Ask HN: Difference between decaf and regular coffee as a customer at Starbucks?

by instagib on 6/1/2025, 7:28:02 PM with 1 comments
A friend, a barista at a struggling Starbucks, faced several challenges recently. First, they ran out of beans and had to resort to substituting decaf beans. However, they refused to inform customers that their espresso was decaf. To make matters worse, the air conditioning broke, and the replacement swamp cooler broke also. As a result, the temperature inside the store soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), while also forcing them to implement a new uniform policy requiring all employees to wear all black. While the free school benefits are appreciated, the poor management has made her consider leaving her job.

Once you mix coffee with milk it seems impossible to tell if the coffee was full strength or not. How about espresso? Foam characteristics?

  • by up-n-atom on 6/1/2025, 7:35:56 PM

    At Starbucks and the typical consumers palette for sugar laced coffee, I’d be on the side that it says it’s impossible to tell.