Starbucks: Why in the world do they do this???

[nobody]

I always wondered this, but could never figure out why or how this could happen, and I have consistently watched to see it happen over many years. Anytime I see a Starbucks employee steaming milk, they just set the milk jug down on the Espresso machine with the steaming wand submerged all the way into the milk, walk away, then come back for it. I think that those of us that are even reasonably adept at making lattes, etc. know that this is not how you steam milk, but it is happening all day long. I also know that Starbucks isn't the barometer of quality coffee, but they probably are the largest coffee chain, and you would think that they would have their "baristas" use relatively proper technique. What's up with that? Do we have any current or former Starbucks employees that can explain why this happens?

Danny

 

[Musicphan]

I believe their machines have auto frothers which require no interaction...

 

[nobody]

I believe their machines have auto frothers which require no interaction...

Oh, thanks, though that is odd.

Danny

 

[froze]

Starsucks no longer makes good coffee, over the last 15 years or so they have been watering down their coffee to increase profits.

When I go into a Starsucks, which is rare, I will order a black with 2 shots of espresso just to get it to taste like a normal black. If I go to McDonalds and order a black all I need there is 1 shot of espresso. If I go to a privately owned small coffee shop I don't need to add any espresso to a black.

Geez, when I'm traveling I've gotten better coffee from Pilot truck stops than at Starsucks!

That is why I rarely go to Starsucks anymore.

 

[froze]

If you've been going to Starsucks for many years why are you still going? They've been watering down their coffee for the last 15 years, McDonalds makes better coffee than Starsucks does!

If I'm traveling and need some coffee, and all I can find is a Starsucks, I have to order a dark black and have them put 2 shots of espresso in it just make it taste somewhat strong.

But I try to avoid Starsucks at all costs, I'll go to McDonalds first, and McDonalds will put a shot of espresso into any coffee I order, and that one shot of espresso makes the coffee much more fuller in flavor than 2 shots from Starsucks. And McDonalds coffee is half the price of what Starsucks charges.

 

[CCafe]

Not that I'm trying to answer an old post but more rather then give some food for thought. When Starbucks left the traditional espresso machine for the super auto they had at the time about 17,000 stores. They did the math at that time and it took roughly $1,500 to train each employee to become proficient on the traditional espresso machine. Most of that $1,500 was spent on making them able to reproduce the same quality of drink each and every time and that steam arm was the source of a lot of lost revenue. If I also remember right they had close to a 40% turnover rate. It was costing them somewhere between $150 - $300 million year to train the turnover.

Fast forward to 2025 and they are now over 40,000 corporate owned stores just guess what that turnover would cost today? The things that make a good barista on a traditional espresso machine won't be found on a super auto because that automation was done to cut lost revenue. I'm not saying it's good or bad. I like all forms of espresso machines, well almost all. Astoria Jada's still give me nightmares and I haven't worked on one since 2014.

 

[shadow745]

Starbux pretty much bastardizes everything they touch. I don't care what their worldwide business model/worth is as they simply destroy all things coffee related from start to finish. IMBHO they are like Apple as in you're paying for the over rated/priced experience as the products are pretty much child's play. I gladly say there are two types of individuals that will frequent Starbux... one is the type that is too lazy to create their own beverages at home, ending up being 80% cheaper and 10x improved... second type would be those too ignorant/incompetent to know any better.

Will also say it's a shame the volume of green coffee they churn through, roasting darker to offset the inferior nature of their green selection, only to mask it with sugar, milk, etc. to make it more palatable to their idiotic customer base. Precisely why I have renamed them CharredAllDaFukk and of course have no concern if others disagree, etc.

 

[froze]

Starsucks is no longer a good place to buy good coffee, it's actually worse coffee now, due to them watering down everything, than McDonald's coffee is! That is a very sad state of affairs. Just go to a local roaster coffee shop and buy their coffee, not only is it better coffee, but it's usually less expensive, and you're supporting local business owners who care about their clientele and not some corporate monkeys that only see numbers.

I avoid Starsucks as much as possible, but sometimes when traveling I might not have a choice, so I get whatever coffee I want, BUT I have to have them add 2 shots of expresso to get the flavor and strength up to where it use to be 15 years ago or so.

 

[shadow745]

Starsucks is no longer a good place to buy good coffee, it's actually worse coffee now, due to them watering down everything, than McDonald's coffee is! That is a very sad state of affairs. Just go to a local roaster coffee shop and buy their coffee, not only is it better coffee, but it's usually less expensive, and you're supporting local business owners who care about their clientele and not some corporate monkeys that only see numbers.

I avoid Starsucks as much as possible, but sometimes when traveling I might not have a choice, so I get whatever coffee I want, BUT I have to have them add 2 shots of expresso to get the flavor and strength up to where it use to be 15 years ago or so.

I'll gladly say to avoid buying roasted coffee and do your own. Built my setup about 9.5 yrs ago and haven't felt the need to buy an ounce of roasted coffee since and doubt I ever will. Buying quality green and roasting to the exact level of development YOU want when needed is light years ahead of 99.99999% of what's openly available anywhere and I'm saving 40-50% cost in the process, as well as minimizing what's involved with shipping, packaging, etc. that would be pissed away buying small batches of roasted coffee like many do.

