Short Soy Latte, 2 Splendas
Starbucks has been keeping something from you.
It's called a Short. No, really. You know how you usually step up to the counter and in careful tones pronounce "I'll have a tall soy half-caf latte"? Or whatever your poison is. You know the deal - it's going to get repeated to the whooooole store, and so you make sure you don't say something dumb.
Well, you're ordering a Tall, but you could be ordering a Short, and enjoying your coffee much more and paying less for it.
Truth is, a cappucino is supposed to be a six-ounce beverage. It has two shots of espresso in it. A Tall is a 12-ounce coffee and contains the same two shots of espresso. So you're paying about seventy cents more for a little extra milk - and honestly, it doesn't make your coffee taste better.
A short soy latte at Starbucks is $3. It's also a better tasting drink than the talls, grandes or ventis, and with fewer calories.
So says the article I read at Slate last week about Starbucks. Of course, I had to check it out for myself.
Thing is, it's not on the menu. They have it, they'll serve it to you, but they won't tell you about it on the menu. It doesn't make the company as much profit on those two shots, so it's a secret. So I nervously got in the drive-thru line, armed with my Prize sock (it's a long line) and practiced "short soy latte, 2 splendas" while I knitted. When it was finally my turn at the speaker, the chick took my order withOUT yelling "SHORT? SHORT???!!!! What's that, you idiot? We don't have that!" and I suddenly got excited at my secret. Would the coffee be as good as the writer said? Was I about to waste $3 on an undrinkable bargain?
At the window she handed me a perfect little 8oz cup, too small even for those horrid cardboard jackets. I took a sip. I have to say I've been drinking Starbucks for a long time, but this was the best coffee I have ever had. It was absolute perfection.
So the next time you go to Starbucks, try a Short. All the cool kids will want to be like you, and you'll have a better tasting coffee for less. Trust me, or come back here and spam my comments with "YOU DORK, IT TASTED LIKE SHOE POLISH." Actually, if you try it and like it, come back and tell me anyway!
Bottoms up.
It's called a Short. No, really. You know how you usually step up to the counter and in careful tones pronounce "I'll have a tall soy half-caf latte"? Or whatever your poison is. You know the deal - it's going to get repeated to the whooooole store, and so you make sure you don't say something dumb.
Well, you're ordering a Tall, but you could be ordering a Short, and enjoying your coffee much more and paying less for it.
Truth is, a cappucino is supposed to be a six-ounce beverage. It has two shots of espresso in it. A Tall is a 12-ounce coffee and contains the same two shots of espresso. So you're paying about seventy cents more for a little extra milk - and honestly, it doesn't make your coffee taste better.
A short soy latte at Starbucks is $3. It's also a better tasting drink than the talls, grandes or ventis, and with fewer calories.
So says the article I read at Slate last week about Starbucks. Of course, I had to check it out for myself.
Thing is, it's not on the menu. They have it, they'll serve it to you, but they won't tell you about it on the menu. It doesn't make the company as much profit on those two shots, so it's a secret. So I nervously got in the drive-thru line, armed with my Prize sock (it's a long line) and practiced "short soy latte, 2 splendas" while I knitted. When it was finally my turn at the speaker, the chick took my order withOUT yelling "SHORT? SHORT???!!!! What's that, you idiot? We don't have that!" and I suddenly got excited at my secret. Would the coffee be as good as the writer said? Was I about to waste $3 on an undrinkable bargain?
At the window she handed me a perfect little 8oz cup, too small even for those horrid cardboard jackets. I took a sip. I have to say I've been drinking Starbucks for a long time, but this was the best coffee I have ever had. It was absolute perfection.
So the next time you go to Starbucks, try a Short. All the cool kids will want to be like you, and you'll have a better tasting coffee for less. Trust me, or come back here and spam my comments with "YOU DORK, IT TASTED LIKE SHOE POLISH." Actually, if you try it and like it, come back and tell me anyway!
Bottoms up.
posted by Jen at 5:00 PM
6 Comments:
Thanks for the Slate link. Very interesting. Around here, we have a local chain that's in the process of going national - Caribou Coffee. They actually offer a small on the menu - and you can choose to have it with 1-2 shots of espresso.
I knew about shorts.
Of course, I have a roomate that worked at Starbucks for 5 years, so... :o)
My fave is the short americano with room. Nice.
Thanks for the info! We have a starbucks at our grocery store...sometimes don't get to finish it, now I can :)
Oh, so KIRSTEN knew about it but DIDN'T TELL ANYONE.
Bad Kirsten.
welllll, I'll out myself here as a starbucks manager.
So. A coupel things about that article are not quite correct. One, a short is 8 ounces. Two, both a short and a tall come with only one shot unless you specify two.
Shorts used to be on the menu (~seven years ago) and there was no such thing as venti, but people kept asking for bigger and bigger. Now most ppl refer to the short as "kids" size, lol. I personally like a short, as well, but you know... Americans, bigger is betterm right? It astounds me how many people pay almost 5 bucks for an extremely calorific 20-oz beverage.
Thanks for the info! I thought the article said a short is 8 oz, but the World Baristas people say 5 or 6. Or maybe I read it wrong...I'll look again.
So...the thing to do if I want a stronger coffee is get a Tall with an extra shot?
I could do that. :)
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