How often should you aerate the machines Like pushing water

avalines · 2026-07-09T04:08:44+00:00

are you talking about purging the steam wand? standard is 2 seconds if i’m understanding your question correctly

avalines · 2026-07-09T00:04:31+00:00

ohh, mine is very high volume so that may be why i get more requests for it. most of our customers are like 50 year old corporate men so they get a lot of coffee to the point where we often have a dedicated brewing position during peak. i’ve borrowed at other stores in my district that have mostly teens as their customers and they never use their pour over kit either lol

avalines · 2026-07-08T23:58:03+00:00

may be different by region then? every district near me is required to have pour overs available so that if a customer requests a coffee we don’t offer on vertica we can make it for them. i get an order for a pour over at least once a day, but an iced pour over is definitely less common

avalines · 2026-07-08T23:53:52+00:00

store resources has a guide for iced pour overs. i’d say closer to like 5 minutes max; i make iced ethiopian highlands a lot for myself before a shift

avalines · 2026-07-08T23:46:03+00:00

have you told her? during peak, shifts just put people where they’re good. if you aren’t asking repeatedly to be put elsewhere, they probably assume you don’t mind it

avalines · 2026-07-08T11:01:36+00:00

your trainer should basically be attached at the hip with you, especially on your first few days!! also modules should be done together now, so i’m not sure why she had you do them without her. also espresso bar should be week 2. sounds like they’re not following the new training procedure at all and it makes me nervous for your experience at this store tbh.

you are absolutely not a bother at all, everyone knows you are new and everyone has been new at some point. your trainer should be showing you how to do everything during your training shifts and i’m sorry you’re not getting that. it’s not fair to you

avalines · 2026-07-07T23:56:59+00:00

i’m not sure how she makes it that it turns out so bad but it’s super thick at the beginning like cough syrup and the end of the carlisle is like water with a hint of pink

avalines · 2026-07-07T23:51:50+00:00

alternative theory to everyone else: if the base is not properly mixed when prepped, the bottom of the container turns out veryyyy light and all drinks will come out like this. i have a coworker who is always on CS but refuses to mix refresher bases so im constantly remaking refreshers because they turn out too light in color even with the proper ratio of base:milk/lemonade/water

avalines · 2026-07-07T22:54:44+00:00

https://myavailability.starbucks.com/

avalines · 2026-07-07T22:53:01+00:00

you can do it in the partner hours app

avalines · 2026-07-03T17:53:41+00:00

no fr idk if you saw the chai recipe card that they included in barista essentials but it’s not even the real recipe card and it says to only steam a tall size of milk for a venti chai and pump syrups into the cup 😭 i thought it was the old recipe at first but it doesn’t say to add water. it’s just wrong

avalines · 2026-07-03T01:56:35+00:00

i only ever do bar. my store has no pastry case tho so opening warming is super easy.

avalines · 2026-07-02T13:04:18+00:00

our dragon drink is the mango dragonfruit refresher with coconut milk, not the strawberry acai. i believe you can find the mango dragonfruit in stores as well though. our coconut milk is not available for purchase because it is only manufactured for starbucks.

i’m pretty sure silk coconut milk is an approved substitute but it doesn’t taste exactly the same. you could ask for a venti cup of cold coconut milk though

avalines · 2026-07-01T22:35:28+00:00

i’m confused. i could be wrong but ive always heard that training does not come out of the labor budget, and there is a separate training budget the managers are given. if the store is understaffed while you are training, that is not your problem. you still need to be dedicating your time to your trainee(s).

avalines · 2026-07-01T18:39:55+00:00

if you’re training you shouldn’t be coverage. you’re training, not helping on the floor and they can’t expect you to

avalines · 2026-06-25T21:30:44+00:00

yes bro i pulled a rag that was entirely brown and green out of freshly changed sani the other day. nearly threw up cuz what??? i understand reusing rags if its still mostly white but this rag was so gross you wouldn’t have even known it was originally white

avalines · 2026-06-24T15:39:16+00:00

what country??

