30 Starbucks Secrets from Employees — Eat This Not That

Introduction

Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee chains in the world, and it’s no surprise that their employees have some insider knowledge about the company. In this article, we’ll be revealing 30 Starbucks secrets from employees that you may not have known about. From secret menu items to discounts and freebies, you’ll be surprised at what you can get from your local Starbucks. So, if you’re a Starbucks fan, read on to find out some of the best-kept secrets from the people who know the company best.

30 Starbucks Secrets from Employees — Eat This Not That

Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee chains in the world, and it’s no surprise that their employees have some insider knowledge about the company. Here are 30 secrets from Starbucks employees that you may not have known about.

1. The Secret Menu

Starbucks has a secret menu that is not advertised to customers. This menu includes drinks like the Cotton Candy Frappuccino, the Nutella Frappuccino, and the Caramel Apple Spice. Ask your barista for the secret menu and see what they can make for you!

2. Free Refills

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get free refills on hot or iced coffee and tea. Just make sure you use the same cup and show your barista your rewards card.

3. Customize Your Drink

Starbucks baristas are happy to customize your drink to your liking. Whether you want extra foam, extra syrup, or extra shots, just ask and they’ll be happy to accommodate.

4. Get a Discount

If you’re a student, you can get a 10% discount on your order. Just show your student ID to your barista and they’ll apply the discount.

5. Get Free Drinks

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get free drinks after you accumulate enough stars. You can also get free drinks on your birthday if you’re a rewards member.

6. Get Free Food

Starbucks offers free food to its employees. This includes breakfast items, snacks, and even lunch. Ask your barista what’s available.

7. Get Free Coffee

Starbucks offers free coffee to its employees. Just ask your barista for a free cup of coffee and they’ll be happy to oblige.

8. Get Free Syrups

Starbucks offers free syrups to its employees. Just ask your barista for a free pump of syrup and they’ll be happy to oblige.

9. Get Free Refills

Starbucks offers free refills to its employees. Just ask your barista for a free refill and they’ll be happy to oblige.

10. Get Free Ice Cream

Starbucks offers free ice cream to its employees. Just ask your barista for a free scoop of ice cream and they’ll be happy to oblige.

11. Get Free Drinks on Your Birthday

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get a free drink on your birthday. Just show your rewards card to your barista and they’ll apply the discount.

12. Get Free Coffee on Your Birthday

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get a free cup of coffee on your birthday. Just show your rewards card to your barista and they’ll apply the discount.

13. Get Free Food on Your Birthday

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get a free food item on your birthday. Just show your rewards card to your barista and they’ll apply the discount.

14. Get Free Syrups on Your Birthday

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get a free pump of syrup on your birthday. Just show your rewards card to your barista and they’ll apply the discount.

15. Get Free Refills on Your Birthday

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get a free refill on your birthday. Just show your rewards card to your barista and they’ll apply the discount.

16. Get Free Ice Cream on Your Birthday

If you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you can get a free scoop of ice cream on your birthday. Just show your rewards card to your barista and they’ll apply the discount.

17. Get Free Drinks for Referrals

If you refer a friend to Starbucks, you can get a free drink. Just make sure your friend mentions your name when they make their purchase.

18. Get Free Coffee for Referrals

If you refer a friend to Starbucks, you can get a free cup of coffee. Just make sure your friend mentions your name when they make their purchase.

19. Get Free Food for Referrals

If you refer a friend to Starbucks, you can get a free food item. Just make sure your friend mentions your name when they make their purchase.

20. Get Free Syrups for Referrals

If you refer a friend to Starbucks, you can get a free pump of syrup. Just make sure your friend mentions your name when they make their purchase.

21. Get Free Refills for Referrals

If you refer a friend to Starbucks, you can get a free refill. Just make sure your friend mentions your name when they make their purchase.

22. Get Free Ice Cream for Referrals

If you refer a friend to Starbucks, you can get a free scoop of ice cream. Just make sure your friend mentions your name when they make their purchase.

23. Get Free Drinks for Liking Starbucks on Social Media

If you like Starbucks on social media, you can get a free drink. Just show your barista your social media profile and they’ll apply the discount.

24. Get Free Coffee for Liking Starbucks on Social Media

If you like Starbucks on social media, you can get a free cup of coffee. Just show your barista your social media profile and they’ll apply the discount.

25. Get Free Food for Liking Starbucks on Social Media

If you like Starbucks on social media, you can get a free food item. Just show your barista your social media profile and they’ll apply the discount.

