A barista at Blue Bottle convinced me to stop using syrup

I always loaded my iced lattes with vanilla syrup, like 4 pumps minimum. But last Saturday this barista named Diego asked if he could make me a plain latte with oat milk just to try it. He said the syrup was hiding the natural sweetness of the beans and after one sip I actually got what he meant. Now I'm down to zero pumps most days, has anyone else had a coffee shop worker totally change their order?

3 comments

3 Comments

shaneb161mo ago

Yeah I actually heard about this whole no syrup trend from a coffee nerd podcast a few months back. They said most people who load up on vanilla or caramel are just covering up bad beans. Blue Bottle roasts their own stuff so Diego probably knew the exact right batch to put you on. I tried the same thing at my local shop with their Ethiopian pour over and it tasted like blueberries without anything added. Now I feel cheated paying for those sugary add ons.

robert_anderson691mo ago

@shaneb16 Some of us actually like the taste of syrup with our coffee, nothing wrong with that.

blakem131mo ago

shaneb16 that thing you said about the Ethiopian pour over tasting like blueberries is exactly what got me. But heres the thing nobody talks about with this. Diego probably knew that oat milk has natural sugars that caramelize when steamed and pair with certain roasts. So the whole "plain" latte wasnt really plain. It was a calculated combination. Most baristas dont have that level of knowledge about how alternative milks actually change the flavor profile of coffee. They just dump whatever oat milk they have in there and call it a day. Diego did something different he matched the oat milk brand to the beans sweetness level. Thats the real secret here not just dropping syrup.