In a continued effort to help you squeeze the most out of your local dining options, I’m focusing on an on-campus option that students can’t seem to stay away from.
Like a loving drug dealer, Starbucks has been loyally pumping caffeine into our veins for years.
With the help of some insider tips, I’ve discovered that there’s an entire world of hidden treasures at Starbucks if you just know to ask for them.
Here are some secrets that will help you get the most out of your Starbucks experience.
The secret drink
The baristas at Starbucks are awake at unearthly hours to open the store and greet early-morning customers. So, how do they prepare for the long morning shift ahead?
Through a secret caffeinated cocktail called the Undertow. Right before open, baristas toss back this carefully-crafted concoction of vanilla, half-n-half and espresso shots to wake up.
“The shots are layered by placing a spoon upside down on top of the cream so that when the shots hit the round side of the spoon, they are layered on top,” said Noelle Wills, senior in microbiology and seasoned Starbucks barista. “Then you chug it. You can have as many shots as you want. It’s delicious.”
The secret to a late afternoon boost
It’s 3 p.m. You’ve just barely managed to drag your beleaguered body into our on-campus Starbucks. All you want is a simple cup of coffee to get you through the day.
By late afternoon, however, many of the regular roasts have run out.
Resist the instinct to curl up under a table in the fetal position.
“Pour-over is available anytime,” Wills said. “Customers can also request a French press of their favorite coffee for an additional charge.”
Starbucks offers pour-over coffee by the cup at the same price.
Not only can you hand-pick your blend, but your cup of coffee will be made fresh, instead of being poured from the pot that’s been bubbling on the back burner for hours.
The secret slang
It’s a lifelong dream of mine to walk up to the Starbucks counter, rattle off a stream of seemingly nonsensical words and be delivered a perfectly customized drink.
A cup of coffee with a single shot of espresso is a “Red Eye,” double shots is a “Black Eye,” and three shots is rumored to be called a “JFK,” but it might be more appropriate to stick to calling it a “Green Eye.”
“Some confusion exists with the slang ‘skinny,’” Wills said.
“Many private or local coffee shops use skinny to refer to non-fat milk. Starbucks uses 'skinny' to mean your choice of sugar-free syrup and nonfat milk.”
The secret menu items
To create a Captain Crunch Frappuccino, which fans claim tastes just like the childhood cereal, order a strawberries-and-cream Frappuccino with a pump of toffee nut or hazelnut.
The zebra mocha blends the white chocolate and chocolate mochas.
If you want a bigger boost from your chai tea, a dirty chai is a chai latte with a shot of espresso.
For a new spin on an old classic, you can order your iced caramel macchiatos upside down.
“What 'upside down' refers to is the shots of espresso,” Wills said. “Instead of having the shots float on top they are put in after the vanilla but before the milk. This creates a smoother flavor. The shots on top creates a more intense flavor.”
The secret sizes
Turns out the 12-ounce tall cup at Starbucks isn't actually their smallest size. Bringing up the rear is the adorable 8-ounce short cup.
Touted as kid-sized, the short provides just enough coffee to get you moving, but not so much you develop an unflattering facial twitch.
On the opposite end of the scale is the 31-ounce Trenta, another under-advertised size.
The hulking Trenta holds 916 mL of your favorite coffee drink, making it slightly larger than the average capacity of the human stomach.
Don’t let campus dining get you down. Armed with these tricks of the trade, you can break the boredom of campus dining by treating yourself to something new and adventurous every afternoon...and the caffeine doesn’t hurt.
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