Why You Should Never Order Starbucks Iced Drinks Without Ice

It's becoming increasingly trendy for people to come up with creative ways to save money when ordering food and drinks — and share their innovative ideas on social media. From executing Chick-fil-A menu hacks to ordering from the kids' menu at Olive Garden, no establishment is off limits. Yet, sometimes these shady little experiments backfire, leaving customers filled with a wealth of disappointment.

One example is folks requesting a Starbucks handcrafted drink without ice. The thought is that by purchasing it sans ice, the barista will fill the void in the cup with extra coffee, milk, or flavored syrups. Order a tumbler of ice on the side at a discount, and suddenly you get yourself a kind of BOGO deal. Pretty ingenious.

Except it's not. Starbucks employees aren't adding extra goodies to your beverage. In the case of Refreshers, they simply add water to make the cup look full. All you end up getting is an unnecessarily diluted drink. It's also bound to be lukewarm, which isn't all that refreshing.

When it comes to asking for an iceless Frappuccino, the barista will probably snicker as your back is turned because you have essentially ordered a third of a cup of milk with flavor shots. And if you request a mobile order, it may not even be there when you arrive to pick it up. Baristas aren't oblivious to the phenomenon of folks trying to hack the menu, and they know if they actually give you a partially filled cup of milk, they are going to get an earful they don't deserve. They will just wait until you arrive to explain what you will actually get, to avoid throwing away a rejected cup of milk.

Although asking for Refreshers and Frappuccinos without ice are Starbucks ordering fails, requesting an iced latte that way could actually save you some dough. It won't be quite as diluted because it's made with milk, and the barista in charge of fulfilling your order may just top it off with more moo-juice. Still, the flavor will likely be weaker as they won't pump in any extra flavor shots.

Some folks have also dreamed up ordering hacks for hot drinks, often leading to equal disappointment when they see what they get. One example is people requesting Americanos with no water, possibly thinking they would receive more espresso in their cup. They don't. What they do get is a shot of espresso in a large cup and a frustrated barista wondering why people make things more complicated than necessary.