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Holiday Horrors

With holiday season in full swing, Starbucks baristas are being inundated with a word salad of festive drink orders. And just as their lengthy names imply — what the heck is a sugar cookie almond milk latte? — they're fairly difficult to make, especially when you have to memorize more than a dozen recipes. Here are the most difficult holiday drinks, according to Starbucks employees.


Related: Even Baristas Think Starbucks Prices are Insane

Starbucks

Mocha Cookie Crumble

The mocha cookie crumble topped the list of difficult-to-make holiday drinks, with multiple baristas complaining of its complexity. One employee said that they "cringe" every time they hear someone order it, while another barista admitted that they "despise" the holiday frappuccino with "every fiber" of their being.


Related: What Starbucks Baristas Really Think When You 'Pay it Forward' at the Drive-Thru

Starbucks
Starbucks

Peppermint Mocha

If five pumps sounds like a lot, then you'll be blown away by Starbucks' venti iced peppermint mocha, which gets a whopping 12 pumps of syrup. Not only is it a pain to make, it also contains 70 grams of sugar. That's 17 teaspoons of sweet, sweet sucrose, or the equivalent of two cans of Coke.


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Starbucks

Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte

If you had to open (and shake) six bottles of almond milk every shift, you'd probably hate the sugar cookie almond milk latte, too. Beyond having to shake the bottles of almond milk — another workout — the cartons also don't close properly. It isn't worth the effort, especially since one barista described its flavor as "burning plastic."

Starbucks

Honey Citrus Mint Tea

Since this tea includes so many different ingredients at different ends of the store, ordering one "messes up the flow" of work and is "very time consuming," according to multiple baristas. With multiple mentions in this thread, it's certainly one of employees' most-hated drinks.

Starbucks

Irish Cream Cold Brew

This drink's vanilla sweat cream foam and line of cocoa topping make it particularly frustrating for employees, baristas say. "The worst thing about the holiday drink is that they all get a different sprinkle on top, so if you grab the wrong one and top a drink with it you need to dump the drink and start over," one worker wrote.

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All Frappuccinos

While they're fun to say, full of tempting ingredients, and a customer favorite, baristas generally hate making most frappuccinos because of the added steps, which pulls workers away from the espresso bar. "I dread when a frappuccino is being ordered," a worker wrote, adding that they are the "literal worst."