Starbucks Baristas Wish You'd Stop Ordering These Secret Menu Drinks

One concept that has always annoyed me is that of the "secret menu." Secret, schmecret. You wouldn't ask a car dealer to repaint its inventory to match your color preferences, so why should a restaurant, particularly a fast food chain like Starbucks, be required to cater to your every dining whim? Starbucks' menu does offer customers the opportunity to customize drinks to a certain extent, and it's incredibly easy to order these online or in-app. (I've used this method to request low-sugar iced tea a time or two, since I'm way too socially awkward to ask for any kind of special order in person.) Some people take things too far, though, and there are websites and social media accounts dedicated to dreaming up overly complicated creations and customizations that annoy your Starbucks barista. Bella Rickles, a New York University student who works as a barista at a Midtown Manhattan Starbucks, spoke with The Takeout about some of her pet peeves.

In addition to Rickles' coffee expertise, she's also a food equity advocate who worked with Switch4Good to convince Starbucks to drop its nondairy milk upcharge. As she's shown willingness to take the side of the customer in this case, it's only fair to return the favor and hear her out. As she explained, ordering a drink with a zillion different ingredient swaps is not only tough on the barista, but it can be unfair to other customers, as well.

When asked to list off some of her least-favorite secret menu drinks to make for customers, Bella Rickles immediately thought of the Harry Potter fan-favorite Butterbeer Frappuccino. (Sorry, "Potterheads.") She also called out both the Twix and Captain Crunch Frappuccinos — the former consisting of a caramel Frap with extra caramel, hazelnut syrup, java chips, and a mocha drizzle; and the latter featuring a Strawberry Crème Frap with added caramel, toffee, and hazelnut syrups. Nor is she a big fan of custom keto or protein drinks that require numerous ingredient swaps. The Starbucks menu now features a line of high-protein lattes and cold foam drinks, so either order one of these or just go to Jamba Juice already. The reason why Rickles hates these drinks, though, isn't only because they're a pain to make, but also because they can inconvenience everyone in the store.

As Rickles explained, "Every one of these drinks requires multiple custom syrups, extra drizzle, lining the cup in an aesthetic way, several milk [or] foam changes, [and are] often a Frappuccino plus cold foam plus toppings, etc. Basically, I'm translating a literal paragraph while 15 people stare at me and the line backs up." If you're feeling guilty about your special order, you can always make it up to the barista with a generous tip, but how will you compensate everyone who was forced to wait for their drink because yours took so long to make?

Another category of beverages that Bella Rickles disapproves of involves what she calls "surprise me!" drinks. No matter who's meant to be surprised, it's not going to work out well. It's not fair to make the barista guess what you like — it's a fast food chain, not a hipster bar, and both speed and consistency are expected. If, on the other hand, you're surprising a barista by asking for something they've never heard of and have no idea how to make because a random TikTokker pulled it out of thin air just yesterday, well, that's the kind of surprise nobody likes.

Even if you do come prepared with instructions for making the drink, this won't necessarily make the process go smoothly. As Rickles pointed out, "You have to know the recipe, explain it out loud, and hope the barista hears it correctly during peak. It's stressful, slows everyone and everything down, and usually still isn't what the customer imagined." She also noted that "secret" drink names don't exist in the system, so instead of asking, "Can you make a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Frappuccino?" you might as well just ask for a peppermint mocha Frap with sugar cookie syrup and red and green sprinkles. If you really want something with a cutesy name, you can always order off the Starbucks app, as it now offers an official not-so-secret menu with drinks like Cookies and Cream Hot Cocoa. Consisting of hot chocolate with white chocolate mocha sauce, whipped cream, and cookie crumbles, this drink is in the system, so it won't require an explanation for the barista.

Just because it's on the regular menu doesn't mean a Starbucks drink is necessarily easy for a barista to make. Some drinks are definitely more complicated than others, as was the case with the cold foam Frappucinos that featured on the 2025 summer menu. Starbucks employees vented their frustration with these items on Reddit, with one barista describing them as "ten-step ridiculously gross, complicated Frappuccino promos" and another saying "this is gonna suuuuuck so much to make quickly."

Bella Rickles didn't name the cold foam Fraps, possibly because they were limited-time items that are no longer on the menu. She did, however, list several other items that baristas hate making, including the S'mores, Caramel Ribbon Crunch, and Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccinos. It's not just Fraps that are hard to make, either. "Honey Citrus Mint Tea during cold season is absolute CHAOS," she told us. So why are these drinks such a nightmare? "They're complicated because they require multiple layers or multiple toppings, different syrups, and specific build orders. When five people order them back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back during a rush, the entire bar slows down," Rickles explained.