hidden (don't worry, they can find out what they're drinking at the weekly virtual tastings).
The recipient also gets an account from which they can pause their shipment, change their address, or whatever else, and the bags even come with their name on it.
Blue Bottle is one of the largest specialty coffee roasters, offering consistency and flexibility.
Pros: Lots of coffee to choose from, seasonal blends
Cons: Just one roaster to choose from
If you're a little wary of the idea of subscriptions, try Blue Bottle's. For one thing, it offers a way to try it at little cost — the first bag is free and you only pay the $5 shipping. You can try any of its three subscription offerings this way: the single-origin, blend, or espresso assortments.
Your subscription can be as little as a six-ounce bag, each of which is freshly roasted, and the brand offers lots of information on how each coffee should be prepared. It's easy to pause or cancel your subscription if you choose not to move forward.
Pros: Explore coffees from around the world, lots of information about origins and brewing
Cons: Just one roaster to choose from
With Atlas's subscription, you'll learn a lot about different regions, their typical coffee flavor profiles, and what makes each one special. Each month, you receive 6 to 24 ounces of freshly-roasted coffee, flavor notes, a postcard, and brewing tips.
As you're setting up your subscription, you choose how much coffee you want per shipment, whether you want it every two or four weeks, your roast preferences, and whether you want it ground or not. It's a great way for new, enthusiastic coffee drinkers to dip their toe into the specialty coffee world in an accessible, fun way. The website offers clear, illustrated guides on topics from "how to make coffee with a French press" to "how to make coffee without a coffee maker."
Crema.co is community-focused subscription service offering 57 independent roasters from across the country.
Pros: Try a wide range of craft coffees, find coffee tailored to your preferences
Cons: Fewer roasters offered than some other services
Crema.co offers a lot of great features that overlap with some of our other picks: their first shipment to you is a Discovery Kit — where you figure out your preferences by tasting through a selection — and the subscription is easy to customize.
The initial quiz is a little more interactive, asking for specific tasting notes you like and letting you know your percentage match with each brew it's recommending. But, two unique things about Crema.co are a) its focus on tiny independent roasters b) you can take the quiz to be matched with your perfect coffee and order it by the bag, rather than setting up a subscription.
It also has a personality-driven, informative newsletter and is proudly not on social media. If you like to feel like you're supporting cool humans, rather than a corporation, Crema.co is a great choice.
The best coffee subscription for freshness
Devoción is 1 Brooklyn-based roaster who takes its beans from origin to roast in 10 days.
Pros: Some of the freshest coffee on the market, explore Colombian coffee terroir
Cons: Just one roaster to choose from, can only subscribe to one blend at once
If you're committed to (or even a little obsessive about) your produce and meat being as fresh as possible, why should your coffee be any different? Brooklyn-based roaster Devoción works with Colombian growers, who harvest coffee year-round and claims "faster transport from origin to cup than any other purveyor," which can be in as little as 10 days.
Devoción's coffees are flavorful, balanced, and unlike anything else on the market, thanks to its unique supplier relationships. The subscriptions are to individual blends (you can take a quiz on your preferences to be matched to your ideal blend), unlike other roasters offering subscriptions with more variety, but the coffee is next-level enough that it's worth considering.
The best coffee subscription for cold brew
La Colombe is one of the country's best-known roasters, offering a wide range of products.
Pros: Always have pre-made cold brew in the fridge
Cons: Can only try one cold brew blend with that subscription
Thanks to its smooth flavor and higher caffeine content, cold brew is a staple for many coffee drinkers, especially in the summer. If keeping cold brew around is high on your priority list, consider the cold brew subscription from La Colombe.
A one-gallon box with a push-button spigot will be delivered every one, two, three, or four weeks and your subscription can be paused or canceled at any time. The airtight box has a shelf life of 30 days, so if you end up with a little extra as you're figuring out your ideal timing, it should last until you get through it.
The La Colombe cold brew is made from dark-roasted Brazilian beans, known for their chocolatey, rich flavor.
Starbucks just shared record-breaking earnings, driven by the chain's popular cold drinks.
74% of drinks sold in the US in the third quarter, which ended June 27, were cold beverages. That was 13% higher than in the previous quarter. Some of that growth can likely be attributed to customers preferring cold drinks in warmer months, but that's good news for Starbucks.
Cold drinks are generally the more expensive, premium drinks sold at the coffee chain. The category includes cold brew, nitro cold brew, iced shaken espresso, and refreshers. A grande nitro cold brew, for example, costs $4.95 in a suburb of Rochester, New York. A grande iced chocolate almond milk shaken espresso costs $5.45, and grande refreshers are $3.95. Iced shaked espresso drinks alone contributed more than one-third of the growth in the quarter, a spokesperson told Insider.
Starbucks' cold drinks can potentially cost much more with the addition of customizations, which is integral to the Starbucks brand. The chain is seeing "meaningful growth" in customizations and modifiers, Group President, North America, and COO John Culver said in the earnings call, pointing to espresso shots, cold foam, and alternative dairy options.
