Starbucks Drink ID Codes
If you’re a Starbucks customer, you’ve probably noticed the column of check boxes down the side of your cup. The boxes are labeled: Decaf, Shots, Syrup, Milk, Custom and Drink.
It’s pretty obvious these boxes are used to record your drink order. Sometimes I look at the writing in these boxes and try to match the secret codes with the options I requested. Most are pretty self explanatory, but some of the codes are not.
In fact, I didn’t even know what the entire “custom” box was for.
Today I found out. You see, I got a special delivery today. It started last week during my regular search for secrets, I had an idea. I wanted to know how easily I could get a Starbucks employee training manual. About ten minutes later I had purchased one from the used book section of Amazon. There was only one copy available.
I got it, and I’m going to share its secrets with you.
Just from flipping through it today, I think I could do a whole year worth of secrets from this book alone. For now, I’m just going to break down what all the drink id codes mean. Even if you don’t care what the codes mean, you’ll probably discover some options you didn’t know you had.
| Decaf Box | |
| Code | Meaning |
| X | Decaf |
| 1/2 | Half Decaf |
If it’s empty, then your drink is probably caffeinated (unless it’s naturally decaffeinated like some of the Tea options).
| Shots Box | |
| Code | Meaning |
| 1 | 1 Shot |
| 2 | 2 Shots |
| etc… | etc… |
A Starbucks grande coffee has 330mg of caffeine. If you want to spike it, each additional shot of espresso adds 75mg of caffeine. Yes, espresso has less caffeine than coffee beans.
| Syrup Box | |
| Code | Meaning |
| A | Almond |
| C | Caramel Syrup |
| CH | Chai |
| CL | Classic Syrup |
| CN | Cinnamon |
| H | Hazelnut |
| I | Irish Cream |
| MO | Mocha Syrup |
| P | Peppermint |
| R | Raspberry |
| SFH | Sugar Free Hazelnut |
| SFV | Sugar Free Vanilla |
| V | Vanilla |
| VA | Valencia |
| WM | White Chocolate Mocha Syrup |
If it’s empty then you don’t get any shots (or you get the default shot for you drink).
| Milk Box | |
| Code | Meaning |
| B | Breve (half-and-half) |
| E | Eggnog (seasonal) |
| % | 50% whole, 50% non-fat |
| N | Nonfat |
| S | Soy |
| O | Organic Milk |
If it’s empty, you get 2% milk. The only exception is a Frappucino, in which case you get whole milk by default.
| Custom Box | |
| Code | Meaning |
| CHIP | Add chips |
| CR | Caramel Sauce |
| D | Dry |
| DB|2xB | Double Blended |
| F | Foamy |
| H | Hot |
| HANDOFF | Deliver to customer’s table |
| K | Kid’s Beverage (tiny size, cooler temperature) |
| LT | Light (used before another code) |
| NW | No Water |
| SL | Sweet’n Low |
| SP | Splenda |
| STRAB | Strawberry Fruit Sauce |
| SR | Sugar in the raw |
| VBEAN | Vanilla Bean Powder |
| W | Wet |
| WC | Whipped Cream |
| X | Extra |
| = | Equal |
| / | Placed over a code to indicate deletion |
Empty box means no custom selection.
| Drink Box – Hot and Cold Beverages | |
| Code | Meaning |
| A | Caffe Americano |
| AL | Cafe au Lait |
| BC | Brewed Coffee |
| C | Cappuccino |
| CAC | Caramel Apple Cider |
| CB | Caramel Brule Latte |
| CH | Tazo Chai Tea Latte |
| CHEG | Tazo Chai Eggnog Tea Latte |
| CM | Caramel Macchiato |
| E | Espresso |
| ECP | Espresso Con Panna |
| EGTL | Earl Grey Tea Latte (aka “London Fog”) |
| EM | Espresso Macchiato |
| EL | Eggnog Latte |
| GL | Gingerbread Latte |
| HC | Hot Chocolate |
| L | Caffe Latte |
| LM | Latte Macchiato |
| M | Caffe Mocha |
| MIS | Caffe Misto |
| MV | Mocha Valencia |
| PM | Peppermint Mocha |
| PSL | Pumpkin Spice Latte |
| PWM | Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha |
| SCID | Steamed Cider |
| SCR | Syrup Creme |
| SKM | Skinny Mocha |
| SM | Steamed Milk |
| T | Tazo Tea |
| VCR | Vanilla Cream |
| WHC | White Hot Chocolate |
| WM | White Chocolate Mocha |
| CHA | Chantico |
If this is empty then they probably didn’t bother filling out any of the boxes.
