{"id":36273,"date":"2022-10-07T10:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T10:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/starbucks-baristas-challenged-by-170000-plus-choices\/"},"modified":"2022-10-07T10:54:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:07:53","slug":"starbucks-baristas-challenged-by-170000-plus-choices","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/starbucks-baristas-challenged-by-170000-plus-choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Starbucks\u2019s Baristas Challenged by 170,000-plus Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Starbucks first turned regular drip coffee into a $5 half-caff, extra whipped cream mocha latte. Now they&rsquo;re producing dozens of bizarre concoctions dreamed up by social-media stars. These complex drinks include a Triple Caramel Threat&ndash;&ndash;cold brew with caramel syrup, vanilla sweet cold foam blended with dark caramel and caramel drizzle&ndash;&ndash;and a Matcha Pink Drink featuring the chain&rsquo;s Strawberry A&ccedil;a&iacute; Refreshers Beverage with green tea powder and sweet cold foam added. Their complexity is lengthening lines and driving baristas nuts.<\/p>\n\n<p>&ldquo;It is a bit exhausting,&rdquo; said a Starbucks barista in Buffalo, N.Y. The drinks treat Starbucks&rsquo;s menu less like a lineup of drinks and more like a buffet of ingredients to be mixed together in crazy ways to create off-menu drinks that may list 10 separate customizations on the side of the cup.<\/p>\n\n<p>The customized beverages center on a Starbucks mainstay&ndash;&ndash;customers&rsquo; ability to tailor any drink to their tastes&ndash;&ndash;and take it to the extreme. Starbucks says in addition to the beverage options listed on its menu boards, there are 170,000-plus ways baristas can customize beverages.<\/p>\n\n<p>American society suffers from a plague of things that are far too complicated<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[446],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3365,3572,3680,3681,3682,3726,3746,3747,3790,3808,3826,3997,4374,4410,4708,4969,4976,5012,5086,5302],"tax_ctp_topics":[396,400],"class_list":["post-36273","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-abundance","tax_ctp_tags-choice","tax_ctp_tags-consumer","tax_ctp_tags-consumer-mentality","tax_ctp_tags-consumerism","tax_ctp_tags-culture","tax_ctp_tags-decision","tax_ctp_tags-decision-making","tax_ctp_tags-discernment","tax_ctp_tags-distractions","tax_ctp_tags-double-mindedness","tax_ctp_tags-focus","tax_ctp_tags-lifestyle","tax_ctp_tags-luxury","tax_ctp_tags-priorities","tax_ctp_tags-shopping","tax_ctp_tags-simplicity","tax_ctp_tags-social-media","tax_ctp_tags-stress","tax_ctp_tags-worldliness"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Starbucks\u2019s Baristas Challenged by 170,000-plus Choices - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/starbucks-baristas-challenged-by-170000-plus-choices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Starbucks\u2019s Baristas Challenged by 170,000-plus Choices - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Starbucks first turned regular drip coffee into a $5 half-caff, extra whipped cream mocha latte. 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