Starbucks is investing in these cold drinks that are driving sales. Customization is so key that Starbucks is testing a new way for customers to order popular drinks from social media, which typically have extra modifications on top of the standard menu.
With the success of cold brew, Starbucks developed a proprietary brewing system at the Tryer Center lab that is now in 2000 US stores. It makes the cold brew brewing process more efficient and is a better use of barista's time, Culver said, and will be in 75% of stores by the end of the year.
Cold drink sales grew 45% between 2016 and 2020, Starbucks said in 2020, and customers under 30 were twice as likely to order cold drinks. They have grown 10% in the past two years, a spokesperson said.
Brazilians are marveling upon seeing snow for the first time in their lives, with rare low temperatures hitting the country and causing a rise in coffee prices.
Snow fell overnight on Thursday for the first time in 64 years due to a polar air mass traveling towards the country's sub-tropical center-south, blanketing the streets.
More than 40 cities found themselves facing icy conditions, and at least 33 municipalities saw snow, according to the meteorology company Somar Meteorologia.
In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the snow has threatened agriculture, with coffee, sugarcane, and orange crops all potentially at risk.
Coffee and sugar prices have already risen across the world following Brazil's uncharacteristic cold spell.
In southern Brazil, snow fell in 13 cities, in some areas there was hail, on the street down to -8.❄️❄️❄️ It looks beautiful, but the death of coffee plantations from frosts will lead to an increase in world coffee prices. ☕📈 pic.twitter.com/HrbvWPQKuD
"I am 62 years old and had never seen the snow, you know? To see nature's beauty is something indescribable," said truck driver Iodor Goncalves Marques in Cambara do Sul, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul state, speaking to TV Globo network.
Brazilians braced themselves for the coldest day of the year on Friday, with freezing temperatures and strong winds of up to 80 km/h (49 mph) across the country.
"It was worth it. Actually, you almost do not feel the cold because of how exciting the snow is. It is marvelous, it is marvelous!" Brazilian Joselaine da Silva Marques told TV Globo while enjoying the snow in Cambara do Sul.
Being a barista can be a challenging job. They're on their feet all day, maneuvering equipment that is messy, and potentially dangerous with exposure to loud noises, hot liquids, chemicals. On top of all that, they have to deal with customers, some of whom are finicky and downright rude.
Want to make your barista's life easier? Below, here's some barista-recommended etiquette to keep in mind when grabbing your morning brew.
1. Curiosity is welcome, but keep the line moving
If you're new to the scene, the million and one options on the average espresso bar's menu can be a little intimidating. Don't be afraid to ask questions, said former Starbucks employee Laura LeMoon, 35.
Most baristas are happy to help you pick out a drink — just bear in mind they might not have time to explain every item if there's a line out the door.
2. Don't demand 'service with a smile'
Baristas are known for their friendliness, but not every cafe requires their employees to force smiles and fake pleasantries. This may be a good thing, considering that at least one study on the coffee industry found that faking positive emotions is detrimental to a barista's physical and mental health.
If a barista is busy or just not in the mood for idle chit chat, respect their need for space.
3. The customer isn't always right
When it comes to coffee, it's OK to be particular, says Abby Seitz, 24, a former barista at a local cafe in Jerusalem, but don't be rude if the drink you receive is different than what you expected.
"Don't act surprised when your cappuccino doesn't have the same thick layer of foam if you order your drink vegan," Seltz said. "Soy and almond milks don't foam as well as their dairy counterparts."
4. Be patient
"It truly sucks to be stared at and be told what to do while we're making the drinks we've been trained to make," former Starbucks employee Lisa Marie Basile told Insider.
Whether you're waiting for the barista to perfect your drink or there's a large group ahead of you, it's rarely the barista's fault if the line's slow. If you've got somewhere to be in a hurry, it may be best to brew your coffee at home.
5. Make yourself comfortable — but not too comfortable
We've all seen the meme of the guy with his bare feet up on the coffee table and his newspaper spread a mile wide. Don't be that guy, said Alyssa P., 39, a former barista in Pittsburgh, and avoid "taking up space, assuming women want to chat with them, and being otherwise loud and obnoxious."
Remember, it's not your home. Leave your shoes on, and keep your belongings close by. Also, don't try to control the atmosphere. The barista can't constantly change the station or turn the music up and down to satisfy everyone's taste. Bring headphones if you have musical preferences, and wear layers if there's a chance you'll find the environment too hot or too cold.
6. Be a respectful remote worker
Coffee shops expect people lingering over laptops, but not all locations are equally accommodating. Choose a place with plenty of seating, and share your table or move on if the place starts to get crowded.
"Be mindful and make room for new customers," said Luka Sanchez, 26, owner of Common Grounds lounge Cafe in Jefferson Valley, New York.