| Drink Box – Blended Beverages | |
| Code | Meaning |
| CBF | Caramel Brule Frappuccino |
| CF | Coffee |
| CVF | Caffe Vanilla |
| CRF | Caramel |
| E | Espresso |
| EF | Eggnog Frappuccino |
| GF | Gingerbread Frappuccino |
| JCF | Java Chip |
| MF | Mocha |
| PMF | Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino |
| PSF | Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino |
| PWMF | Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino |
| WMF | White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino |
| CHCF | Tazo Chai Creme |
| DCCF | Double Chocolate Chip |
| STCF | Strawberries & Creme |
| SF | Syrup Creme |
| VBF | Vanilla Bean |
If this is empty then they probably didn’t bother filling out any of the boxes.
| Drink Box – Iced Shaken Beverages | |
| Code | Meaning |
| IC | Iced Coffee |
| BT/PT | Iced Black Tea / Iced Passion Tea |
| BTL | Iced Black Tea Lemonade |
| PTL | Iced Passion Tea Lemonade |
If this is empty then they probably didn’t bother filling out any of the boxes.
If you have any to add, let me know.
Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.
Thanks for reading,
Source: Starbucks Employee Training Manual
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Rating:
(29 votes, average: 3.72) - Permalink
- Comments (34)
Loading ...
Subscribe
wow.
Just goes to show that Starbucks is not a coffee shop.
These are correct but some of them have changed slightly, this must have been an older one because you are missing quite a bit. i work at starbucks and just this year alone about five new drinks came out. im sure plenty of people will be responding to you’re “if you have any to add, let me know”
MCCF Cookie Crumble
MCF coconut
SCM Salted Carmel
CAS- Carmel Apple Spice
BHR- Berry Hibscus
CLR- Cool lime
ACHI- apple chai infusion
But great research though. if i didnt work there i would never have thought to set out on a hunt for the training manual
Just a few discrepancies I’d like to point out.
1. You missed the Starbucks Double Shot (SDS)
2. It’s Caramel Apple Spice (CAS) not Caramel Apple Cider (CAC)
3. Espresso Frappucino? If I saw an ‘E’ in the drink box of an iced beverage, I wouldn’t blend it, I’d do espresso over ice.
Mocha is M, not MO.
4. “If it’s empty, you get 2% milk. The only exception is a Frappucino, in which case you get whole milk by default.” Or if it’s a skinny drink, then the default is nonfat.
5. “K” and “H” aren’t used for temperature indications, “K*” (the asterisk is supposed to be a degrees symbol) and “X*” meaning “Kid’s Temperature” and “Extra Hot”
6. Instead of NW for no water, it would just be “H20″ with a slash through it. “H20″ is also what we mark regular cups of ice water.
7. There isn’t a Cinnamon syrup, but a Cinnamon Dolce, which is marked “CD” rather than “CN”
I figure you must have gotten an older training manual, since some syrups/drinks (like the Valencia) were discontinued several years ago. And there are new flavors not on here, such as Toffee Nut, Sugar Free Caramel, etc. And new drinks, such as the Salted Caramel Mocha (SCM/SCMF), Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappucino (MCCF), Mocha Coconut Frappucino (MCF) and Blended Strawberry Lemonade (BSL) to name a few. Also, the new Refreshers that come in Cool Lime and Very Berry Hibiscus (CLR and BHR).
Sadly, there has been no valencia for a good 10 years. And what’s chantico? Never seen that there either.
you forgot green tea frappichino, my favorite!
GTL = Gym, Tan, Laundry
Starbucks = swill
i love ur pictuers they are nices
Wow how sad are you? To be fascinated by this, to write it and to search it up on the net and actually purchase the manual? Why not just work there if you’re so interested in it?
A check in the decaf box means that it’s decaf. You really needed to purchase an employee manual to figure that out?
