Hack Your Starbucks Cappuccino & Feel The Buzz

In the past I've given you little "hacks" to help simplify, speed up and make your life more enjoyable. Take for instance 2 of my past posts, The Traffic Light Hack and The Elevator Hack. So in conjunction with improving your morning commute, I'm going to help you get a stronger kick out of your morning coffee. Best of all, it will save you money! Now that is something every Starbucks junkie can appreciate right? So here's the little secret that Starbucks doesn't want you to know. They will serve you a better, stronger cappuccino if you want one and they will charge you less for it. Just ask for it in any Starbucks and the barista will comply without batting an eye. So I'm going to share a little love and let you in on the trick.

The drink in question is the elusive 8-ounce "short cappuccino". It is a third smaller than the smallest size on the official menu, "the tall". It is also dwarfed by what Starbucks calls the customer-preferred size, the "Venti" which weighs in at 20-ounces and contains more than 200 calories before you add the sugar. The short cappuccino has the same amount of espresso as the 12-ounce tall, meaning a bolder coffee taste and also a better one. The World Barista Championship rules, for example, define a traditional cappuccino as a 5 to 6 ounce beverage. This is also the size of cappuccino served by many continental cafés. Within reason, the shorter the cappuccino, the better. Confused yet?

The problem with large cappuccinos is that it's impossible to make the fine-bubbled milk froth ("microfoam" in the lingo) in large quantities. A 20-ounce cappuccino is an oxymoron. Many Starbucks junkies can confirm that it is a better drink than the buckets of warm milk topped with a veneer of froth that the coffee chain advertises on its menus. This secret cappuccino is cheaper too. On average, Starbucks charges $2.35 instead of $2.65. So why does this cheaper, better drink along with its sisters (the short latte and the short coffee) languish unadvertised? The official word from Starbucks is that there is no room on the menu board. Although this doesn't explain why the short cappuccino is also unmentioned on the comprehensive Starbucks website, nor why the baristas will serve you in a whisper rather than the usual practice of singing your order to the heavens.

In short, economics is the answer. This is the Starbucks way of sidestepping a painful dilemma over how high to set prices. Price too low and the margins disappear; too high and the customers do. Any business that is able to charge one price to price-sensitive customers and a higher price to the rest will avoid some of that awkward trade-off. It's just good business sense. Bottom line, if you'd like a better coffee for less, just ask. Then thank me for the "hack". Knowledge is power.

Other Starbucks coffee related posts of interest...

09/28/05 Study Claims Caffeine Addicts Are Fat, Sexless And Will Die!
09/28/05 I Like My Coffee Tall & Black Like My Men