7. Be courteous if you come in as a group
Whether its an organized book club or casual get-together of friends, coffee shops are great locations for groups to gather. Just keep in mind, "there's a certain crowd size that is appropriate," said Clinton Owner, 41, a former barista at Dino's Cappuccinos in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
At Dino's, says Owner, a group of more than five would began to dominate the atmosphere in a way that made the space unwelcoming to other customers. Choose a space that's large enough to allow for your whole group, plus others.
8. Spend money and don't forget to tip
Baristas are happy to accommodate you. That said, your purchases help pay their wages. And if you've been there awhile, buy something else. According to Kat Möller, owner of Kat's Coffee in Thalpe, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, "one item per hour would be appreciated."
A Black former shift supervisor at a Starbucks in Connecticut has sued the chain, claiming that it failed to protect him from a customer who attacked him with racial slurs.
Dayshawn Rodriguez said in his complaint in the District of Connecticut court, first filed in May but revised in July, that he was repeatedly verbally harassed by a customer who called him a 'n-----.'
Rodriguez said he worked at Starbucks for about five years. He said in his complaint that the customer was in the restroom for "quite some time" after he closed the store in Westport, Connecticut, on October 7, 2019. He said he knocked on the door to check on the customer and she came out, poked him in the chest, and said "don't rush me n-----," per the complaint.
Rodriguez said he informed the store manager, who said that she would inform the district manager, but that "they did nothing to stop or address the conduct."
Around a week later, Rodriguez told his district manager that he didn't want to serve the customer anymore, but they said it wasn't possible, per the complaint. Rodriguez said that later that month the district manager told him "that I may be too sensitive to be a shift supervisor and said the N-word is not the worst thing to be called."
Rodriguez said in the complaint that "I later demoted myself to barista."
On a later occasion, the customer returned to the store, threw water on herself, pointed at Rodriguez and said "that Black man did it," the complaint says.
Rodriguez said that he filed an incident report after taking advice from his manager, but that his district manager told him afterwards to "watch" how he writes things and that he couldn't use the N-word or curse words in the report. She also said that she wasn't able to ban the customer, per the complaint.
In June 2020, the customer visited the store again and said "I am not going to be served by this n-----," per the legal complaint. Rodriguez said that he reported this to upper management but that "they did nothing to protect me."
Rodriguez said he left his job shortly after the incident.
He said that he contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which had granted him the right to sue Starbucks. He is claiming monetary damages including statutory damages, wages, and "damages for emotional distress and embarrassment," without specifying an amount.
A Starbucks spokesperson told Insider that its stores were "a place of community, where everyone is welcome, provided they contribute to a positive environment and an enjoyable experience."
The spokesperson said: "We thoroughly investigated the matter alongside local law enforcement when this was raised in [August] 2020, and have taken appropriate action to ensure the safety of our partners – which includes the formal restriction of the customer from our stores in the area."
Do you work at Starbucks? Got a story to share? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com. Always use a non-work email.
Some Starbucks customers are pushing drink customization to the limit with modifications that some baristas have deemed "excessive,""ridiculous," and "disgusting."
More than a dozen current and former baristas across the US and Canada told Insider they were sick of making overly complicated lattes, cold brews, and Refreshers, including so-called TikTok drinks like the $7 iced white mocha.
Most custom drink orders aren't complicated. A Starbucks representative told Insider that 75% of customized beverages at Starbucks had fewer than three unique modifications.
But the baristas said complex drinks slowed down order times and that customers sometimes got angry when their customized drinks weren't made perfectly.
This could be a particular issue with mobile orders, they said, adding that customers' requests on the Starbucks app could sometimes be confusing.
'The modifications are out of control'
"There are no limits to what people can really order," a current Baltimore barista said.
"Some of the things I see are just disgusting," a former Los Angeles barista said.
They said that some drinks had "mile-long stickers" listing order customizations and that sometimes they didn't have enough space to fit everything in the cup. Under company policy, custom drinks still have to fit in the cup size customers request.
"I've made Frappuccinos before that literally did not have room for milk in them," the former Los Angeles barista said. "The modifications are out of control."
Some of the baristas said people had ordered drinks with 20 or more pumps of syrup. Nat El-Hai, a former barista in Beverly Hills, California, shared a photo with Insider of an iced latte she said she made for a customer with 12 shots of coffee and five shots of hazelnut syrup.
The former Los Angeles barista said one customer ordered an "absolutely ridiculous" drink topped with whipped cream, nonfat cold foam, and sweet-cream cold foam.
"People think that the more they add the more fancy they're being, but there's definitely a point of diminishing returns," the person said. "I can't imagine someone ordering that drink and finishing it."
Numerous baristas said they had turned down customers' requests for cake pops and brownies blended into drinks, and one said she had even been asked to blend egg bites into a drink.
El-Hai told Insider that one customer even asked her to blend banana and milk together and then use that as a base for a latte.
She said some customers showed her drink pictures they found online that had "clearly" been edited. "And then people got really upset when we can't do that," she said.