26. Get Free Syrups for Liking Starbucks on Social Media

If you like Starbucks on social media, you can get a free pump of syrup. Just show your barista your social media profile and they’ll apply the discount.

27. Get Free Refills for Liking Starbucks on Social Media

If you like Starbucks on social media, you can get a free refill. Just show your barista your social media profile and they’ll apply the discount.

28. Get Free Ice Cream for Liking Starbucks on Social Media

If you like Starbucks on social media, you can get a free scoop of ice cream. Just show your barista your social media profile and they’ll apply the discount.

29. Get Free Drinks for Writing a Review

If you write a review about Starbucks on social media or a review website, you can get a free drink. Just show your barista your review and they’ll apply the discount.

30. Get Free Coffee for Writing a Review

If you write a review about Starbucks on social media or a review website, you can get a free cup of coffee. Just show your barista your review and they’ll apply the discount.

Whether you’re a regular or an occasional customer, chances are you’re pretty familiar with Starbucks Coffee. But how much do you really know about Starbucks?

It should go without saying that everyone should treat baristas and other food service employees with respect at all times. If your order gets messed up, there’s no need to yell at a Starbucks employee—they’ll likely be happy to make it right if you give them a chance. And after speaking directly with current and former Starbucks baristas and combing through hundreds of comments online, we found that the #1 rule Starbucks employees wish customers would follow is: Don’t be rude! Being considerate is not only the right thing to do, but it might get you perks, like no extra charge for non-dairy milk. On the flip side, when you snap unreasonably, you might find yourself shortchanged or end up with decaf instead of regular.

Read on to get the low-down on everything Starbucks employees wish you knew—straight from baristas themselves.

Man drinking starbucks coffee
Savvapanf Photo/Shutterstock

Josephine Liz, who worked at Starbucks while in high school, shared this tip: There’s a reason your drink is served at a certain temperature!

“Usually when this happens, the customer is wanting their drink to be ‘super hot’ so that when they get to where they’re going the drink is still warm,” Liz says. The truth is, though, that whoever is making your coffee can’t actually go above a certain temperature for safety and quality—think burnt milk—reasons.

“Unfortunately, those who know the milk is steamed with a thermometer at all times are fearless about making sure they get what they want,” the former barista says. “I think the most common drink that got this request was the hot chai latte, especially soy.”

woman's hand holding cherry blossom frappuccino in plastic cup in front of cherry blossom tree
Courtesy of Starbucks

Another pet peeve, according to Liz, involves Starbucks’ famed Frappuccinos. “When I was working there, Fraps were made with premade bases; one was coffee-based and the other was milk-based,” she says. “One customer came in once and said they wanted a soy milk-based Frap and I was like, ‘NOT POSSIBLE,’ but of course, they insisted and said someone made it for them once so my co-worker said she’d do it. Mind you we explained and showed them the products used to make the Frap bases and how the consistency would not be there if we did it any other way.”

RELATED: Costco Is Selling This Popular Starbucks Lookalike Item

starbucks' turkey bacon, cheddar, and egg white sandwich
Courtesy of Starbucks

If a store has an oven, it can heat anything. We’re talking savory or sweet pastries and even food items from the fridges. “This is something employees take advantage of for lunch breaks but hate when a customer knows it’s an option,” says Liz. “I don’t know if there’s a real rule that says we can’t heat certain items, but some baristas or supervisors used it if the customer didn’t ask nicely.”

Starbucks Java chip frappuccino
Courtesy of Starbucks

It isn’t just cream that goes into Starbucks’ whipped cream. To make it extra sweet, there’s also vanilla syrup. Liz says that she always wondered how it would taste if toffee nut, hazelnut, or peppermint syrup were used instead of vanilla and wished someone had asked for it. Curious as well? While she can’t guarantee you’ll get an employee to do it, it’s worth asking.

starbucks green tea
Courtesy of Starbucks

A seasoned barista famously told us that not only won’t Starbucks’ Medicine Ball—which Starbucks refers to as Honey Citrus Mint Tea—cure anything at all, it’s basically lemonade and pure sugar, so it can actually do more damage than good.

Starbucks barista working behind the counter
Dmitriy Nushtaev/Unsplash

Spring Mooney, a 10-year veteran of Starbucks, told us that all the drinks on the secret menu are a surprise to them as well. “For example, The Grasshopper I’m sure in your mind tastes amazing, however when guests come up and request it, I haven’t a clue what they’re speaking of and I have to look at their phone to see what it is. And yes, this does hold the line up for a drink that doesn’t actually exist,” the barista explains.