I hope this helps
What is the name of the book? I found this really interesting. I buy drinks frequently at Starbucks and I didn’t really pay attention to the scribble marks on my cups until I came across this article. Thanks for sharing!
wow!!
thats good to know!
I’ve thankfully only rarely had to ever deal with this time consuming boxes! My store has stickers which print out the name of the drink, the size, and whatever customes the customer might choose to add to it. Alas, sometimes, the machine breaks and we have to revert to the caveman style of writing it down on all the cups, which is very difficult since our store is set up around the sticker system and is not Cup-Writing-Friendly. It’s even worse when you have a fairly new member on the register who has no idea what to write down! Then you have a bunch of cups scribble on sideways that say “3 SHT VNLLA LAT”.
I’m glad I don’t drink coffee at Star Bucks
Earl Grey Tea Latte
Missing from the iced shaken beverages: GTL Green Tea Lemonade
This is helpful but sadly it’s EXTREMELY outdated.
Starbucks hasn’t carried “Almond” syrup in over 5 years. Nor do they carry Chantico, Cinnamon, Irish Cream, or Venticia Mocha.
Steamed Cider has been changed to “SAJ” for Steamed Apple Juice. We also carry “Caramel Apple Spice”(you have is as Caramel Apple Cider) which is marketed as a cider and is marked “CAS”
Cafe Au Lait and Cafe Misto’s are the same drink so the Cafe Au Lait marking has been removed.
You’re missing the drinks Awake Tea Latte “ATL” and Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte “VRTL”
Espresso Frappuccino’s is marked “EF” and Eggnog Frappuccino’s are marked with “EGF” because Espresso shots as a drink is marked “E”
In addition you’re missing the syrups Toffee Nut (TN), Cinnamon Dolce (CD), seasonal Coconut (Co), seasonal Dark Cherry (DC), Sugar-Free Caramel and Sugar-Free Cinnamon Dolce (SFC and SFCD).
The marking for Mocha syrup and Mocha are both M. The syrup box is usually indicated by the plain letter or a number the letter p and an additional capitalized letter. ( 3p M, 2p V)
There are also additional decaf markings 1/3, 2/3, 3/4, 1/4.
Hopefully this helps.
-Starbucks Barista
Ha ha ha funny lool xx<3
Different things matter to different people I suppose.
mind boggling
Love starbucks.
fav drinks
wcm, w/ s, no wc
gtl, w/ s, ex macha
Shame they can’t actually make a decnt cup of coffee!
Cool story bro
Why make it so complex? Good well-made coffee doesn’t need fancy artificial syrups and junk in it. And I dislike paying 3-5 Euros for a coffee in a paper cup with my name on it! Starbucks also hides what’s going on behind allll those products piled up so you can’t see what they’re actually doing. Forget the brushed-steel McDonalds look; give me a quiet place to sit down and sip well-made coffee that IS coffee from china cup. All the fancy names in the world won’t hide the fact that for 3 Euros you get hardly enough coffee to wet your lips.
Lots of people find this interesting, as you can see. Some people have always wondered what they mean, especially the less obvious markings. It’s not sad, it’s just curiosity.
You guys really think this is that interesting?
Wow, this article is just a fountain of useless information.
I never knew that Starbucks customers needed to know a whole list of codes just to ask for a medium coffee with cream and sugar. One would think they are trying to make ordering a cup of coffee into a puzzle.
No thanks, Starbucks. Dunkin Donuts and QuickChek are less of a hassle, and cost much less too.
Memorize this. This information may save your life someday.
how do you know that?
it’s too complex.
Starbucks will never see me in one of their establishments. Their pricing structure is an insult to the consuming public.
Coming from an espresso-in-tea-cup-for-60-cents-drinking country, I used to make fun of my friends from other countries for rushing to SB and plopping down £3.50 for bloody coffee.
….Two years later, I’m just like them :p Blasted caffeine addiction!
Anyway, I’d already figured out some of these, although they’re still interesting.
@poster who said Starbucks have a McDonald’s look, etc – here in England, most are actually quite cosy, and you can mostly see what the baristas are doing.
Shame some of the staff don’t know what they mean. The other day I was waiting for a Chai tea latte (as was another gentleman), and we ended up with hot chocolate!