So remember that record-breakingly expensive Starbucks drink that dude in Dallas ordered back in May? Well, he’s going to have to relinquish his crown, because the record has been broken yet again. On Saturday, July 12, a woman in Pembroke Pines, Florida, stepped up to the plate and ordered the newest Most Expensive Starbucks Drink Ever Created. At $60.54, it cost $5.83 more than May’s Sexagintuple Vanilla Bean Mocha Frappucchino.
When will the madness stop?!
Consumerist has shots of the receipt, as well as images of the woman, Sameera, and her heart attack-inducing concoction; for the curious, though, the breakdown of the frap is as follows: The bulk of the drink consisted of 60 shots of espresso ($48), with the next highest charge being for the type of beverage it was in the first place (Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino, $5.45). Matcha powder cost an additional 80 cents, and a variety of add-ons cost an additional 50 to 60 cents a pop. After the woman swiped her rewards card, the total price of the drink went down from $60.58 to $57.75; then she pulled the same trick the previous Most Expensive Starbucks Drink record holder did and used her rewards program free coupon to get the beverage at no cost whatsoever.
I have to give Sameera credit for the fact that she contacted the Starbucks location in advance to ask if it was okay for her to order the drink; she also did well to wait until closing time to order so she didn’t make a whole line of people behind her wait for her to get her ridiculous drink. At the same time, though, she also alerted the media beforehand of what she was going to do and brought a “support team” (whatever that means), which makes it an extremely calculated “get famous quick” move. And that kind of rubs me the wrong way. We’ve known for a while that we’re at a point where people will do anything to have their 15 minutes of fame (see: the entirety of reality TV). Sure, this is a relatively innocuous way to achieve it; but the bottom line is that the trend demonstrates our culture’s extremely unhealthy preoccupation with fame in the first place. I just can’t get behind that.
For its part, Starbucks’ official stance according to a statement they released to Consumerist actually doesn’t permit drinks this big to be served. “Per our existing policy,” the coffee chain wrote, “beverages larger than Trenta size (31 oz.) cannot be made or served. This includes personal cups that exceed 31 oz. (or a Trenta-size cup). For blended beverages and espresso drinks, those cannot be made or served in sizes larger than a Venti (24 oz. cold cup/20 oz. hot cup).” They also did a little finger-wagging at both the customer who ordered the drink and the store that agreed to make it:
“With over 170,000 ways to customize beverages at Starbucks, we know that personalization is a big part of the Starbucks experience for both our customers and our partners (employees), however this particular customization was excessive and something that we do not encourage. We want to ensure our customers receive the highest quality and most delicious tasting food or beverage products from us and, we don’t believe that this particular beverage choice was reflective of that.”
Sooooo there’s that. I wonder if they're going to start cracking down on crazy expensive drinks that are probably costing them a heck of a lot of money to lose.
If you’re as obsessed with seeing the ongoing results of this weird competition of one-ups(wo)manship, Caffeine Informer is keeping a running tally of the most expensive Starbucks drinks as they come in. Will anyone ever order a drink like this and pay for it in full, without the aid of their rewards card? Because that, I think, would be the true test of SBux dedication.
Images: Rebloggy; Wiffle Gif
