Sharing to her TikTok account @swaze9089, the lead Starbucks barista showed five different facts about popular menu items, describing them as “things you might not have known.”
“I just thought it would be a cool idea for a video and to educate people on Starbucks and coffee in general,” @swaze9089 told Newsweek. “The reaction is much more than I expected.”
The information has impressed online, earning over two million views in just two weeks.
Her first piece of information is that in macchiato drinks at the chain, the espresso shot goes on top of the drink.
Starbucks’ macchiatos are very different from an actual, traditional macchiato. Regular macchiatos are a simple shot of espresso with foamed milk on top. Starbucks’ popular Latte Macchiato or Caramel Macchiatos are mainly milk with a small amount of espresso added.
The difference is something that baristas in other stores are left angered by, claiming that Starbucks customers often order a regular macchiato only to complain that it’s not like a Starbucks version. Starbucks’ macchiatos have the espresso added after the milk instead of other drinks, which often have it added before.
“Blonde espresso has more caffeine,” claimed the barista in her second fact. Starbucks’ blonde espresso is a lighter roast made using Latin American and East African coffee beans.
Newsweek was unable to confirm whether Blonde espresso really has less caffeine, but it’s widely accepted that lighter coffee beans do tend to retain more caffeine in the bean.
Despite this, some reports claim that Blonde espressos have the same amount of caffeine as regular espressos.
The barista then went on to explain that Starbucks’ Nitro Cold Brew is infused with nitrogen, showing the tank and tap in a fridge under the counter.
Nitro Cold Brew is a Starbucks exclusive that gives the on-tap drink a “smooth and velvety” texture which is cold and sweet without sugar or ice. Like the macchiatos, Nitro Cold Brew creates issues for non-Starbucks baristas when customers don’t realize they don’t serve it.
The barista added in her viral video that Caramel Macchiato is actually made with vanilla, rather than caramel. Instead, the caramel aspect comes just from the caramel drizzle used at the very end.
Most note-worthy for most viewers however was the last fact given by the barista.
The water at Starbucks stores, according to @swaze9089, is triple filtered with reverse osmosis. Starbucks confirmed the triple filtering process in a 2019 tweet to a customer, but it’s relatively unknown.
Viewers were left shocked by the revelation, taking to the comments to express their thoughts.
“That’s why I crave Starbucks water,” wrote one user.
“I knew the water tasted different,” added another.
The barista told Newsweek that the information that surprised her the most was “the caramel macchiato being made with vanilla and the water being reverse osmosis triple filtered.”
Update 6/30/22, 2:31 a.m. EDT: This article was updated with comment, video and photos from @swaze9089.