Baristas Are Revealing The Coffee Orders They Associate With Super Specific Stereotypes (2024)

As a former barista, I'm not ashamed to admit that I made secret judgments about specific coffee orders. For example, matcha drinkers were always the sweetest customers, but extra-dry cappuccino drinkers were my nemeses. So, I decided to ask other baristas in the BuzzFeed Community to share the stereotypes they associated with certain drinks, and also dug around some comments on past posts. Here's what they had to say.

1. "Former Starbucks barista here, who judged every single person making me operate the blender for Frappuccinos in the dead of winter. You lose more points if you bring in a TikTok drink recipe."

Penpak Ngamsathain / Getty Images

—problematik

2. "In my experience, people who order chai and matcha beverages are chill and usually healthy eaters. (Except for myself, lol.)"

—betherick85

3. "I have worked at several other chains but never at Starbucks. The second someone would come in and ask for a caramel macchiato, I knew they'd yell at me for either A) asking them if they meant a Starbucks macchiato or a traditional macchiato or B) making our best attempt at a caramel macchiato and then getting yelled at because it 'doesn't taste like Starbucks!'"

4. "Anyone who orders an espresso Frappuccino is most definitely either an old lady or an old lady in disguise."

—c40c0809d1

5. "Every 'Kyle' orders cold brew."

6. "Typically, I try not to judge because, hey, you like what you like. Plus, if it's a really weird order, but the customer is really nice, then no harm done. That said, people who get overly complicated drinks (exactly three ice cubes, steamed to a specific temp, etc.) when we're clearly busy and then get impatient that it takes us a while to make it, I'm judging hard. That and people who get overly sweet drinks — and I'm not talking an extra pump or two of whatever — but when it's six ounces of syrup in a 12-ounce drink, it hurts my stomach to look at."

—oblongtoe

7. "People who order americanos either hate themselves or are cops (literally, in uniform). I've also never seen an adult order a frozen hot chocolate for themselves; it's always for a kid or a kid ordering it."

8. "Non-fat, skinny, sugar-free, whatever, latte people: They're usually on their phones, wearing sunglasses, and in a rush with a snobby or entitled attitude. I'll never forget I once made a latte with skim milk for a woman during very busy hours. Five minutes later, she came back insisting she could 'taste the fat' and demanded I remake it. It's unbelievable she could taste fat that wasn't there in the first place. People are wild."

—jaade_juniperr

9. "The only people who order a flat white from Starbucks do not know what it is — that and a cappuccino."

10. "I work at a Starbucks, and there's this new trend when people get a doppio espresso with 1/4 inch of every single milk (almond, oat, coconut, skim, etc.). I think they're trying to get a cheaper latte without paying for it, but each person who orders it is very high maintenance. These people will stand and stare as you make their drink, and then they'll ask why it took you so long. Anyone who doesn't make too many customizations, I love you."

—calliope1890

11. "Cappuccino drinkers tend to be suuuper persnickety, but I don't mean that in a bad way! I appreciate people who know what they want and aren't afraid to tell me. All of my cappuccino customers are uniquely particular about the milk-to-foam ratio and always check their weight before leaving with their drink. I love making cappuccinos, so if they ever tell me it's not quite right, I will happily remake it for them. And it is always oh so gratifying to hear I made one perfectly."

12. "Extra hot means they have a looooooong drive ahead of them, LOL, or just a long day ahead in general. Extra hot scalds the milk and makes it taste gross, but I guess these people don't care as long as it's not freezing at the end of whatever they're doing."

—morgan_le_slay

13. "The most annoying drink that is always ordered by a 14-year-old girl or their mom is a strawberry açaí refresher with heavy cream instead of water, four scoops of vanilla bean, and if they want to get really fancy, they will get vanilla sweet cream cold foam. Seriously, it's always a 14-year-old girl who wears a crop top and reads the order off of her phone every time. They always stare at us while we make it the entire time. The drink is disgusting, by the way. It tastes like yogurt but bad, grainy, and way too sweet."

14. "As a barista, my customers are so diverse, and even though two people may order the same drink, they are usually very different. The only pattern I notice is older people always ordering extra hot everything because they burned their taste buds off drinking instant coffee or something, and now they feel like all hot drinks must be thermonuclear in order to enjoy them."

—eringibbins

15. "Matcha is ordered by either hipsters or teens looking to feel sophisticated but are high maintenance and add two plus additional flavor syrups. Latte people tend to be chill; the same goes for tea people. Brewed coffee is never ordered by someone under 50."

16. "The best tippers are people who order drinks that are middle of the road in terms of complication — maybe one additional flavor syrup or a dairy alternative, but not a ton of changes. People who order very basic drinks (brewed coffee, etc.) and very complicated drinks (iced coffee with this number of pumps vanilla, this number of white chocolate, cold foam, caramel drizzle, etc.) don't usually tip."

—Anonymous

17. "If you order a brown sugar shaken espresso, you are hot, and I have never seen an ugly person order one."

18. "People who order macchiatos. Everyone drinks them differently. I will judge them when they come back repeatedly, asking us to remake it, and the Starbucks macchiato is NOT a macchiato — it's a vanilla latte with some caramel sauce on it."

—Anonymous, 40, England

19. "Former barista here, the people who order shots of espresso on ice and then go to the condiment bar and fill their cup with half and half. What a cheap move. Guaranteed they're not tipping either."

20. "Extra hot cappuccino people don't know how to drink coffee. They like burnt milk and have no taste."

—Anonymous, 39, South Carolina

21. "I work for a coffee chain now, and the only customers that bother me are the ones who make a BIG deal about getting oat or almond milk, then add whipped cream/cold foam, which have dairy in them. These people are few and far between, and they make people with actual dairy allergies/sensitivities look bad. If you just don't like regular milk unless there's a bunch of sugar in it, that's totally fine. Just don't make a scene about how you 'can't have milk' when you can. Trust me, none of us on the other side of the counter actually care. We just want to get your order made and out."

If you're a current or former barista, comment below on how you judge customers based on their coffee order. You can also fill out this form to remain anonymous.