Sameera is a loyal Starbucks customer who clearly saw the previous $54.75, 60-shot Vanilla Bean Mocha Frapuccino record as a challenge. So she set out to order the world’s new most expensive Starbucks drink and told Consumerist all about it here.
While she did succeed in beating the $54.75 record, what’s unclear is whether Sameera’s drink is actually the current title-holder for “most expensive Starbucks drink ever.”
The problem? As Consumerist reports, the drink rang up for one amount initially, but cost a different amount after Sameera’s rewards card was scanned.
Photo: Consumerist
As you can see, the receipt at the top of this piece shows a final cost of $57.75. The cash register photo directly above shows a total of $60.58 that was rung up (and documented for posterity) before Sameera’s rewards card was scanned.
Caffeine Informer has been keeping tabs on the “most expensive Starbucks drink ever” wars, and has chronicled them here. According to CI, the current record-holder is a guy from Terre Haute, IN, whose drink would have cost $59.75 without his rewards card—but, of course, was actually free. The site considers actual printed receipts as proof—which currently puts Sameera’s drink into second place.
Does any of it really matter, though? It’s all hypothetical money anyway, since everyone’s getting their crazy unhealthy caffeine levels on with rewards cards that make them all the same low, low price of FREE. Then again, the entire contest itself is pretty silly.
What isn’t silly is that Sameera was super nice to her local Starbucks baristas, since she knew what she wanted to do could potentially disrupt normal business. She told Consumerist:
Consumerist reached out to Starbucks for a comment, and they sent back the statement below:
Per our existing policy, beverages larger than Trenta size (31 oz.) cannot be made or served. This includes personal cups that exceed 31 oz (or a Trenta-sized cup). For blended beverages and espresso drinks, those cannot be made or served in sizes larger than a Venti (24 oz cold cup/20 oz hot cup).”
Obviously, that “existing policy” isn’t being rigidly enforced in all locations—but as the Great Espresso Shot Battle of ’14 rages, we won’t be surprised if that changes.
[via Consumerist]