Regarding the two Extremely bitter Lattes I recently received after having one that was Perfect the week prior. The young employees informed me that I must Drink the Espresso within 10 seconds after it was made. Lol! While I do understand that the Baristas are slammed with orders and work very hard, I have ordered & received many Lates over the years that weren't bitter.. and were enjoyed slowly while chatting with friends & family. In fact, just the week prior, my husband picked up one from This Starbucks that was PERFECT after a 5 minute drive. So No!. The concept of guzzling a latte in 10 seconds isn't reality-based. This is my message to this Starbucks. Quoted from a Coffee Shop Owner on Quora. Bitterness can be a footprint of many possible technological problems. Most of them (if not all) are originated from the knowledge/experience/inattention of the barista. For example, if coffee ground fineness is not ideal the beverage may be more bitter than usual. Of course, there are many other (at least a dozen) aspects, which may produce bitter coffee, even to the smell and taste of burnt rubber. In the background, for a constantly good quality coffee (in the cup) three main things should work together in harmony: ingredients (water, coffee, milk), machinery (grinder, tamper, filter, espresso machine) and the knowledge/experience/attention of the barista. Based on your experiences, I suppose that the weak point is the barista (or one of the baristi). As soon as you get a cup of coffee more bitter than usual, simply report it to the manager. And This; A Caffe Latte has two ingredients: Espresso and milk. But the espresso has two ingredients: coffee and water. So a Caffe Latte really has three ingredients and they all matter. Firstly, the coffee. The coffee should not taste burnt or bitter, and there's no point in using the milk to mask a bad taste. So bad coffee equals bad espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte, or whatever you are making with it. Water. Yes, water. A good Latte DEMANDS an espresso ristretto, or short espresso. A long espresso (more than 1 oz of water per 7 grams of coffee) just adds water to the Caffe Latte. It's like making a Caffe Latte with a short short, then adding a shot of hot water. Yecch. Watered down coffee can be great, as in espresso lunghi, Americano, or just strong coffee. But watered down milk? Double Yecch. Milk. Whole milk is best, but 2% will suffice, But the technique is a big deal. Cappuccino gets very foamy milk, where the foam makes up about half the volume of the milk. A latte, on the other hand, is designed to put more milk in the glass, so less foam, but still doesn't pour like liquid milk. So if you make a good Espresso Ristretto, and add lightly foamed milk, you will have a Perfect Caffe Latte.
I’m new to this town, the service at this Starbucks is horrible. I would much rather go to Dutch. All staff are very immature and do not make sure their guest leave happy. I’m completely unsatisfied with my experience here today. 10/10 don’t recommend. Save your money and time!