Tipping Coffee Girls

Posted by John Carney, Sep 01, 2006, 11:29am

barista.jpgWe are allergic to the term “barista.” It sounds like some sort of Latin American revolutionary rather than a girl who has memorized the correct way to order a “double tall skim latte.” That said, we always tip the barista although we’re not sure why. We hardly tip anyone who isn’t providing whiskey across a bar. We never really thought much of it until today’s post from TwoBlowhards.

So now we’re curious about where the DealBreaker readership falls on these things. To tip or not to tip, that is the question. Leave your answers in the comments below.
Tip Jar Hitting [2Blowhards]

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Posted in: Starbucks

Comments

Posted by Lee, Sep 01, 2006 11:44AM

I went to a fancy-ass restaurant this week for a vendor-paid dinner. The restaurant automatically assigns an 18% gratuity to parties of seven or more. As if that wasn't galling enough, the service was slow and absent minded, and the food was breathtakingly unimpressive. In no way whatsoever did any of the staff earn the 18% that they de facto hijacked from us. Wouldn't it be great if we could all leverage an extra 18% of pure, sweet margin from our customers? Whatever...

Posted by Irene, Sep 01, 2006 11:51AM

Well now I'm kinda ashamed to say that I don't tip the baristas. I almost always use the Starbucks drive-thru so it just doesn't seem right. But when I go into a Starbucks and I know I'm going to be there awhile, I do hit the tip jar then.

Posted by Jerkstore, Sep 01, 2006 12:31PM

Jim Romanesko did a post about this on his starbucks blog a couple days ago. It gets higher traffic than dealbreaker, so I'm sure you saw it.

http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2006/08/tipping_debate_.html

Way to earn your paycheck Carney, you lazy, unoriginal turd.

Posted by Chaz, Sep 01, 2006 12:45PM

At any counter service establishment, I generally just drop my loose change in the cup. If the starbucks servers had serious barista training instead of mostly being trained for fast food service, then i might feel a pang of guilt. If i go to a cafe that can produce a good latte and maybe even latte art ( http://www.flickr.com/groups/latteart ) then i'd tip.

Posted by Andrew, Sep 01, 2006 12:57PM

I've had lengthy discussions about this with many people, Starbucks barista's included. My opinion is: don't tip the person ringing you up, if you are going to tip at all, tip based on quality of drink. Now that, in most startucks, the person making your coffee isn't the person taking your money or swiping your card, you have no obligation to drop change in at the time of the transaction because no 'significant' service has been rendered at this point. If you order a drip coffee, in which the person ringing you up does draw the coffee, you are under no obligation to tip at all.

My brother, a barista at Starbucks, tips as such: if the coffee order is considered significantly involved, and the barista makes a great drink, only after the evaluation taste should you return to the register to tip.

Posted by Dwigt, Sep 01, 2006 3:44PM

Question: how hot is hypothetical barista?

Posted by b, Sep 01, 2006 4:34PM

I always give my coin change...about 40 cents a pop.

Posted by Dr. J, Sep 01, 2006 6:30PM

Reminds me of those "Bud Light Real Men of Genius" radio ads a year or so ago:

"Today, we salute you, Mr Fancy Coffee Shop Coffee Pourer...sure you charge 5 bucks for a cup of coffee, it's putting that tip jar out that takes real guts"

Posted by billo, Sep 01, 2006 8:36PM

I always give the change up to the next dollar, unless it's less than $0.25, then I'll put a dollar in. Yeah, I'm a sucker. I figure that it means a lot more to them than to me.

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