14th
Open Letter to Starbucks:
Dear Starbucks:
I’ve been a fan for quite some time (I even got all tourist-y and lame when I went to the first one in Seattle). That being said, I work VERY hard at trying to watch my weight and maintain an exercise program. Now I know caffeine isn’t the BEST way to get energy (I’m trying to replace two cups of coffee a week with Isopure No Carb Protein shakes) especially on gym days, but with no drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and other vices I’ve put down, it’s the one indulgence I allow. I didn’t used to be a coffee drinker, but once I started working at the label, Flavia’s Hazelnut coffee did me in (more on that later).
That being said. I recently went onto your handy-dandy site and found a nutritional info tipsheet (which by the way is a modern marvel, you plug in size and milk and it tells you what everything has in it right down to the Vitamin A).
Anyway, I visit one of your West Hollywood locations regularly, and I order my usual:
“Venti (yes, I’m aware it’s Italian for 20, meaning 20 ounces of caffeinated beverage, commonly with three shots, get off my case)
Non-fat (I say SKIM and they look at me like I have three heads, so I have to say “non-fat” like an idiot — there’s no fat in it, why not call it “no-fat”?)
Latte (which means ESPRESSO, not coffee)”
And since I’m getting skim (non-fat, ptth) milk, that should mean just plain old espresso with plain old fat-less milk.
Now comes the math part:
that’s 3 ounces of espresso (presumably)
and 17 ounces of steamed milk, which is about 180 calories (give or take)
NOW…
lately, I’ve been told to order the Cafe Misto (or Cafe Au Lait as I’m more familiar with it) which I ordered today, with SKIM milk (I was in a mood, and I refused to say non-fat). Luckily the ADORABLE (read: gay) man making it was bi-coastal-lingual and understood that east-coast transplants call it skim.
The woman who took my order heard me say “Venti, Skim Cafe au Lait” and told our adorable friend “non-fat latte”.
Let’s review:
Venti - 20 oz.
Non-fat milk - Approx 9 calories per oz.
Cafe AU LAIT - meaning COFFEE with milk
that being said, the recipe is HALF coffee and half non-fat milk, thus cutting the calories by HALF (from 17 oz, 180 calories to 10 oz., 90 calories) AND I found that by using the nutrition-website thingy, the caffeine (in mg) listed for the latte is 150 mg while the cafe au lait is 195.
Which means, if I order the cafe au lait, I’m getting MORE caffeine with less calories. WHOA… that NEVER happens.
Here comes the part that involves you Starbucks, my love…
PLEASE make sure the apron-ed people wearing neat little visors adorned with your cute, comforting logo HEAR me when I say cafe au lait and KNOW that it’s coffee, not espresso. Most of the time they look at me like an idiot when I order (haven’t let that bother me ONCE), but in this case I was right. And I ordered correctly. Little miss marker-writing-my-name-on-the-cup-from- my-credit-card-without-asking-me-for-it decided she thought she knew better.
Thankfully, the lovely barista heard me say AU LAIT and made my drink correctly. Yay him, yay you for having options and information like this. And boo girl who doesn’t know her shit.
2 out of three ain’t bad.
Sincerely a continuing fan,
Angeleenie