Starbucks staff members generally have targets of around 45 seconds for each drive-thru order. Large numbers of modifications slow baristas down, Sarah Ann Austin, a North Carolina barista, said.
A Starbucks representative said, "We ask our baristas to make the moment right no matter the order and would expect a highly customized beverage to take longer to make."
Eric Fellner, a former barista in North Carolina, said that complex requests would "totally screw with you" by deviating from Starbucks' standard base recipes.
"The reason why it causes such an issue is that everything is based on times," he said. "The whole thing is about being as fast as possible, and so in order for that to work, everything has to be systematic."
"If a drink looks complicated, assume that it's complicated," a current barista in British Columbia said.
The Starbucks representative told Insider that most customizations were reasonable requests from customers.
The representative added: "Customizing beverages at Starbucks and our baristas' expertise in helping customers find and craft the right beverage has and always will be at the heart of the Starbucks experience."
Do you work at Starbucks? Got a story to share? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com. Always use a nonwork email.
Coffee drinkers are a diverse lot, and if you're going to buy a gift for one of them, you better have their branding down pat.
There's the quintessential café brooder, who might need a little pick-me-up. Or how about the peppy, workout-devoted early riser? They could probably stand to have a French press in their on-the-go life, and the do-it-yourself artisan might fancy a cold-brew kit for home.
The goal of your coffee gift is to make their mornings easier or more luxurious, but hopefully both. Whatever the temperament of your oh-so-temperamental coffee lover(s), you'll be sorted out with these 34 fun and useful gifts for coffee lovers.
Popular coffee brand La Colombe's Cool Beans Gift Box is filled with light and medium roasted beans that are perfect for cold brew. The different blends all feature notes of chocolate and citrus.
The body of this elegant creamer is made of marble and the base is finished with either brass or copper. The marble stays cold even after it's removed from the fridge, perfect for slow and luxirous coffee drinking.
If they rely on bottled pick-me-ups to get through long days, they know about sugar crashes and jitters. Introduce them to Kitu Super Coffee, a bottled coffee drink made without artificial ingredients or added sugar. Not only is it better for you than most energy drinks out there, it tastes delicious too.
Not only is this blend unique with flavors of lemon and caramel, but BLK & Bold also donates 5% of its profits to support at-risk youth across the country.
Steeped coffee bags to speed up their morning routine
Help them speed up their morning coffee routine with these easy-to-use coffee bags. Simply add a bag (or two) to a cup of hot water, and in 3-5 minutes they'll be able to enjoy a full cup of coffee with a fraction of the effort.
Coffee, much like beer, is undergoing a renaissance, and there are more options than many of us know what to do with these days. Angel's Cup sends an increasingly curated box (there are several options) to help them blind-taste a flight of several samples or receive a bag tailored to their palate each month.
This could be their new favorite coffee (or tea) mug and water bottle. Our favorite thing about this is that it doesn't impart any metallic or plastic-y tastes like some other options out there.
Whether they're new to the espresso game or not, they can step up their barista skills big time with an adjustable leveler and tamper, fit for the standard-sized espresso machine portafilters (58mm).
Whether it's for pour-over, French press, or the occasional spot of tea, the Cuisinart Cordless Electric Kettle will sit tidily on their countertop, tangle-free, and boil to their exact desired temperature.
That noisy old blade grinder doesn't only wake up everyone in your house, but it doesn't really make the best coffee either. A handheld coffee mill makes supremely uniform grounds at a fraction of the cost of a quality burr grinder. As for the noise, you'll finally get to sleep in.
A latte-and-cappuccino-capable espresso pod machine
For the peripatetic French-press enthusiast or the home barista looking for something new and perhaps not so expensive as espresso, the Aeropress can't be beat.
As self-proclaimed coffee lovers, they should probably know these breakdowns. But just in case they forget, this cool poster reminds them of the difference between a breve and a black eye. This is also an instant digital download, so it's a great last-minute gift — roll it up with ribbon and you don't even need to get an extra frame.
This might not make bonafide espresso per se, but it will certainly get the Aeropress devotee in your life a little closer to what they're after. And if they haven't yet mastered the Aeropress, feel free to send them this way.
The flavor profile, tasting notes, suggested brewing methods, a little history lesson in origins, and, last but not least, festive packaging make this an all-around pleaser for any time of year.
Apart from fresh beans, the real trick to making the best humanly possible cup of coffee lies in properly sized and consistent grounds. The Kruve sorts out the odd bits and will help them find the perfect grind setting, and in turn, the perfect cup of coffee every day for the rest of their life.
If they're going to go through the trouble of making espresso, they may as well drink it right. These insulated glasses are microwave safe, but they won't need to reheat their drink because the double-walls keep hot drinks hot for longer.
If you know someone who's opening their coffee bags and letting them go stale, this is a quick fix that will blow their mind. These canisters are stackable and great for herbs and other sundries as well.
