The Verdict is in...

...Making frappuccinos the new way is going to make me a very unhappy camper this summer.

Saturday, I almost enjoyed it. It was a slow night, since the Pens were playing, and I was working with a good group. And, for all that I may whine, actually making the Frappuccinos isn't as bad as I always think it's going to be. The consistency of the new versions are much more easy going, and it's a pretty easy going rhythm once you get it. Plus it's kind of fun giving our customers something that actually tastes as good as how much you paid for it to be. So if you'd asked me on Saturday? A little tougher, but not so bad that it couldn't be dealt with.

And then Sunday. Sundays just do not change. I know it seems like I have to be exaggerating, but seriously. Someone asked us if we sold Arizona's Arnold Palmer iced tea last Sunday. Sunday people are weird.

This Sunday was, despite the storms, pretty toasty. And, because of the storms, it was humid. "Perfect weather for a Frappuccino!" thought the world, and that's how sadness was invented.

I know it will get better with time, but right now our cold bar is so thoroughly thrown into a tightly knit shambles from all the extras we had to bring in that it's hard to keep things straight. The cramping at the bar makes things incredibly confusing, and now that we need to bring the cup with us along for the ride, I keep getting flabbergasted and lost. The extra steps means that I can't keep up with the orders easily, and for someone that prides herself on being pretty competent on bar, that's very frustrating. Worst of all is the multiples thing. I am so unused to not being able to blend more than one drink at a time, and it breaks my heart to get two grande Caramel Frappuccino Blended Coffee Beverages (yes, that's what we're supposed to be calling them. That's what we've always supposed to call them, but now they care again) and realize that I have to go through 965 steps for not one but two blenders and that I also have a vanilla bean, a mocha light and a green tea creme lined up and ready to go right after. And waiting for decaf shots is just as annoying as it was before.

But, again, a lot of those problems will disappear with time. And the soft launch should prepare us for what goes down once mid-May hits and the real fun begins, like Frappy Hour (I will tell you about Frappy Hour.) And actually, I am less upset about this new development than I was about the coffee cadence. We'll see how it goes, and how I feel about it in the summer.

Coming Soon to a Starbucks Near You!

So starting April 19, Starbucks everywhere will be soft launching their Summer Phase 1 promo, and hoo boy, it's a doozy.

Starting that day, it will be possible to completely customize your frappuccinos.

"Yeah, but like, I get my vanilla beans with caramel drizzle on it all the time, Emily," you may be thinking, "that's, like, already being customized, right?"

Well, true, person who would never be reading my blog (or reading anything, really). But starting soon, you'll be able to make your frappuccinos with any milk choice we have that you desire, including soy! and skim milk! You'll also be able to make them with any level of caffeine you desire without having to get a nasty tasting creme base-and-decaf-espresso concoction. You can now make them with any syrup, any milk, any dry inclusion we have, any amount of caffeine, and they finally taste good enough that even I can't complain (much)(you know I'm going to, though. It's coming, don't worry).

So what's so different? Well, before, we would start with three different bases, coffee, coffee light, and creme. All needed to be made in advance and all were only good for 24 hours. This is why decaf and creme light were out of the question, we didn't have bases for either of those. All of these bases also contained enough sugar to stun a yak, except the coffee light, which contained a third of the amount of sugar to stun a yak.

From the base, we would continue to the ice & the syrup. These options have not changed. Then, we would blend and serve.

Now, we put in a shot of coffee (unless it's creme base), the milk (standard is whole, but again, customize), the ice, the syrup & the dry inclusion, then we pump in the syrup that makes it a frappuccino, which is sugar and other ingredients that will keep it from separating instantly.

Magical Frappuccino Maker.

Then we blend, and we serve.

Though I admit that there are a vast multitude of great points about this new development, I am apprehensive. First off, "high quality" is never what I associated with our creme based frappuccinos, and a lot of the people who drink them would drink saloon spit and tar if it was trendy. So to add an extra 4 steps to our mystical magical frappuccino tour for them seems...unnecessary. That, and the fact that it is a lot of extra steps, so battling through a line of frappuccinos on a hot summer day is going to be even more painstakingly difficult and, really, not much fun at all to do alone. My manager is hoping to hire several more employees just to handle our frappuccino rushes. All for something that's already selling in mass quantities.

And the worst part? We can no longer make more than one frappuccino in a blender at a time. That means that when a gaggle of teens orders 3 tall double chocolatey chips, we have to make each one on its own.

But I speak too soon. I've only tried it the new way once, so it may get better with practice and with the learning of new tricks. I'll get back to you after next Sunday, when I'll be a Fully Trained Professional on the subject. In the meantime, tell all your friends that Frappuccinos actually will start tasting amazing in about two weeks, and get ready to start abusing your local baristas all summer long.