Personally if I'm not at home and want a fix I seek out an energy drink as that gives me what I expect without the bitter disappointment any coffeeshop will likely cause. Over the yrs I've never been into any shop that was worth a repeat visit on the espresso, so for many yrs I simply won't bother.

 

[froze]

I'll gladly say to avoid buying roasted coffee and do your own. Built my setup about 9.5 yrs ago and haven't felt the need to buy an ounce of roasted coffee since and doubt I ever will. Buying quality green and roasting to the exact level of development YOU want when needed is light years ahead of 99.99999% of what's openly available anywhere and I'm saving 40-50% cost in the process, as well as minimizing what's involved with shipping, packaging, etc. that would be pissed away buying small batches of roasted coffee like many do.

Personally if I'm not at home and want a fix I seek out an energy drink as that gives me what I expect without the bitter disappointment any coffeeshop will likely cause. Over the yrs I've never been into any shop that was worth a repeat visit on the espresso, so for many yrs I simply won't bother.

When I am at home I make my own coffee, but my discussions were based on when traveling. I have numerous ways to make coffee at home. The only time I don't make coffee at home is when a friend of mine wants to go out for coffee, but we NEVER go to Starsucks.

The strange thing is that even a professional coffee shops I still on occasion get bitter espresso, even those privately ran pro places can't make it right all the time with their $6,000 plus automatic expresso machines. 100% of the time, so far anyways, my Cafelat Robot makes better espresso than what I'm getting at the pro coffee places, and my machine cost far less then theirs; heck my daughter has a cheap Chefman espresso maker and sometimes it makes better espresso than a couple of those pro places in my town! That machine was around $130 and it's doing a better job than a $6,000 plus machine? I'm confused as to why that would be!

 

[shadow745]

When I am at home I make my own coffee, but my discussions were based on when traveling. I have numerous ways to make coffee at home. The only time I don't make coffee at home is when a friend of mine wants to go out for coffee, but we NEVER go to Starsucks.

The strange thing is that even a professional coffee shops I still on occasion get bitter espresso, even those privately ran pro places can't make it right all the time with their $6,000 plus automatic expresso machines. 100% of the time, so far anyways, my Cafelat Robot makes better espresso than what I'm getting at the pro coffee places, and my machine cost far less then theirs; heck my daughter has a cheap Chefman espresso maker and sometimes it makes better espresso than a couple of those pro places in my town! That machine was around $130 and it's doing a better job than a $6,000 plus machine? I'm confused as to why that would be!

Lots of variables that can change on the hour with espresso, as you might know. Absolute most important variable is fresh coffee with a decent level of roast development. Balanced water clearly plays a part and brew pressure/temperature as well. Then factor in how clean equipment is kept, ambient temp/humidity, barista skill/technique, etc. Common mistake many make is thinking more expensive equipment just has to give a better end result, when that's far from the case. Only real difference between a commercial setup and quality home setup is the commercial is built to be on/used indefinitely with capacity/recovery to handle back/back extractions as well as being able to steam vast amounts of milk for the titty babies that can't handle espresso in straight form. If you have fresh coffee ground just before use, machine capable of decent temp/pressure, capable grinder with fine tuning available, all of it kept clean, balanced water used then you can create quality/consistent espresso from pretty much anything out there regardless of cost involved.

 

[lepharaon33]

I always wondered this, but could never figure out why or how this could happen, and I have consistently watched to see it happen over many years. Anytime I see a Starbucks employee steaming milk, they just set the milk jug down on the Espresso machine with the steaming wand submerged all the way into the milk, walk away, then come back for it. I think that those of us that are even reasonably adept at making lattes, etc. know that this is not how you steam milk, but it is happening all day long. I also know that Starbucks isn't the barometer of quality coffee, but they probably are the largest coffee chain, and you would think that they would have their "baristas" use relatively proper technique. What's up with that? Do we have any current or former Starbucks employees that can explain why this happens?

Danny

Yeah, you’re absolutely right to notice that — what Starbucks baristas do with milk steaming looks completely wrong if you come from a specialty coffee background. But there’s actually a pretty practical reason behind it.

Starbucks doesn’t train its baristas to texture milk manually the way independent shops do. Instead, they use automated or semi-automated steaming systems that handle both temperature and foam consistency with minimal input from the barista.

Here’s how it works:

• Most Starbucks machines (the Mastrena or Thermoplan models) have programmable steam wands with sensors that stop automatically once the milk reaches a target temperature and foam level.
• The barista just puts the pitcher under the wand, presses the preset button for the drink type (like “latte” or “cappuccino”), and can step away to prep shots or do something else while it steams.
• The wand is designed to stay fully submerged so it doesn’t spray milk everywhere and so the machine can create consistent “microfoam” automatically — it’s not about technique anymore, it’s about workflow and speed.

So what you’re seeing isn’t lazy or clueless baristas (at least not necessarily) — it’s Starbucks’ systemized approach to consistency. It sacrifices the nuance and control that comes from manually texturing milk (like introducing air, then folding the foam) but ensures every store worldwide produces something close enough without needing real barista skills.

Basically: it’s automation disguised as a barista move.