Calling all green apron barristas....

[Food Lady]

Could you please help my friend not be an SC? She really doesn't want to be one, but every time she tries to order her drink, it turns out to be not what she wants and she gets frustrated.
This is what she wants: a cappuccino with no foam. Now, we all know cappuccino, by definition, has foam. So they tend to say "You want a latte." But no, she does not. The proportion of milk to espresso is too high. She wants less milk than that, and no foam because she hates foam. Now I thought adding another shot would fix it, but that's too strong. The last time we went for coffee she asked how to order and the guy said it would be a "cappuccino wet". She said ok and he made it. After we left the drive-through, she opened it and it had foam. This was the third time she'd tried to get the drink made this way.
So what should she say when ordering so they understand what she wants? I guess basically it's one part espresso to 2 parts milk. (Isn't a capp 1 part espresso, 1 part milk and 1 part foam?) Please educate us so we can be good customers. Otherwise I may kill her. Thanks for any help!

[chainedbarista]

a cappucino without foam is an oxymoron; what she wants is a latte without the foam. her best option is to order a short latte, that way with an extra shot; that way, the milk to shot ratio is less than a regular sized latte. (shorts are 8 oz; a shot is one oz, so if she gets two shots, that is a 1:3, which is less milk and a bit more on the coffee side without too much of either.

[scary cary]

oh my god I HATE when people do this, and you tell them what they want and that is a latte with no foam, and they tell you that is not what they want, and continue to complain.

chained barista is right. if she wants more coffee than milk, she can order a misto also.

[Boozy]

Not to hijack the thread (although it seems you have the answer to your question anyway), but this reminds me of my days of working at the cafe. A lady walked in and said she wanted a cappuccino with no milk. I took this to mean that she wanted her cap extra dry. I say no problem, because I like my caps dry as a bone too, and make them like that all the time.
Then she sees me get out the milk.
"What are you doing? I said NO MILK."
Umm....
I say, "I'll be frothing it for you. Don't worry, you'll get all foam."
Then we argued for a bit (this happened so long ago I can't remember the details of the conversation), but it turned out that she was under the impression that the foam in cappuccinos was made from some substance other than milk and she didn't know or care what it was.
???

[ToasterQueen]

(I)t turned out that she was under the impression that the foam in cappuccinos was made from some substance other than milk and she didn't know or care what it was.
???

O_O

....<_<....

...Oh, WOW, I have to restrain myself.

My barista guy friend always complains about the willowy blonde waifs who come in looking for a decaf skinny soy latte. I kind of agree with him. What's the point?

[Food Lady]

oh my god I HATE when people do this, and you tell them what they want and that is a latte with no foam, and they tell you that is not what they want, and continue to complain.

chained barista is right. if she wants more coffee than milk, she can order a misto also.

But she doesn't want a latte; it's too much milk. If the customers complain, it's probably because they feel corrected. I don't like to be corrected on what I want. I know what I want. If it's not possible to make it, and you tell me that, I can accept that and I won't complain. But correcting with a snippy attitude? Oh, no. (I'm not saying at all that you have an attitude, nor attacking you. I'm just saying my friend has been corrected this way and made to feel stupid. I'm sure you wouldn't do this.)

[Food Lady]

a cappucino without foam is an oxymoron; what she wants is a latte without the foam. her best option is to order a short latte, that way with an extra shot; that way, the milk to shot ratio is less than a regular sized latte. (shorts are 8 oz; a shot is one oz, so if she gets two shots, that is a 1:3, which is less milk and a bit more on the coffee side without too much of either.

Thank you! Ok, one more question, if anyone knows: How would the above translate to a grande size?

[irateguy]

slight tangent to this thread but talk about oxymorons My grandma once ordered a patty melt at Perkins and told them not to put any cheese on it. We had to tell her you just ordered a cheeseburger and told them to hold the cheese

[B&NGoddess]

im only slightly cafe trained, so this may be totally wrong, but couldn't one make a cappuccino like normal only not dump the foam in? the cup wouldn't be full, but its not like the foam had any real substance.

[Food Lady]

I suppose so, but I guess there's some room at the top because a capp has 1/3 foam?

[Kilamon]

slight tangent to this thread but talk about oxymorons My grandma once ordered a patty melt at Perkins and told them not to put any cheese on it. We had to tell her you just ordered a cheeseburger and told them to hold the cheese

Sorry....
(Dead Like Me)
A dish is a collection of flavors, consistencies, You start swapping ingredients in that carefully thought out melange, it's like fucking with the Jenga tower of taste.(/Dead Like Me)

[tollbaby]

oy vey. I'll have a diet coke.

[Mr. Rude]

Large hazelnut coffee without the sucky aftertaste *ala foamy the squirrel*

[PW_Elle]

My barista guy friend always complains about the willowy blonde waifs who come in looking for a decaf skinny soy latte. I kind of agree with him. What's the point?

Well, I don't know of any place that carries more than one variety of soy. I like soy, and love the taste.

What irked me when I was a barista are the ones who ordered a decaf, nonfat WITH WHIP mocha. Or the ones who ordered a decaf, nonfat, sugar-free vanilla latte <---- the ultimate "what's the point" coffee.

-PW_Elle

[SuperB]

My standard Starbucks order is a Tall chai-tea latte non-fat. My mother in law once said, "Jeez, you may as well go for it, why cheat yourself with non-fat?". I explained that non-fat froths better. Now she orders everything "non-fat".