If you have a friend or family member that is constantly in search of the best espresso machine south of $500, this is the ticket. They'll still need a grinder, but they can foot that bill. The Flair is about the price of most espresso pod machines, but there's no arguing as to whether or not it makes real espresso: the crema it produces is priceless. That's why we named it the best manual espresso maker in our guide.
Our top pick for the best espresso machine for most people, the Gaggia Classic Pro has been around for decades, and there's hardly a home machine more classic.
Okay, so they might already have this, but maybe it's time for a new one. If they don't already have a French press, though, and they're in need of a new coffee pot, this one won't disappoint.
You're really going to have to love this person, but if you share a roof with them, the pleasure of our favorite two-in-one espresso machine may well be just as much yours.
A video of a Starbucks barista preparing what he said was the "grossest" drink he's ever made has gone viral on TikTok.
The drink appears to be based on Starbucks' Mango Dragon fruit Lemonade Refresher. But there's one key change – it has a shot of espresso, too.
TikTok user @kenmixtape, a Starbucks barista from Georgia, posted the video last week but said it was removed by the site. He reposted the video Monday and it now has 2.3 million views.
The recipe for Starbucks' Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher doesn't contain espresso, although the base mixture does include natural green coffee flavor, according to an ingredients list on Starbucks' website.
A grande version of the drink – Starbucks' medium size – contains 45 milligrams of caffeine. A shot of Starbucks' espresso contains around 75 milligrams of caffeine.
@kenmixtape posted a second video of him appearing to remake the drink and trying it himself. The video shows him screwing up his face in disgust after taking a sip.
"I've made Frappuccinos before that literally did not have room for milk in them," a former Los Angeles barista told Insider.
Other baristas said they'd been given bizarre drinks requests, like a drink with egg bites blended in and a latte using banana milk as a base, or had been asked to make lots of so-called TikTok drinks, like the $7 iced white mocha. The drinks are in some cases "ridiculous" and "disgusting," the baristas said.
A Starbucks representative said that most customizations were reasonable requests from customers.
"Customizing beverages at Starbucks and our baristas' expertise in helping customers find and craft the right beverage has and always will be at the heart of the Starbucks experience," the representative added.
Do you work at Starbucks? Got a story to share? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com. Always use a nonwork email.
Wendy's is massively ramping up its breakfast advertising spend as it tries to grab a bigger share of the lucrative breakfast market.
The fast-food chain plans to spend $25 million advertising its breakfast food in 2021, up from an original $15 million, CEO Todd Penegor announced at its earnings call last week.
Penegor said that breakfast sales in the three months to July 3 were up 10% on the previous quarter, which he credited partly to its $1.99 Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit and 2 for $4 promotion.
"These promotions have been critical to our success as we continue to see very strong customer repeat and high customer satisfaction after people try our breakfast," he said, adding that he expected breakfast sales to continue growing in the second half of 2021.
But Wendy's said its breakfast sales remained strong during the pandemic. Penegor said last week that breakfast currently makes up 7.2% of Wendy's total sales, a slight dip from 8% last May. The company is still confident that 10% of total sales will come from breakfast by the end of 2022, Penegor said.
Wendy's breakfast menu relies on people coming through the door early. Unlike some other chains, Wendy's has said that it has no plans to create an all-day breakfast menu, and Penegor said that customers were less likely to order on its app in the morning than in the afternoon or evening.
After Wendy's unveiled its new menu last year, the chain actually saw a marked increase in the number of morning visitors despite the pandemic, Ethan Chernofsky, vice president of marketing at location-data company Placer.ai, told Insider.
Between April and June 2020, just after the new menu was launched, around 5.5% Wendy's customers visited the chain between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m., Placer.ai data shows. This is a huge jump compared to the same time the previous year, when just 3.7% of its visitors came in the morning, and has remained at the elevated level in 2021 so far.
I went to a typical suburban, standalone Starbucks in Henrietta, New York.
There was seating outside on the patio, but no one was using it and umbrellas were still closed.
A sign on the door advised that face coverings are optional for vaccinated customers. All Starbucks employees are required to wear masks, whether or not they're vaccinated.
Immediately to my right when I walked in there was a display of reusable cups and bags of coffee.
The display was almost fully behind dozens of boxes that looked like supply deliveries.
Off to the side of the side of the store, in front of the bathroom, more boxes were stacked along the wall.
The store was empty of other customers when I visited at about 10:30 am. The area where a line would usually form had baskets of single serve coffee packets and bags of chips.
Next to the cash register different pastries, breads, and desserts were on display.
A refrigerated case beneath that display had juice boxes, water bottles, and various packaged snacks.
The cash register had a sign apologizing for supply shortages, meaning some menu items weren't available. Earlier this summer, Insider reported on an internal Starbucks memo about 25 ingredients and supplies that were put on temporary hold.
The shortages were impossible to miss with another, smaller sign propped on top of the display where the first sign was posted.
