I went to dunkin’ the other day and asked for an iced latte with less ice because it’s winter and I wanted less ice. They gave me a cup that was halfway full of coffee. So I asked why and they told me they press a button on a machine, it fills it halfway full with coffee and then they add ice. So when you get a medium iced latte, you’re not actually getting a medium latte, you’re getting a small or a kids size nowadays of coffee, and then they just fill the rest of it with ice. If you ask for less ice, no screw you, you’re not getting the full amount of coffee that you paid for…
I have never heard of this in any other country. What the hell?
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I think this is about presentation,
If you had ordered a hot latte, they would have put it in a cup so it looked full.
If you order just a ice latte, then put it in a cup so it would look full.
You ordered something they hadn’t designed for, and it’s really up to the barista at the moment to decide how to handle it. At larger organizations they probably just have a policy, it’s smaller organizations the barista might top you up.
If you’re not getting a good experience, switch locations.
If you ask for less ice, no screw you, you’re not getting the full amount of coffee that you paid for…
Actually you got exactly what you asked for: you asked for a product with less of something…
Sorry: no. I call bullshit. I ordered a beverage.
You provided the ice.
I will not sit and let someone take the apologists route for a corporation on this. Drinks are, without question, the highest margin item on the menu in most places and frequently are over iced past recommended mix levels (by the drink manufacturer) as a way to stretch that further.
I personally rarely get ice because those machines are rarely cleaned and are mold nightmares. Go ahead, ask your friends in the industry why they don’t use the ice machine.
If half of the drink is ice and you order it without ice then it’s to be expected that the cup would only be half full.
A little injested mold isn’t going to hurt you. If the ice looks clean, it’s clean enough.
Go to a real coffeeshop.
Man unless they state somewhere that each drink only contains x oz I’d be a cunt and tell em to keep pouring. After that: yeah last time I’m visiting that chain. Customers aren’t always right but in this case they probably are.
If they have a machine, you’re getting exactly the full amount of coffee you paid for; you’re just not getting more by removing a filler that they normally include, and that some people like. Now, I’m not saying there’s anything morally wrong with gaming the menu at a giant chain if it can be done without fucking over the staff, or that it wouldn’t be shitty if Dunkin’ has done some sneaky shrinkflation, but there is a certain mechanical clarity here that I can’t get too riled up about.
Dunkin’ has done some sneaky shrinkflation, but there is a certain mechanical clarity…
I promise you that they have done just that: like every other corporation has. The mechanical clarity is imagined but provides a fine excuse. That machine is configurable - just like any other timed / measured device. Yeah you pushed the ‘small latte’ button … but is that the same small late that x franchise sells across the street (who owns the same machine but different size cups?) It’s software. Anyone who doesn’t think that dunkin’ - a profit driven organization - isn’t going to milk the customer for every penny they can get… is either daft or willfully ignorant.
edit: wording
Yeah… you’re be getting exactly the same amount of coffee you had been paying for before. Getting upset at how little that coffee amounts to normally is one thing, but getting upset with the notion that you are now getting -less- coffee is just silly.
Let me pose a question here: most chains actually sell coffee at the same (or similar) price as any other fountain drink. What’s the difference then? Was the 1/2 ice too hard of an order? The machine is preprogrammed for roughly the time it would take to fill an ice filled drink. Was the person filling the drink pre-programmed to not be able to problem solve? Based on the thread responses I’m inclined to answer that as self evident.
Just make it at home its so much better and cheaper.
Gee, I’m sure OP didn’t think of that one.
And there’s lots of subjectivity with coffee; you can get the tools to dial it in exactly how you like it, or just a machine that makes it really easy, with lots of space in-between.
If your barista just presses a button and hands you a cup, you’re at the wrong place for coffee.
I went to dunkin’
Ordering coffee in the USA triggers me
As if Dunkin’ Donuts is representative of the thousands of independent coffee shops around the US…
It’s like the eastern Walmart of coffee shops. Pushing out all the local shops in small towns and replacing it with its subpar coffee and it’s mass produced, small generic chemical tasting donuts.
