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1. Perfectionist
   

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   Internets:794

    

   I know when the "espresso excellence" training happened a couple years ago they said that most drinks should be swirled, not stirred. Alright, sure. It's not really necessary to stir a vanilla latte. But recently I'm informed that we're not just supposed to skip stirring some drinks, but we're not allowed to stir any drinks. WTF? My DM even came into the store and took all of our spoons, so if I have to stir a drink (which I still do, of course), I have to use a regular stir or make a mess trying to shake it.

   Being at a licensed store our rules are usually more relaxed; do regular 'Bux always enforce completely retarded rules like this?

   Posted 2 years ago #
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2. OmgWtfCoffeez
   

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   Internets:103

    

   use a thermometer lol, that's what i've been doing...

   Posted 2 years ago #

3. dolly
   

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   Internets:619

    

   I always swirl drinks but I'm clumsy as butts so I always end up splashing it all over my hands, which is suuuuper fun when I'm making a 180 degree hot chocolate or something. Yayay :D

   Posted 2 years ago #

4. Baron Von Tentacleese
   

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   Internets:180

    

   @perfectionist: this rule is nothing new. Every couple years they try to crack down on stirring, and when they really got serious they took away our stirring spoons since apparently we used them too much. We can't have nice things, you know. Sucks, because I loved those spoons and only used them when told. A hickory stick just doesn't do the trick on a venti WM. When customers complain about unstirred drinks, I just tell them we are always happy to stir their drink, but they will need to ask for it every time because it's not standard procedure. This is sometimes met with disbelief by out of towners who've been spoiled by their local store trying to make a superior drink without stressing over following rules to the letter.

   Posted 2 years ago #
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5. Baron Von Tentacleese
   

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   Internets:180

    

   @OMGwtfcoffeez: you mean they haven't taken away your thermometers yet? Just wait for it. I bet you think I'm joking... ;)

   Posted 2 years ago #
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6. Perfectionist
   

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   Internets:794

    

   No, they will weld the thermometers to the pitcher so milk gunk builds up underneath - all in the name of food safety of course.

   Posted 2 years ago #

7. Baron Von Tentacleese
   

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   Internets:180

    

   @perfectionist: I was being totally serious. All but two of our thermometers were taken away due to BRR, and one of those two has already been dropped, stepped on, and irrepparably broken. We're now supposed to guestimate anything other than kid's drinks and other sub-150 special request. All creamy syrup drinks are supposed to be steamed extra hot now, but we literally have to guess at a good amount of extra steaming time. Is my store just getting special treatment? Hasn't this happened elsewhere?

   Posted 2 years ago #

8. dolly
   

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   Internets:619

    

   Doesn't your machine tell you what temperature the milk is at when you're steaming? Maybe my store just has super fancy machines or something. I never used thermometers before BRR anyway..

   But yes, our thermometers did get put into storage until the next time corporate changes their mind and decides that we need them again :D

   Posted 2 years ago #

9. steam_machine
   

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   Internets:118

    

   my store still has the old machines but i hardly used thermometers before hand anyway. For some reason morning partners felt it was necessary to bring out every single thermometer and spoon in the store so there was one in every pitcher. Now we only need one thermometer at each bar and 2 spoons (for dairy and soy) so i took it upon myself to hide the many extras laying around in filing cabinets and other places, not to mention that the first thing qasa does when they come now is check the calibration on thermometers and none of those opening partners ever check them so its better to only have two out and keep those two calibrated rather than the usually 15 floating around each bar.

   Posted 2 years ago #

10. Baron Von Tentacleese
    

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    Internets:180

     

    @dolly: we don't have the newfangled machines yet. Ours have an automatic cutoff feature in the neighborhood of 150-160, assuming they've been calibrated recently. This worked fine until complaints about cool drinks caused corporate to increase the initial steaming temp (funny story, their first solution was to drop temp standards on mochas and WM's to about 135. Unsurprisingly, this lasted maybe a month until even more complaints led to the new practice of oversteaming creamy-syrup drinks. Noone believes me when I tell them this, but I saw the email printout with my own eyes).

    They've been promising us the new machines for years, but our old machines haven't actually burst into flames just yet, so it may still be a while :).

    @steam_machine, I may be remembering wrong, but I think the "one per pitcher" concept may have been an actual rule, very briefly.

    What really gets me about all the changes is, we've been making mochas for what, 35, 40 years? And frappuccinos for like 14 or 15? You'd think we'd have stumbled upon good consistent procedures for quality beverages somewhere along the line. Our experimentation days should be long gone.

    Posted 2 years ago #

11. jellyfish
    

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    Internets:133

     

    Stirring drinks is completely new to me, man. The only thing I've ever shaken up would be the iced green tea lattes, but other than that, I'd just pour the milk for hot drinks and it'd be fine. The iced lattes we handed out were always two colored because people would shake up their lattes themselves.. We didn't even have spoons in NYC and we've never gotten any complaints.

    Suddenly, I move to the south and EVERYBODY is like "WHY DOES MY ICED LATTE LOOK LIKE THAT, STIR IT UP FOR ME" like it's defective somehow. And I'm constantly getting people request "extra stirred" for their hot drinks. It's so annoying.

    Posted 2 years ago #

12. Baron Von Tentacleese
    

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    Internets:180

     

    @jellyfish, welcome to the South, glad to have you. We're not all like that, I swear :).

    Posted 2 years ago #

13. becca001
    

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    Internets:610

     

    Get rid of BRR and then we can talk about stirring.

    I'm so sick of hearing the customers sighing and pacing around the store while I work on one little drink at a time. This company cannot admit they're wrong. VIA isn't going so well, but that doesn't stop them from shoving it down people's throats. The BRR is pile of sh1t, but nope. Sorry, it's the greatest thing ever. KTHNXBAI.

    Posted 2 years ago #

14. OmgWtfCoffeez
    

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    Internets:103

     

    i still don't understand how I'm supposed to hit the espresso shots buttton and then instantaneously pumping 5 pumps mocha and then 5 pumps mint before the shots start pouring, I'm calling shenanigans on that

    Posted 2 years ago #

15. jellyfish
    

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    Internets:133

     

    @OmgWtfCoffeez - nah, that's totally doable. I always have the shot glasses under just in case I don't make it, but I haven't not made it so far. Just gotta be quick like a ninjaaaa.

    Posted 2 years ago #

16. dolly
    

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    Internets:619

     

    Back when I was still making an attempt at pumping the syrup while the espresso was grinding, I would always freak out and worry that I wouldn't get it fast enough and the syrup would spray all over my arms because I was pumping too quickly. After going home positively covered in syrup, I decided that I didn't care anymore because really.. it's not like the syrup is going to die or anything if it gets put into the cup first.

    Posted 2 years ago #

17. 12345678
    

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    Internets:883

     

    I always just use shot glasses so i don't have to race the machine. I know that's not standard, but I haven't changed the way I make drinks at all since implementing BRR, and my manager no longer says anything to me about it .

    Posted 2 years ago #

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