On the menu board, at least six drinks were marked out as unavailable, including drinks with oat milk and matcha.
Signs on the menu board promoted drinks that were available, including cold brew and shaken espresso drinks.
I ordered from one barista who was handling in-store orders. Two other employees seemed to be working the drive-thru, which was much busier than inside the store.
I waited for my order by the other end of the store, near the straws and napkins.
The store I visited had a fairly large indoor seating area that was no longer closed for COVID reasons, but the only person I saw sit down was an employee on break.
Another seating area, also empty, looked to be cozier.
The chalk sign didn't advertise particular drinks, but it indicates the location serves many students in this area with several nearby colleges.
The other chalkboard had an inspirational quote and promoted a local community garden.
A hand sanitizer dispenser was mounted next to the seating area, near the other entrance.
Within about three or four minutes, as I was taking photos, my order was ready and the barista called my name.
We got an iced shaken espresso and a cold brew with sweet cream, along with bacon, gouda, and egg sandwiches, which totaled about $20.
Drinks are definitely the priority at Starbucks, and the reason to go.
The sandwich wasn't bad, but it wasn't comparable to a larger, less expensive breakfast sandwich that I could get at Dunkin'.
The Starbucks we went to in the UK was a city-center location in Leeds, northern England.
It's located in a so-called "blue-plaque" building. The award is given to buildings in the area that are important parts of the city's heritage.
As well as around six tables, there was a double-sided sign outside advertising the chain's newest menu items.
The interior of the store was every bit as grand as the exterior.
The entrance to the building took you straight to the back of the order line.
I went twice, once at around 1:45 p.m. and then again around two hours later, on a Tuesday, and both times the store was surprisingly busy. This could have been because it's currently the school vacations – many of the customers seemed of high-school age.
The hot sandwiches display was well-stocked. Most of these sandwiches wouldn't be out of place in a Starbucks store in the US ...
... apart from a few UK-specific items, such as this ciabatta sandwich with Marmite in it.
The store sold Starbucks' Beyond Meat Breakfast Sandwich, too.
A second fridge contained more sandwiches, protein pots, and wraps. It also had fresh watermelon slices and oatmeal.
The third case contained pastries ...
... including muffins, cake, and croissants. It wasn't as well-stocked as the sandwiches ...
... and was half empty when I came back around two hours later.
Like in the US, the prices and calorie information for barista-made drinks were displayed on a menu board behind the counter, while the food items were priced on signs on the counters.
There was a big sign on top of the counter advertising Starbucks' TikTok-inspired Strawberry Sunset iced tea. There were also signs encouraging people to download Starbucks' app, too.
There was just one barista taking orders.
Next to the ordering station was a display of Starbucks merchandise you could buy, such as to-go cups ...
... bags of coffee and mugs.
After placing my order, I had to stand on the right here to collect my food and drink, even though I was getting them both to eat in. This may have been because the store is split over two levels. On a visit to a different UK Starbucks in May, my order was brought to my table.
Where the usual display of sugar, straws, and napkin would be, there was instead a sign telling customers to request them from a member of staff.
The sandwich was ready a couple of minutes before my drink, but it didn't go cold.
There wasn't a sticker for my iced tea. The barista just called out the drink's name and said she wasn't sure who it was for.
Both times my order was ready after less than five minutes, and both times I took it upstairs to eat.
The bottom of the stairwell featured a mosaic of coffee-inspired images ...
... like this barista.
Like downstairs, the interior was very grand.
Apart from one bin overflowing with cups, the upstairs was really clean and tidy, too.
Both times there were a few people sat upstairs, but it was much quieter than downstairs and I had no problems getting a table. On the second visit, there were a couple of people who sat alone working on laptops.
On my first visit, I ordered a hot sandwich and an iced tea ...
... and a Frappuccino on my second visit. Most of the other customers seemed to be getting cold drinks, too, and I heard multiple people order the TikTok-inspired Strawberry Sunset iced tea.
Ultimately, Starbucks was not very different between the UK and US. Both stores had nearly identical menus with similar displays. The biggest difference was that nearly all US customers used the drive-thru, so the store was nearly empty.
The real variation in Starbucks stores is between urban stores without drive-thrus and suburban locations that almost totally rely on drive-thrus.
Starbucks is investing in drive-thrus and mobile orders in the US, adding double lanes and other new tech to speed up lines in some stores.
The UK is also getting more drive-thru locations, but a lot of Starbucks stores in the UK are in city center locations, like the one Insider went to, or are located in places like train stations, shopping malls, or within other stores. As a result, drive-thru stores aren't quite as common as in the US.
During lockdown last year, Martin Gausby, a Danish developer living in London, subscribed to a coffee delivery service and discovered that the bean's arrival became a weekly highlight.
"I get my coffee from Square Mile Coffee, a company founded by James Hoffman right here in London," Gausby said a few days ago. "He has a YouTube channel about all sorts of coffee-related stuff, and I enjoy that, so I like supporting him by having a subscription to his coffee."