You asked for a hamburger with no toppings and are surprised that you just got meat and buns.
They didn’t give you less meat they just gave you less toppings. You’re noticing the sandwich is pretty empty, because you ordered it that way
This is rather silly. I’ve seen people order drinks with no ice tons of times, and they always fill it to the top. That’s probably what they would’ve done here, too, if given the choice.
But they explained it isn’t the choice
The explanation was fabricated to make the customer ‘go away.’ Which they should: to a different location that isn’t so profit oriented and staffed with drones that lack common sense.
It’s not fabricated, the machine dispenses a fixed quantity, expecting ice.
A subway sandwich is made to have a fixed quantity of deli meat, even if you ask for no other toppings. You’ll find the sandwich is quite empty in that case. Sure an employee could just load that bitch up, but I bet they wouldnt want their manager to “know” actively. In the case of the coffee, they’d have to mix a second portion of drink in s, m or l, and hope it fits in the m cup. That’s way more obvious, and more effort than the subway employee just slapping a few extra slices on the otherwise empty Sammy.
Indeed folks should prefer small coffee chains. The product is way better and the servings aren’t portioned by a machine, and asking for adjustments at such a place doesn’t put the employee in a spot of potentially getting in trouble.
You don’t know the Starbucks employee’s life, and them following the rules isn’t choicefully being a “drone”. They just want their wage, and want to serve customers shit off the menu.
Arguably they have more “common sense” to keep their manager off their ass by just serving from the menu, rather than doing custom stuff
I’ve never heard of a country where places give you extra drink for free just because you asked for less ice, to be honest. I know some bartenders who joke about the people who think asking for less ice will get them more.
Ordering light ice at McDonalds always results in a full cup with less ice.
As an (ex) bartender I know what you’re talking about… we would never over pour a spirit … but if asked we’d generally have no issue topping off the mixer. There is a difference. The literal difference between a modern iced beverage and an uniced one (depending on cup size and ice) can sometimes be 2-3 times the beverage… which while quite significant amounts to pennies in cost (if that.) More will be lost to a line cleaning, incorrect orders, etc than to a customer request. The fact that so many in this thread are defending the chain is mind boggling. This same chain likely has been upping the recommended ice and even potentially messing with the mix % to further dilute the beverage in the name of profit. Fuck that. These chains frequently show a cup size and list the oz on the container. They rarely, if ever, list the oz of the beverage in said cup because it would cause a riot. Unless they say 4oz of coffee per 12oz cup of iced coffee somewhere: the customer is absolutely right to expect however much coffee fits in the damn cup and not a drop less. That’s what they were advertised- and that’s what they paid for.
Some of y’all need to realize you’re in a guilded cage and that you are indoctrinated by capitalist owners. This isn’t even a big issue.
The fact that so many in this thread are defending the chain is mind boggling
Lot of contrarian keyboard warriors on here lately and it’s almost like they’re disagreeing just for the sake of arguing
I don’t wanna fully don the tin foil hat but it’s a lot easier to poison a well when there’s less water if you get my meaning…
So with a soda fountain or similar soft-drink dispenser at most fast-food or fast-casual restaurants int he US, asking for light ice or no ice will still get you a full cup. That said, the general understanding here has always been (don’t know if it’s strictly true across time and space) that the cups cost more than the drink, and even if the particular place is not offering free refills or you’re ordering to-go, that’s a pretty normal expectation so being stingy with the Coke would reflect poorly on the restaurant beyond the value of saving a little bit of syrup and CO2.
Dunkin’ is definitely a massive fast-food chain, but a latte beverage, even iced, is kinda pushing the boundary of even what most Americans would expect with generous pours. OP might have reasonably hoped to get a full cup, but IMHO they shouldn’t be disgruntled that they didn’t get it.
I’m with you on that: but generally speaking a lot of the non iced variants cost the same because it’s hard to explain to people how little they are getting with ice. This was more an issue with the person serving the beverage than the cost. Admittedly it could have been a training issue but I cannot come up with a good valid reason for the choice.
Okay so I’m going to answer this with soda. So when people order soda no ice, they think they’re being smart and getting more soda. Well, define soda.
