A Starbucks employee who ranted about a complicated order consisting of 13 modifications has been fired after his tweet went viral — but he isn’t the only one who has taken issue with customers’ increasingly over-the-top demands that are often inspired by TikTok.
Other baristas at the chain claim they are being treated like ‘coffee-making robots’ as social media trends continue to drive elaborate drinks requests that are incredibly tedious, making them work much harder than they would for a normal drink.
‘These orders are driving us insane because they’re so long, so specific and it requires you to do much more work than you should be doing for one single drink and they’re not being adequately translated into our labor hours,’ a Starbucks shift supervisor in New York told .
Josie Morales was sacked from Starbucks this month after he took to to vent his frustration over an incredibly complicated Venti Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino order, which a demanding customer named Edward had placed in Van Nuys, California, on May 1.
Sacked: Josie Morales, a barista from California, was fired from Starbucks for calling out a customer named Edward’s complicated drink order that included 13 modifications
Drama: Morales’s tweet venting about the complicated Venti Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino order (pictured) went viral earlier this month
‘On today’s episode of why I wanna quit my job,’ Josie tweeted, sharing a photo of a plastic Starbucks cup with the order listed.
A traditional Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino is made with coffee, milk, ice, sbobet indonesia and caramel syrup, which are blended and topped with a layer of dark caramel sauce, whipped cream, caramel drizzle, and a crunchy caramel-sugar topping.
However, Edward requested a total of 13 add-ons and changes to the drink, including extra caramel drizzle, seven pumps of caramel sauce, extra ice, extra cinnamon dolce topping, and heavy cream — all of which makes it longer to make.
Morales’s tweet went viral, as did the recipe, with customers across the country clamoring to try ‘The Edward’ for themselves. Morales ended up getting fired for violating the company’s social media policy, but he doesn’t have any regrets.
‘I feel like it brought some light upon how crazy orders can be,’ he told , which captured Morales’ meeting with Edward himself.
Candid: Morales said he doesn’t regret tweeting about the drink request because ‘it brought some light upon how crazy orders can be’
Not a jerk: The now infamous Starbucks customer, whose name really is Edward, defended his order, saying he tips about 30 percent
Meet and greet: Despite everything that happened, the two men are on good terms and even shared a friendly hug when they met face to face
The now infamous Starbucks customer, whose name really is Edward, defended his order, saying: ‘I don’t consider myself a jerk, especially if you tip well. So, you know, a $5 tip, I feel like that’s probably almost 30 percent.’
Despite everything that happened, the two men are on good terms and even shared a friendly hug when they met face to face.
Starbucks doesn’t limit the number of modifications a customer can make to their drink orders, which can get burdensome and sometimes confusing for the baristas.
‘With mobile order or delivery, we can’t always clarify what they want and people will get very mad over sort of little stuff when you’ve made the drink almost perfectly, and it’s frustrating to feel like you can’t say we can’t really make it that way, so people treat us like coffee-making robots,’ a Starbucks employee in Maryland told The Guardian.
Baristas who spoke to the publication explained that they are pressured to meet drive-thru time quotas while juggling mobile, delivery, and in-person orders. They claim the demand has increased their workloads, especially when customers are ordering complicated drink recipes they saw on TikTok.
Hard: Other baristas across the nation have griped about the increasingly complicated orders they receive, with one saying they are treated like ‘coffee-making robots’ (STOCK IMAGE)
Frustrating: Starbucks workers said the increase of complicated orders is due to popular TikTok videos that break down detailed recipes for custom drinks
Yikes: Morales’s tweet inspired other Starbucks employees to share their own nightmare orders, including this shocking Green Tea Creme Frappuccino order with 29 changes
A lot to handle: Starbucks doesn’t limit the number of changes a customer can make to their drink orders. One woman from California shared an image of a drink with 11 customizations
Over the top: Another barista shared an image of a customer’s intricate changes to a Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew order
‘Starbucks definitely took this turn to becoming just another fast-food drive-thru,’ a Starbucks shift supervisor explained. ‘They want us to just be these robots that move fast, we’re just little drones to them that just need to pump out as many lattes as we can in a half-hour.’
Morales’s post prompted other Starbucks employees to share similarly complex and torturous drink orders, with some complaining that trendy ‘TikTok drinks’ are to blame.
What’s more, they’re saying these drinks aren’t just a hassle for Starbucks employees to make, but that they also make lines move slower and contribute to longer wait times for other customers.
One Starbucks barista shared a snap of a Green Tea Creme Frappuccino with 29 additional changes, writing: ‘This order comes in every other week.’
Another posted an image of a Caffè Misto, which had 30 extra demands — including 24 pumps of syrup — and commented: ‘I raise you this.’
Trendy: Many are blaming the changes on trendy ‘TikTok drinks,’ pointing to videos of content creators ordering extremely complicated drinks and sharing the recipes with followers
Going viral: Maya, who goes by @starbucksrecipeswithm on TikTok, has shared several viral videos with various drink recipes, including one for a Skittles Frappuccino