Unpopular Starbucks Myths Debunked

Two myths I had not heard of before came sharply into focus today over coffee, concerning coffee, well, at least the marketing thereof. I was in Starbucks, ordering a couple of Venti Skinny lattes (that's the biggest size on offer in case you were wondering). They weren't both for me, but when the barista repeated my order, two venti skinny lattes, I heard the man behind ask his friend what a skinny latte was.

Myth Number 1: There is no difference between a skinny and a regular latte

Yes, that is what the man replied when asked what the difference was between a regular and skinny. There's no difference, he said. No difference? I almost dropped my wallet. The whole point of a skinny latte, albeit a rather embarrassing thing to order - and no, baristas often don't know it's the same as asking for a latte with skimmed milk - is that it is low fat, using skimmed milk rather than whole milk.

Starbucks themselves claim that a regular grande latte contains 340 calories compared to 160 in a skinny. Now unless this is some huge cover-up, one so great that the various nutritional agencies who check these kinds of things are also in on it, I'd suggest that it is true: Skinny lattes are the light, low calorie version of a regular latte.

When the man's friend asked him why it had a different name (if it had no difference) I couldn't help but turn around and explain to them that a "skinny" was made with skimmed milk and was therefore the lighter, lower fat and calorie option. At this point I turned to the barista and asked him to back me up, which he did. However the man in line was still not convinced. No, he said, I read something a scientist wrote recently that said that when the milk goes through the machine it comes out exactly the same as the regular milk.

Sorry? When it goes through the machine? I've watched plenty of lattes being made, and I know full well that this "machine" is nothing more than a milk steamer that froths up the milk to be added to the espresso coffee shots. How it works is the steam entering the milk under pressure makes it fluff up, creating what's known in the business as micro-foam, tiny bubbles in the milk that give the drink its texture. This process has nothing to do with changing the fat content of the milk, nor could it ever. What's interesting is just how this myth might have begun. I have searched and searched the net, but can't see anything relating to skinny lattes being some big scam. Heck, it's not like Starbucks charge more for them or anything.

But I did not stick around to argue this point with the man -- after all, without the power of the world wide web to advise me he could have been on to something I didn't know about. The barista didn't seem interested in taking it further either, shuffling off to produce my drink. I got moving before the best seats were taken. And that brings us on nicely to myth two.

Myth Number 2: In England, drink-in customers are getting short-changed

Something else I didn't know when I woke up this morning was that in America, the home of Starbucks, they don't sell coffee in mugs for patrons wanting to drink their cup in the store. To me, an English man, I just assumed that everywhere was like here (well, I mean, come on, every other part of the store seems identical across the world), and in England if we drink in the store we get our coffee in a mug - one of three sizes to match the white plastic take-away containers that everyone knows and loves.

My drinking buddy today was from across the sea, and mentioned that she thought that from looking at the size of our venti sized ceramic mugs they couldn't hold a full venti-sized take out cup. They seemed like they would hold a lot less, which we kind of reasoned might make sense as take away customers don't take up valuable store space. But the main point was that our mugs were short and fat to the tall majestic takeout container, and this belief that the fatter object holds more than the taller thinner one is a common optical illusion we thought was deserving of a name.

So, in the name of myth debunking, I ordered another venti latte (skinny) in a take away cup and poured it into my empty mug to see if the take away coffee would fit in it, or end up sloshing all over the table. What do you know, the take away latte fit perfectly in the mug. Faith restored, I sat back and relaxed. Well, as relaxed as you can be after two venti lattes.