16 Starbucks Menu Items Their Baristas Hate The Most

There are a lot of good things about working at Starbucks. It’s consistently named as one of the best companies to work for, and there’s a reason for that: they know how to treat their employees well. Working at Starbucks means you are entered into the company’s stock program, and you get benefits like healthcare, a 401K with matching plans, bonuses, and even adoption assistance. They also pay for their employee’s college tuitions to ensure that everyone gets the education they want.

And on top of all of that, employees get lots of free stuff, like bags of coffee to take home, complimentary drinks during a shift, and more.

That said, no place of work is perfect, and there are plenty of things Starbucks employees dislike about their job — there are also plenty of menu items Starbucks employees really hate and don’t want you to keep ordering. Sure, Starbucks is known for delicious coffee and really good sugary beverages, as well as plenty of pastries when you need something to eat, but that doesn’t mean everything is fantastic.

Some employees have ranted on the internet about menu items that are either just really annoying to make, or actually kind of gross when you know what goes into them.

Here’s what baristas hate making the most — you might want to change your order after reading this:

1. Anything from the secret menu.

Many Starbucks employees have taken to Reddit and the internet to complain about the secret menu items that don’t actually exist. Reddit user justine7179 said, “We sure as sh*t don’t know what a Snickerdoodle Frappuccino is, as it is not a menu item.”

“Employees would be more than happy to make you a drink if you just explain the recipe rather than the name of it.”

User miss0tique added, “That’s pure made up stuff that customers have figured out taste like a special something. And don’t get mad at us when we don’t know, it’s not on the menu.”

Moral of the story? If you want a secret menu item, be ready to tell them exactly how to make it.

2. Frappuccinos. They really, really hate Frappuccinos.

If you ask any Starbucks employee for their least favorite item, chances are good they’ll say it’s a Frappuccino — it was the most complained about item in a number of Reddit threads. User Ziekial4404 explained,

“Seriously, I know how much you all love them but Frappuccinos are literally nothing but sugar and milk blended with ice.”

“The ‘coffee’ we put in them is an instant coffee that we make in tubs and tastes like Satan’s a**hole when not combined with copious amounts of sugar. Also please for all the baristas everywhere, don’t add shots of espresso to your Frappuccino. It makes it super liquidity and it spills everywhere and you’re going to complain to me, then I’ll remake it with extra ice and you’ll complain because it’s thinned out and tastes even more awful than normal. Dear lord, try a real beverage please.”

3. Pour-over coffee is just an unnecessary annoyance to them.

Baristas think that, for most customers, pour-over coffee just isn’t needed. Reddit user Hicrayert said, “You want fresh coffee yet you are going to add a bunch of cream and sugar.”

“Also, our coffee in the urns are rotated every 30 mins or less during rush period, so you are always going to get pretty damn fresh coffee.”

“It’s annoying when people think the Starbucks coffee is old or stale, yet we end up dumping sooooo much coffee to make sure it doesn’t sit longer than 30 minutes ever.”

4. The matcha latte is not a favorite.

Starbucks offers a green tea latte that a lot of employees are not a fan of. Reddit user Gutierrezjm6 said,

“All their food is edible, but the matcha tastes like you’re sucking on a lawn mower.”

“Matcha latte? We just dump your grass powder in with milk. Matcha Frappuccino? I can’t believe people order those things.”

5. Anything with white mocha syrup.

This one is kind of gross. Reddit user cookiemonager says, “I used to work at Starbucks. The clear syrups are fine.”

“[B]ut unless someone regularly deep cleans the pumps for the mocha and white mocha, it gets slimey and smells really sour.”

“No one at my store but me would clean that out, and it got sour every 2 days. Nasty.” Doesn’t sound too appetizing!

6. The Caramel Frappuccino is one they specifically dislike.

Most baristas seem to dislike the Frapps because of the amount of sugar in them and how much work they require. User nikecat says that’s especially true for the caramel Frapp, saying,

“We hate making it.”

They added, “We also don’t care that this is the one time you get to buy something nice for yourself because we see you 4-5 times a week, spending more on these drinks than we spend on food.”

7. They also really hate making multiple Frapps at once.

Coming in to order more than two Frappuccinos at once? Be prepared to deal with a less-than-thrilled barista. User justanotherday3366 said, “Please don’t order multiple Frappuccinos at once. They are the WORST. It’s chill to get one at a time because that is manageable.”

“But when people would get like four of them and then glare at you because it takes forever it could get me so annoyed.”