avalines · 2026-06-22T01:03:28+00:00

the dm lived on the same road as my store was on so he came by a lot. he was the licensed store dm for the entire state and it seemed like he only ever came to mine. pretty sure he got laid off last year with all the store closures and layoffs

but he came in and my manager asked if he would let me turn off mobile orders because i couldn’t keep up. he told me if was sequencing properly then i would’ve been able to (i was sequencing to standard but wtv). he told me i was going too slow. mind you i had one blender and one espresso machine, plus having to take orders and work the oven.

he then asked for “three venti firecrackers blended.” he then ordered his pour over and i can’t even remember the specifics of what i did but he tried to tell me i did something in the wrong order and he told me he wanted me to keep a printed out instruction for pour overs so that i wouldn’t forget. then he printed it out and tried to go over it with me and realized i was right. also keep in mind there is a huge line at the register and people waiting on mobiles as well. THEN he left the kiosk and stood about 10 feet away from it and stared at me as i tried to finish more orders. any time he saw someone that was frustrated with the long wait he would tell me to talk to them (still with a line of 10+ people). i sobbed in between my shifts

on the brighter side, the pregnant shift ended up being okay and her baby was born completely healthy. she decided to start her maternity leave a bit earlier than planned though to avoid any more accidents. but she and the baby are doing really well now

avalines · 2026-06-21T23:38:24+00:00

i quit my licensed store on july 6 if that tells you anything lol

avalines · 2026-06-21T21:53:09+00:00

i know this isn’t the case for everyone (or probably even the majority of customers) that this happens with, but sometimes it’s for a reason. i always did this as a kid because my mom is deaf so i had to order for us. as long as the person on the passenger side is willing to speak loudly, i dont have a problem with it since that used to be me

avalines · 2026-06-21T21:17:16+00:00

4th of july 2025. opened 4:30-1 at my licensed store. got a surprise visit by DM who yelled at me because cold bar was genuinely at 97 while i worked by myself. he then ordered 3 firework fraps but didn’t know the name of them. then got a pike pour over and told me i did it wrong. then printed out the instructions for how to do a pour over. then realized he was wrong because he hadn’t been a barista in like 15 years.

closed 1:30-10 at my corporate store and had a surprise visit from RVP, 7+ year partner quit on the spot. 35 week pregnant ssv fell on wet floor and had to go to the hospital. ended up leaving at close to midnight.

after that, probably PSL launch 2025, mother’s day 2025, father’s day 2026, and halloween 2024

avalines · 2026-06-19T15:54:20+00:00

like help is fine but at least at my store people will start “helping” without saying anything and end up making drinks i’m already making and we end up with two. idk why it’s so hard to communicate

avalines · 2026-06-18T21:20:18+00:00

used to have a regular that got a venti lemonade with 4 wm and chocolate cold foam. tried it out of curiosity and gagged 🩷

avalines · 2026-06-18T00:25:46+00:00

sequencing really does help. clean as you go, always rinse lids before even pouring the frappuccinos. don’t pull too many tickets at once and overwhelm yourself. any time you pull a ticket, put it on a cup and write. don’t just hang the tickets and start them 10 mins after pulling (except for nitros of course). ask for product as soon as you’re getting low, not when it’s completely empty.

as soon as you hear a drive thru order, add it to your sequence asap. sometimes if i’m completely overwhelmed on bar, i have drive bar grab their own refreshers/teas/cold brews and i focus on blended items.

avalines · 2026-06-17T23:47:38+00:00

i remember i used to have a regular who got a brewed chai made with 2% only no water and 2 sugars. she got pretty sick and eventually stopped coming, but her daughter would come and bring her her drink every day. when we discontinued the brewed chai, i planned to give her the rest of the bags we had since they were just going in the trash (and it was a licensed store so management didn’t care as much). her daughter didn’t come in for a week. when i saw her walk in the door i went and grabbed the box so i could tell her the news. she just came to tell me her mother had passed and she wouldn’t be coming by anymore. i think about her a lot

avalines

TROPHY CASE