Mashed Survey: How Do You Hack Your Starbucks Drinks?

While Starbucks offers a wide variety of drinks on its standard menu, including seasonal specials that rotate in and out of the lineup, some customers always want a little something extra with their drink. Maybe it's something small like asking for less ice or maybe no whipped cream on a drink that usually has it, but in some cases, it's a complicated creation that baristas hate to make.

What about you? Do you just order straight off the menu, or do you like to have Starbucks tweak the drink to your exact specifications? And if it's the latter, what might those specifications be? Mashed recently polled 604 people about having their drinks custom-made and offered them a choice of five different options. "How do you hack your Starbucks drinks?" we asked. Add an extra espresso shot? Ask for a mix of flavored syrups? Follow a social media recipe? Layer cold foam with whipped cream? Or order an iced drink as a blended one? When we counted all the votes, we found a surprisingly even split among the different options, with just seven percentage points separating the least popular option from the tweak that took top place.

The majority of our pollees, 23.84% in all, admit to ordering a drink that is meant to be iced and asking to have it tossed in the blender. A simple ask, perhaps. but if all of the blenders are full or waiting to be cleaned, there may be a wait involved. At least it's not as bad as the number two choice: 21.36% of our poll respondents may be making their baristas very unhappy with their complicated TikTok (or other social media) drink orders. The whole concept of a secret menu is a bit shady at any rate. Think about it: Does your job involve random strangers outside the business making up "secret" lists of services you're expected to provide? But if you must order something off-menu, leaving a few bucks in the tip jar could help compensate for the extra time and effort involved.

Another 20.53% of our pollees ask for extra espresso shots, which are available in any coffee beverage for an additional charge. Just 17.72% ask for a mixture of flavored syrups in their drinks, something StarbMag says there's no limit on. Although you are, of course, limited to the syrups available in that particular store. What's more, if your drink doesn't typically contain syrup, there will be an extra charge. Layering cold foam and whipped cream came in last but not least, as 16.56% say this is their go-to special order.