Starbucks Hacks: Get Cheaper Coffee
This is quoted from a lifehacker article on getting cheaper coffee at Starbucks. I plan on starting to buy ventis and ask for another cup. That's a cheap way of treating my girlfriend to coffee, muhahaha!
Brewed coffee is cheap enough. Ask for a pour over of their bold coffee for a fresher cup. It takes a few minuets, but it's fresher and costs the same amount. Also, if you and several of your friends all want coffee, ask for a French Press. It's around 4 dollars and is approximately 45 oz of fresh, hot, French pressed coffee. And you can pick whichever blend you'd like.
If you want espresso, avoid the options already on the menu board. Americanos cost just a little more than a cup of brewed coffee, but packs more of a caffeine punch because it's espresso and hot water. It tastes like coffee and you can sweeten it just like you would your normal cup of coffee. More bang for your buck. If you want an extra shot, don't ask for one. Ask for a "grande Americano in a tall cup". That way, they charge you an extra 30 cents, instead of an extra 70 cents for the shot of espresso. This works because Grande Americanos get three shots. Same would work for a Venti. My manager tells all his partners to do this by default, whether the customer asks for it that way or not, but other stores may not be so nice. If you like iced drinks, asking for a triple espresso in a Venti cup over ice, and then filling it with milk after the fact at the condiment bar is a great way to get an iced latte for about 2 dollars. Even adding a flavor (which is 40 cents extra) still saves you about 50%. Unfortunately, there's no real way to do this with hot lattes, as you need a barista to steam the milk for you.
If you and a friend are out and want a Frappuccino, ask for a Venti split into two tall cups. Iced venti cups are 24 oz. Tall are 12. Viola. Two talls would cost you about 6 bucks, a venti, 4.
If you are secretly a Starbucks junkie, there's a new loyalty program Starbucks came out with. You get a Starbucks gift card (Not credit), register it online, and pay with your card each time, reloading it as you go. You get a free drink (Any kind of drink, not matter how expensive) every 10 transactions or so. You get a free tall coffee with each purchase of a 1lb of coffee and a free tall drink of your choice for each 2lbs. You also get a free drink on your birthday. If you have one of these, and are getting drinks for multiple people, ring up each drink separately.
http://tinyurl.com/Sbuxhack