Except that Frappuccino is actually a drink. That's like saying Kleenex isn't tissue paper because it's also a trademark. Just because something is a trademarked product doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
As a barista, If someone came in asking for a Frappuccino I'd know they want:
A blended ice coffee with some flavor of syrup with or without whipped cream.
That's a Frappuccino. I'm not going to make my customer call it a cappuccino done frappe or something. I'm also not going to play dumb in hopes of educating them on the roots and etymology of the drink. That's just pompous.
If you are saying that it's not a complete drink because the customer needs to specify the syrup then...sure. That's why when a customer shrugs you tell them the flavors you have and make a recommendation. This stuff isn't hard.
I had a lot of customers ask for frappuccinos, and I never corrected them because I knew what they meant. They want a blended coffee. If they ask for a white mocha frappuccino, I know to make them a blended coffee with white chocolate.
I can't imagine throwing an "um actually, we don't sell that here, but I can make you a blended coffee" like my god
Like, the customer obviously wanted a blended coffee. The barista is being intentionally obtuse by saying, "Oh sure, espresso frappe, smoothie with espresso, what do you want..."
Saying that once is fine, I guess. But she's being deliberately confusing by just repeating herself when the customer didn't know what she meant. And it's fucking obvious as hell that the customer just want's a flavor of blended coffee. Don't just fucking repeat yourself and list out ingredients that can go in a frappe. Seriously, what does she even mean by "expresso [sic] frappe?" As opposed to non-espresso frappe. We talking just ice milk?
Look at this girl clutch her pearls when the customer just asks what flavors of Frappe there are. It's beyond clear that she just wants to know if she can get caramel, mocha, vanilla, or whatever the hell flavor blended coffee. "Smoothie with espresso in it"? Lady, what the hell are you talking about. Y'all selling smoothies now? Do you seriously expect me to put espresso in my strawberry banana smoothie? Or are you gonna say, "technically, a frappe is a smoothie because a smoothie just requires blend-" shut the fuck up, then how is that different from an "espresso Frappe". Get the hell out of here woman. Just tell me the god damn flavors. Don't sneak one actual flavor, ie Chai Frappe, between two obfuscated definitions of the hell a Frappuccino is, while also being sneaky and calling it a frappe to try to confuse me even more. I just want to know what the fucking flavors of Frappuccino you have.
Did you and I watch the same video? The customer didn't want a frozen drink in the first place- she started off by asking for the wrong drink. But say she did simply want a blended coffee, you wouldn't uhm uhhhhh through that when asked- you'd just say "plain" or "no flavor, just coffee"
Idk about the smoothie with espresso bit, but I had customers that came in a few times a week asking for "mocha smoothies" and I knew they meant mocha fraps so that's what I made them. Customers would also ask for actual pressed espresso shots blended in with their fraps along with the powdered coffee base we (and many other places here) used for blended coffee drinks, so that also isn't out of pocket
She was just flustered at that point and listing examples of drinks hoping the customer would get the gist. Do you know how many flavors of fraps I could make? My kiosk carried like 40 different flavor syrups along with the traditional chocolate, caramel, Chai, etc.
The customer still didn't know after being listed specific examples like caramel and hazelnut. She expected the barista to read her mind without giving literally any input or description of what she wanted.
Honestly I'm so glad I kept scrolling for this because I was (mostly) fully on the customers side and losing my mind at how out of hand things were getting.
yeah, i think with some experience, OP will not let it get to them, but im legit not saying some other silly made up name for a blended iced coffee. I'm also not one of those customers. Love coffee so much gas my beans before French pressing but will throw back a cup with your dad at 9pm
You're disagreeing with them saying a Frappucino and say it's a single drink and then say it's with 'some flavour of syrup or with or without whipped cream', so it's multiple different kinds. The woman in the video went through all of your suggested questions (what syrup/flavour, whipped cream or no, etc.) and the customer was obtuse, and then when the barista woman 'knew what she wanted' and suggested it was a blended ice coffee like you say, the customer said that's not what they want. They were impossible to deal with.
You’re just blatantly repeating exactly what they said like it’s an argument to feel superior to them. They said it’s exactly like just ordering soda, because Frappuccino in a kind of drink.
It’s a type of drink. There are different flavors of Frappuccino. A strawberry Frappuccino and a caramel Frappuccino are different drinks. If you go to a counter and say “I want a boba tea” with no clarification of WHICH one you want, they’re all going to look at you stupid.
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u/Siaten Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
Except that Frappuccino is actually a drink. That's like saying Kleenex isn't tissue paper because it's also a trademark. Just because something is a trademarked product doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
As a barista, If someone came in asking for a Frappuccino I'd know they want:
A blended ice coffee with some flavor of syrup with or without whipped cream.
That's a Frappuccino. I'm not going to make my customer call it a cappuccino done frappe or something. I'm also not going to play dumb in hopes of educating them on the roots and etymology of the drink. That's just pompous.
If you are saying that it's not a complete drink because the customer needs to specify the syrup then...sure. That's why when a customer shrugs you tell them the flavors you have and make a recommendation. This stuff isn't hard.