I’m a senior barista at Starbucks – secrets you don’t know about the drinks, and the caramel macchiato is NOT what you think it is

Whether you’re a Starbucks fanatic or like to treat yourself to a cup of coffee every now and then, there’s probably a lot you don’t know about the popular coffee chain.

Baristas are the ones who put all of the hard work into making your favorite beverage, so it’s no surprise they have all the inside knowledge.

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A leading barista and so-called “coffee master,” who goes by the name Swazey on TikTok, revealed the “things you might not know about Starbucks,” and some of the facts may surprise you.

First, she revealed that macchiato means the espresso is poured over it.

Next, Swazey wrote that a blonde espresso contains more caffeine than regular espresso.

According to the coffee experts at the Coffee at Three blog, “blonde roasts are lightly roasted, so they contain more caffeine than dark roasts, which are roasted longer.”

This can also be seen on the Starbucks menu, where you can see that an Iced Caffè Americano contains 225mg of caffeine, while an Iced Blonde Caffè Americano contains 255mg.

The lead barista then revealed where the term “nitro cold brew” came from.

She wrote, “Nitro Cold Brew is nitrogen-infused cold brew.”

Another surprising Starbucks fact is that according to Swazey, caramel macchiatos are actually made with vanilla, not caramel as the name might suggest.

“It’s ‘caramel’ because of the drizzle,” she explained.

Finally, Starbucks water is apparently triple filtered using reverse osmosis. How neat!

In the comments, some people were quite surprised by Swazey’s Starbucks secrets.

One wrote: “Oh that’s why Starbucks water is elite.”

Another added, “The fact that Starbucks created a ‘latte macchiato’ or ‘caramel macchiato’ for no reason when they could have just created a new word for it is startling.”

A third commented: “Starbucks ruined what a macchiato is!!! It’s not real!! It’s literally just a latte!!!”

In other Starbucks secrets, an employee revealed the drink, which has 3.5 times your daily sugar intake and is almost as calorie-dense as a Big Mac.

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