Over the last few weeks, Insider tested a few coffee subscriptions services in London to see how they worked. Our choices were Pact, Kiss the Hippo, and Grind.
Two days, three boxes of coffee
The first two packages — Kiss the Hippo and Grind — arrived three days after the orders were placed. The Pact delivery came the following afternoon.
The boxes from Pact and Kiss the Hippo were slim enough to fit through the mail slot. The first delivery of Grind came with a tin, so it was a bit thicker but the company said the following packages are letterbox-friendly.
Many friendly emails arrived over the next few days. Each company wanted feedback on the coffee.
Of the three companies, Kiss the Hippo sent the most emails. "Look out for the postman," said a subject line when the coffee shipped. The following day, before the coffee arrived, another email said, "Do You Have Everything You Need?" with a range of coffee-brewing products for sale. When the coffee arrived the following day, an email said, "Something Big is Here!"
In the month following our order, more than a dozen of Kiss the Hippo's chatty emails arrived, compared to a few each from the other brands. Insider has reached out to the company for comment.
Pact promises 'rare' coffees
Each of the three roasters had similar ordering routines. Their websites were flowchart-like, with each answer leading to another. Pact's had the most questions.
Pact first asked for a choice between regular or decaf. Then asked how the coffee would be brewed — Aeropress, Chemex, espresso machine, etc. After choosing the Hario V60, a pour-over, the site asked whether the order would be wholebean or medium grind. Wholebean for us.
And the final step was choosing your coffee from three options for 250-gram bags. A £6.95 House blend, a £7.95 Select roast, or a £9.95 Micro-lot, which was said to be, "Rare, high-scoring coffees."
Our La Pederogosa "Micro-lot" beans were grown in Colombia by Mauricio Vega. The packaging said they were roasted on the day of the order, and packaged the followed day in London by Emily, whose last name wasn't given.
Last year, Pact Coffee CEO Paul Turton told Insider that its subscriber list was growing quickly amid the UK lockdowns. Many of those subscribers have stuck around, he said a few days ago.
"The 'covid cohort' as we call it — or those who joined us after March 2020 have stayed loyal to us despite restrictions easing, especially now everyone has had the chance to fully experience Pact's proposition over a pretty long period," he said via email.
Grind is Instagram-friendly
Shoreditch-based Grind had the most eye-catching packaging, and the highest follower count on Instagram. The brand got its start in 2011, making it the oldest of the three.
"We'd been quietly working on our coffee-at-home project for about a year when the pandemic forced us to close all of our cafés," Ted Robinson, Grind's director, said a few weeks ago.
Between February and May last year, orders grew by a multiple of 30, he said. Growth has continued, with more than 75% of the company's subscribers joining in 2021.
The house roast cost £13.50 per delivery, but plan pricing for each brand was based on how many cups you drink per day. Our first order from Grind included a reusable tin in millennialpink.
Grind didn't say where the coffee had been grown or roasted, but said it was "shipped climate neutral."
"We've offset the carbon emissions of all our deliveries for almost a year, protecting over 40,000 trees in the Jari Pará Forest Conservation Project in the Amazon," the company said on a little card slipped into the box.
Robinson said the company has "helped over 100,000 people make better, more sustainable coffee at home" during the pandemic. Many of those buyers, he said, have stuck around even as the city reopens.
Kiss the Hippo promotes its farmers
Like Pact, Kiss the Hippo used its packaging to promote the small farms on which the beans were grown.
Our slim bag with a little red hippo logo was full of coffee from El Salvador. A label on the back said the Red Pacamara beans had been grown by The Diaz Family.
The family — Jose Efrin, Jose William, Arnulfo, and Santos — works on a few farms that "sit close together where they pool resources and elevate each other through a collective family bond."
The coffee itself came with tasting notes: acidity at 4/5 and body at 3/5. It was pitched as having notes of "elderflower, apricot, lemon." Our single-origin whole-bean option cost £12 per delivery.
Three fresh brews, all very good
Each of the brands had their own distinct flavors. Kiss the Hippo had a lemon zest, light and airy, as its tasting notes said. Grind was richer and darker. Pact was somewhere in the middle, balanced and a little earthy. The beans seemed fresher than what those from high-end grocery store in London, in part because they were roasted within the last few days. All were very good.
What stuck out in the end was not the beans, but the marketing — especially the way that Pact and Kiss the Hippo both promoted the local farmers. The messaging from all three leaned heavily into domestic, eco-friendly, and agrarian messaging, even if the farms that grew the beans were on another continent.
"Most of these small farms have been in the family for generations and we're lucky enough to share their amazing coffee with the Pact community," said Pact's Turton.
Did knowing that the Diaz family grew our Kiss the Hippo beans in El Salvador make the coffee taste better? No, probably not. Did it give us something interesting to think about as we took our first sip of coffee? Yes, it honestly did.
