Starbucks barista shares things that customers may not have known: ‘This is why Starbucks has the best water’

A Starbucks barista has revealed a few obscure facts about the coffee chain and customers are sharing their excitement over learning new things.

On TikTok, a user named @swaze9089 shared a series of videos about things that Starbucks customers may not have known about the coffee chain.

In her first clip, the barista showed a cup of milk and explained how the espresso “shots go on top” when making a macchiato. For her second fact, she documented an espresso machine and noted how “blonde espresso has more caffeine” than regular espresso.

She then opened a refrigerator and shared that “nitro cold brew is cold brew infused with nitrogen”.

The Starbucks worker went on to show a variety of syrups, including a bottle of caramel sauce and divulged that a “caramel macchiato is actually made with vanilla.” The “caramel” in the name is simply for the drizzle put on top.

For her final secret, @swaze9089 revealed that Starbucks’ “water is triple filtered,” in order to “reverse osmosis”.

As of 28 June, the clip has more than 2m views, with TikTok users in the comments impressed by some of @swaze9089’s Starbucks secrets.

“Me, thinking blonde espresso had less caffeine,” one wrote.

“I thought blonde meant lighter, not strong,” another added.

A third user wrote: “This is why Starbucks has the best water.”

Also in the comments, people chattered about what a macchiato is and how the term can be used differently for Starbucks and non-Starbucks drinks.

“Macchiato means ‘mark’ or ‘stain,’ like when you cross hatch with caramel,” one wrote.

“It actually means espresso marked with milk in traditional Italian coffee. Starbucks invented latte macchiato for no reason,” another added.

Speaking to The Independent @swaze9089 details how she’s been working at Starbucks for four years and how surprised she was to learn these facts about the coffee chain’s beverages.

“I wasn’t big into Starbucks before I started working there,” she told us. “I was definitely surprised by the water, and that caramel macchiatos aren’t made with caramel syrup! I love learning about the company and about coffee and I plan on making many more parts to this!”

In another video, @swaze9089 revealed more things about Starbucks that customers may not know. First, she shared how there’s a size even smaller than tall, which is known as a short, and there’s a size bigger than a venti, also known as a trenta.

She also claimed that caramel macchiatos get “one less pump of syrup” than Starbucks’ other beverages and that the coffee chain now uses honey syrup, instead of actual honey, in their medicine ball drink.

Her last few facts were that half of a chai latte is made with water and that customers can get hot drinks at a “kids temperature,” so they can “drink it right away”.

In yet another video, @swaze9089 shared tidbits about Starbucks customers getting a free drink on their birthday and “other perks” with the coffee chain’s app.

She went on to explained how cold foam can be customised any way that customers want, before recommending her viewers to try it with “match, strawberry purée, and cinnamon powder”.

The barista also shared how the “caffeine in a frappuccino comes from a frappuccino roast, not espresso” and that “teas used to be sweetened by default, but now the default is unsweetened”.

@swaze9089 then said that “flat whites, americanos, and shaken espresso” drinks all get an extra shot of espresso in them.

The Independent has contacted Starbucks for comment.