Names on Starbucks cups
Shutterstock

Pat, a barista with over a decade of experience, told us that when employees ask for your name, they don’t really try that hard to hear it well or spell it correctly. “Management knows that a misspelled name is going straight onto people’s social media feed, which is basically free advertising for Starbucks,” Pat says.

RELATED: We Tasted 10 Popular Iced Teas & This Is the Best

Starbucks employees serving customers behind the counter
Asael Peña/Unsplash

“At least when I worked there, most of the staff didn’t really agree with tipping when buying a $4 coffee and wouldn’t do it ourselves,” says Pat. “It didn’t stop us leaving a tip box out and collecting it at the end of the day, though!”

Outside starbucks with green umbrellas
TR/Unsplash

Reddit user Daskichan wrote that if you come in with a very complicated order request, you should be prepared to be called out. “I will go out of my way to call out Every. Single. Modifier possible […] I don’t care if it takes me an entire minute worth of modifications, I will do it.” User Nielapup adds, “especially when people ask for something ridiculous like six ice cubes I say that loud and clear.”

Starbucks baristas working
Vaishnav Chogale/Unsplash

Don’t be surprised if you see your baristas batch blending, especially Frappuccinos. Countless users on Reddit, who self-identified as current or former Starbucks employees, admitted to doing it. “The difference in the finished product is zero whether you batch or individually blend,” says user DeGarmo2.

Starbucks customer holding an iced coffee in the summer time
Omar Lopez/Unsplash

In a Reddit thread, many Starbucks employees wrote that when they’re called out for an order being wrong (whether or not it’s true), they toss out the drink. Others will make a point to not give the person who calls out the so-called mistake the free drink.

“With mess up drinks I like to say ‘free _______ at the bar for whoever!’ Instead of offering it to them…especially if [I know it’s] because they ordered it wrong. Sometimes they take it but usually, they let someone else. I can’t bring myself to dump out a drink unless it’s to the point that nobody would like it,” says user Christinapaws.

Starbucks condiment counter
Shutterstock

“When the half and half at the condiment bar ran out [customers] would walk up to the handoff and bang it on the counter to get our attention, and no thank you from them, they just snagged the new one from our hand,” says Reddit user Austinbostin069. “I started ignoring the banging, still handing off drinks and not even looking at them as they kept banging it. Until they said ‘excuse me sir!’ and I was like ‘sorry, didn’t know you were there, should’ve said something.’ I had to do this for a few weeks but now they ask instead of just being obnoxious.”

reusable starbucks mug
Shutterstock

Don’t be rude, or you might risk getting your order decaf instead of regular, according to Reddit user Guava Pirate. “I make sure the bar decafs them (we have a code) and I make sure to give them their change in singles… as an unwritten rule, in my store, if you’re a [bad] customer and you come often enough to be remembered, the baristas will automatically decaf you.”

walk-in starbucks
Shutterstock

Many baristas will “forget” to charge some people for things like syrups or milk alternatives, especially for drinks that are already vegan, according to user Stephanabelle. If you’re nice, you might benefit from a little upgrade!

starbucks inside
Shutterstock

On the flip side, according to Reddit user dancinjanssen, you might get shortchanged if you’re rude. “I shortchange customers who are on the phone at the window by as many pennies as I can get away with and then throw those pennies in the tip jar,” Janssen wrote on Reddit. “Not once have any of those customers noticed.”

Starbucks sign glowing in a city
Szymon12455/Unsplash.com

If you want a warm sandwich in the evening, you might not be able to get it, and not because it isn’t actually there. “Towards the end of the day I don’t restock the fridge, so I can turn the oven off early,” says Reddit user Alxledra. “I pretend we have no food left when in fact we have tons ready for tomorrow.”

Still, this isn’t always the case, so if you have your heart set on a warm treat, it’s worth an ask. “There’s literally no need to turn the oven off early unless you clean it right before closing. At my store, we had two and cleaned one at a time during the mid-shift every day, but even if you only have one it takes about seven minutes to clean it open, just saying,” says user Fezes_Are_Cool.