You see, most of those drinks are specifically designed with the ice in mind. All drinks are some sort of mixture with water, and they take ice into account, they expect the ice to melt and become part of the drink. With soda, they made the drink with the ice melting in mind.
So when you order a soda no ice, you’re not getting more soda necessarily, justa. More concentrated sugary syrupy drink that isn’t properly mixed.
With soda, they made the drink with the ice melting in mind.
I don’t think this is true. The soda machine is probably programmed to deliver just enough soda so that it doesn’t overflow the cup. Now, if you order it without ice it’ll deliver the exact same amount of soda but the cup wont be as full due to lack of ice.
It also delivers a set amount of ice
most of those drinks are specifically designed with the ice in mind
Citation Needed
also is a really dumb logic anyways, the ice don’t melt until later while you most likely is going to start drinking immediately, and I don’t find it enjoyable to have the first 25% of my drink taste different than my last 25% of the drink.
I mean I don’t have one, but my wife is a food scientist working in the drinks industry, so I’ve learned a lot
But this isn’t a fountain drink
Doesn’t mean they didn’t plan the drink with ice in mind
It triggers you to receive exactly what they offer?
You are actually getting exactly the same amount of coffee you paid for, without the ice.
Which is half a cup full.By the way, this isn’t a “coffee in the USA” thing. It’s a Starbucks thing.
In most diners, coffee shops and restaurants in the US, you get as much coffee as you want, with free unlimited refills.Did you expect them to offset the less ice with more coffee?
In my experience, many iced coffee drinks are made a bit warm and more concentrated. The ice melts a bit, diluting the drink and giving more liquid overall.
Do they do that to an extreme? Probably. But there’s also more to it than “I got a drink with less ice and it wasn’t very full”
Is there a big difference in price and/or size if you’d order a normal latte? If not, yes, I’d 100% expect similar sizes.
Again, part of the overall drink is supposed to be made of the water from melted ice. It’s hard to compare sizes perfectly with that in mind, but it’s a less-extreme similarity to comparing a jug of orange juice with a can of concentrate (the kind you mix with water in a pitcher at home). Different products, but also different sizes for a reason.
So you mean they have an entirely different “base” coffee when making a normal latte vs an ice latte? A latte should just be espresso and milk, and an iced latte is just that + ice…?
Depends.
In metal general, if you’re making the coffee + milk, then adding ice, you have to make the coffee part “strong” in one way or another, because that ice is going to melt. It’ll melt fast, too, at the beginning, so not adjusting your process is going to lead to weak, watery iced lattes.
If you then reduce the ice, the problem goes in reverse where the concentration of coffee compounds is higher, so it doesn’t taste like it’s expected to taste.
Now, some places chill batches of the espresso, mix it with the milk chilled, and the ice is just there to extend the time it’s cold, with an expectation of less melt.
Afaik, dunkin doesn’t have a chilled container of the latte shipped in, or made in bulk. They could have changed from the last time I talked to anyone that worked there, but at the time it was in smaller batches and stored at the temp it came out in. So if they changed the amount of ice, it would change the finished drink.
If you make your own iced latte, you’ll likely just make it regular, then pour it over ice. It’ll be thinner, and it’s up to you how you like that or not. Stores tend to go for consistency between products as a priority, so they don’t have as much freedom.
I’ve never worked at a coffee shop, but I know our taste sensitivities are different at different temperatures. I’d be surprised if they were exactly identical products to account both for that, and the fact that your product is about to be diluted when it gets combined with ice (depending on the temperature before that happens). The ingredients may be more or less the same, but the proportions and concentrations may not be.
Have you tried ordering a medium iced latte with light ice in other countries?
So these comments aren’t going the way you thought they’d go…
I have never heard of this in any other country
Which countries give you more coffee than you paid for just because you asked for less ice?
well, it used to be every country did this because they didn’t have the portioning technology to prevent overpouring for those who asked for less or no ice (because they wanted extra beverage). people got used to be able to game the system, the companies knew they were doing this, and put an end to it the second they could.