“They are the most time-consuming thing on that menu (aside from the smoothies), and they don’t go with the beverage order repetition very well (way they teach you to make drinks super fast).”

8. Eggnog Lattes are a seasonal item baristas don’t look forward to.

A few baristas said they hated making Eggnog Lattes most of all, one of the holiday drinks Starbucks usually brings around during the months of November and December.

Why?

User bumbledaisy explained, “They are so thick that the steamer has a hard time breaking through to steam it so it’s really freaking loud. It gunks up the steamer way worse than regular milk and is a pain to clean off.” Sounds pleasant!

9. The shaken iced tea is one of the drinks that’s just plain annoying to make.

Starbucks has a bunch of teas and iced teas on their menu, but the employees really seem to dislike the shaken iced tea, mainly because it doesn’t make any sense. A user who has since deleted their account said, “The f***ing shaken iced tea will kill me someday. We have to pour the tea into a cocktail shaker with water and syrup and ice and shake it before putting it in the cup.”

“We do not shake or mix any other drinks.”

“The pouring mixes it enough, none of the drinks need to be shaken (yes I have tasted it both ways). It is the hugest marketing gimmick I’ve ever seen. We even have to shake the tea when people want plain tea with ice.

“One time I didn’t shake plain tea with ice, the customer b%^ched at me because ‘it tastes better shaken.'”

“It is plain iced tea. No amount of shaking will change it into anything else, and you cant mix it anymore, it’s pre-made tea!”

10. Any of the drinks made with mocha might be more gross than you thought.

If you love mocha lattes, you might not want to keep reading this one. User squid_cat warned, “Don’t get anything with mocha at Starbucks.”

“I’ve worked at two of them and despite policy being to make fresh mocha every day, it makes a mess and takes forever when you’re trying to do everything else.”

“If fresh mocha gets made, you can bet the pump for it hasn’t been cleaned all that great like, ever. Too messy and time consuming.”

11. Baristas hate making smoothies mainly because they hate dealing with the bananas.

Bananas are in most of the smoothies Starbucks makes, but apparently, they don’t look so great before they get all mixed up. User highvolt says, “The bananas used for Starbucks smoothies look horrifying.”

“They come frozen, pre-peeled, resulting in an utterly black, phallic shaped fruit due to oxidation similar to an apple browning once you cut it, only on steroids.”

“It is fine in reality, just disgusting if you had to look at it knowing you’re about to eat it.”

12. The Green Tea Frappuccino is one they don’t like because of what’s in it.

Sometimes the baristas just get kind of grossed out by how much sugar is in a drink, and this is one example. User clivehuxley said,

“If you’re worried about calories, do not order the Green Tea Frappuccino or the Oat Bar at Starbucks.”

“A lot of people think they are making a healthy decision, but those are the worst things that you can order (of all the items available at my store that is).”

13. They can’t stand the Pink Drink.

The Starbucks Pink Drink is a Strawberry Acai Refresher made with coconut milk, and it’s quite aesthetically pleasing to look at.

But the process of making it isn’t as nice.

A user that has since deleted their account said that making one is frustrating “because I have to use two different refrigerators to get the coconut milk and the acai, a shaker, the cold bar station for the inclusions, and shake the acai/berries/ice, then pour it into a f***ing cup, then add coconut milk, then put a lid on and swirl the cup so it doesn’t look like curdled vomit, and then clean up the entire f***ing mess, and I hate it.”

14. Espresso macchiatos are not a favorite among the baristas.

If you always order a macchiato from Starbucks, then know that the people making them are not exactly thrilled about it. User NK1337 said,

“We just need to get rid of them from the menu.”

“I haaaaaaaaate making them because most of the time customers are actually asking for a short cappuccino or a short latte.”

15. They cringe whenever you ask for no foam on your drink.

A Starbucks barista has to customize your drink the way you ask them to, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy or enjoyable for them. User Keeponrocking613 said that they hate making any hot latte drink with soy or almond milk when the customer asks for no foam. They explained, “It is so hard to steam soy or almond without any foam and customers rarely ask me for their 2% latte with no foam, it’s always the milks that are so difficult to have no foam that they ask it for.”

16. The cold foam cold brew is another one they dislike.

The new cold foam cold brews seem to be pretty annoying for employees. User kailariousss said they hate making the Salted Cream Cold Foam Cold Brew, explaining,

“Cold foam is irritating to make. Tbh all the cold foam drinks are not pleasant to make.”

And now you know how to make your barista at Starbucks hate you!