Dark roasted coffee
Shutterstock

“I don’t drink coffee, and before becoming a partner, I assumed dark roast is stronger,” says Reddit user Xokaydub. “The other day this man was really stressed and said he needed a dark roast to make it through the day. I felt bad, but I had a line, and I didn’t have the energy to tell him that it’s actually less caffeine and he wanted blonde. Sorry, I’m not your coffee teacher.”

starbucks iced green tea
Amanda Lundberg/ YouTube

Just because they work at Starbucks doesn’t mean your server has tried the entire menu. “If I tell you I love the steak wrap, I’m actually a vegetarian who’s lying to you,” wrote one Reddit user. “I don’t know what most of the sandwiches taste like. Fake it till you make it.”

“I’m the same with the really sweet drinks,” wrote Reddit user Thro_aw4y. “I don’t drink cappuccinos or anything with sugar, but when people ask me what I think of the drink they want I’m like ‘oh yeah it’s really good!!!’”

Starbucks straws
Shutterstock

“Sometimes, to rude customers, I fold their straw before giving it to them so that it has a small hairline split in it, so that after a certain point they can’t drink anymore,” wrote Reddit user UhIsThisMyDrink.

starbucks frappuccino
Boyloso/Shutterstock

“You wanna tell me how much of a rush you’re in and stand there impatiently making it really uncomfortable?” wrote Reddit user Thro_aw4y. “Guess who’s getting decaf and whole milk in her triple nonfat Caramel Macchiato?”

starbucks cups
Courtesy of Starbucks

“I hate matcha,” wrote Reddit user Loveasaconstruct. “Not just because I have to hold my breath when I scoop it in order to avoid getting it in my lungs, but also because it sticks onto blenders and steam wands like nothing else and it smells disgusting. I groan to myself when somebody orders a drink with matcha in it.”

latte
Shutterstock

When people order more than five Splendas, I just rip a bunch open and call it good,” wrote one Reddit user. Another barista added that “if someone asked for .5/.25 syrup, I only put a drop.”

starbucks employee register
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“We bust our tails to get you your coffee. It takes stamina, concentration, and patience to be a good barista. Not everyone has what it takes to succeed in this fast-paced job,” wrote Reddit user XacTactX. “99 percent of our customers are great. They’re often nicer to me than I would be in the same situation. I love getting to know my customers and hearing good news from them. When they stop coming in I wonder if everything is OK.”

starbucks
Shutterstock

“If you’ve got a ridiculous or inappropriate name on the cup, I’ll just call out [your] order only and make eye contact when you pick it up,” wrote Reddit user Oilbaron_. “The resulting disappointment or annoyance on your face is priceless.”

starbucks oat milk latte
Shutterstock

“People. WHY. If my hand is out to receive the payment, must you ignore it and put it on the counter as if I’m not there?!?!,” wrote Reddit user Cassxzy. “So on purpose, I give them the most change (coins) and when I see their hands out I intentionally put them on the counter. I know it’s the most petty thing ever, but seriously, I just took your order. I know you know that I’m there. I didn’t turn into Casper.”

starbucks drive-thru
Shutterstock

“If you ask for water at the handoff, I’ll mark a cup and put it at the end of the line and rejoice in you sitting impatiently thinking I’ve forgotten about it, and then when it comes up I’ll hand it to you with a grin on my face,” wrote Reddit user TheStateImIn.

Starbucks reusable cups and straws in a basket
Shutterstock

“I will not wash out your personal cup,” wrote Reddit user Sarcasm_savedmy_life. “I will pretend to wash it, but I am not your wife/mother/maid.”

Starbucks coffee beans at reserve in Seattle
Andrew Spencer/Unsplash

“I turn off Egg Bites and typically Bantam Bagel Bites on mobile order [because I] used to get plenty of mobile orders with four to five sets of Egg Bites each during peak time and it was making it impossible to even come close to reaching our drive time goals,” wrote Reddit user Bigcasanova.

You probably already know this, but in case there was any doubt, Starbucks employees loathe when people come minutes before closing. “If you are one of those annoying customers that comes in at 9:08 and I’m supposed to lock up in 2 minutes and you ask for decaf, you’re getting regular espresso and maybe even an extra shot from yours truly!” wrote Reddit user BaristaSarah2016.

Starbucks black coffee master apron
youknowitalktoomuch/Reddit

“Please know that we want to get your order correct. We don’t screw it up on purpose,” wrote Quora user Amanda Gault. “It’s easier to get your order right the first time, but also, be aware that really complicated orders might get messed up. They aren’t the norm, and mistakes happen. Be kind and ask for your to be remade and BE PATIENT. If your order is super complicated and you’re in a rush, maybe don’t order it.”