The coffee that Gausby, the Danish developer, gets delivered from Square Mile has also been fresher than what he was used to at the grocery store, he said.
"I will move home to Denmark at the end of next month," he said, "but I will strongly consider setting up a subscription with a local roastery."
Pumpkin spice is still the flavor of fall, but apple is an up-and-coming competitor on seasonal menus this year.
Dunkin' announced a few new apple items, including an apple cranberry refresher and an apple cranberry coconut refresher, and the apple cider doughnut will be back this year, too. Starbucks is also embracing apple this year with the new apple crisp macchiato.
Industry experts told Insider that the two major coffee chains turned to apple flavors at the same time because pumpkin is everywhere, from Kraft mac and cheese to deodorant and Twinkies, a victim of its own success.
"Many feel that pumpkin spice 'jumped the shark' so to speak because there is a saturation of pumpkin spice everything," Kim McLynn at The NPD Group told Insider.
Starbucks introduced the new drink as a natural complement to pumpkin.
"Building on the popularity of pumpkin flavor, Starbucks inspiration for an apple beverage started with the idea of the fall harvest. The new Apple Crisp Macchiato offers customers comfort to the core with layered flavors of apple and brown sugar melding like the filling of a gooey apple pie in harmony with espresso, steamed milk, and a caramelized-spiced apple drizzle for a nostalgic autumn pick-me-up," Starbucks described the new drink in a statement.
Pumpkin remains highly popular, Mark Kalinowski of Kalinowski Equity Research told Insider. Chains can "introduce it early because it's so popular," he said. Dunkin' and Starbucks each launched their fall menus at their earliest ever dates this year, August 19 and 24, respectively. Pumpkin is "enthusiastically anticipated" each year, he said.
The pumpkin spice latte, or PSL, which kicked of the trend at Starbucks in 2003, is returning for its 18th year. Starbucks says it is one of the chain's most popular seasonal drinks of all time, with more than 500 million sold. In 2020, the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew outsold the PSL, with 90 million drinks sold last year as cold drinks continue to dominate.
While apple is new to fall coffee menus, Starbucks typically pairs the PSL with something else, like the salted caramel mocha and maple pecan latte. "They don't want to do the exact same thing every single year," he said.
Apple is heavily associated with fall, and Starbucks is also emphasizing a nostalgic angle.
"Fall at Starbucks brings customers back to the nostalgic flavors of the season and our team used the inspiration to create a new flavor that celebrates of comfort and familiarity," Starbucks research and development senior manager Raegen Powell said in a statement.
Before landing on the macchiato, Starbucks tested out other apple-flavored products, including apple maple syrup, apple cider doughnuts, and other pies and cakes.
Workers told Insider that Starbucks stores were stocking up on pumpkin sauce and apple cinnamon syrup ahead of the launch for the new fall menu, anticipating the popularity of the drinks and hopefully avoiding shortages.
Narrator: It's hard to pass up the smell of freshly brewed coffee. And this familiar green mermaid has come to mean just that all around the world. Here's how Seattle's biggest coffee chain is capitalizing on our need for caffeine.
There's a reason why Starbucks always ends up costing us a little more than we expected.
We often pass up that super cheap cup of deli joe and choose to splurge a little more at Starbucks. So how do they keep luring us in?
Well, for one thing, Starbucks has figured out how to keep their loyal Frappuccino-loving and iced coffee caffeine addicts happy. They are constantly creating new variations of old standards.
Unicorn, Zombie, Double Double Fudge Bar Frappuccinos, and the Pumpkin Spice Lattes that usher in fall.
Customers rush to the closest Starbucks to try these limited-time offers. Thus, keeping things exciting and unpredictable.
Starbucks stores are designed to be aesthetically pleasing while also catching customers' attention. The food case is generally kept in the best lit area of the store, drawing your attention right to it. And those very tempting grab-and-go items right by the register, like candy, cookies, and nuts, are low-cost add-ons that do eventually add up.
Stores often change their floor layout. By rearranging, it makes you notice new products you may not have tried before. Starbucks is constantly swapping in new merchandise and changing cup designs based on the season, making things like the annual holiday-themed cup an Instagrammable must-have.
And what about Frappy Hour? These are often advertised in-store and through the app. Their loyalty program almost turns ordering into a game, where we keep trying to get to the next level. Through the Starbucks app, you can find special offers, reload your card, and even redeem points for rewards. Buy enough drinks, about 16, and you're rewarded with one free drink.
Everyone knows Starbucks's three signature sizes, tall, grande, and venti. But, there's another size they don't tell you about, short, which is eight ounces. The short is smaller and less expensive than a tall. But, you have to specifically ask the barista for it.
Another tip, you can always ask for light ice. Instead of a grande iced coffee, save money by asking for a tall with light ice instead. You'll spend less while getting almost the same amount of coffee, just with less ice.
There you have it. If you're looking to stay on a coffee budget, you may want to think twice about your daily dose of Starbucks.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published in January 2019.
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