By 
More likely than not coffee is part of your morning routine. And we know that most people are obsessed with Starbucks—if not for the insane frapp flavors, for the fancy nitro cold brew or sweet iced teas. Or maybe even for the comfy arm chairs and free wifi. Never the less, we've got all the little secrets about the green mermaid that you need to know about before you next visit.
1. It all started in 1971.
The very first Starbucks store opened in Seattle's Pike Place Market.
2. Starbucks is based on Italian café culture.
It wasn't until 1983 that director of retail operations and marketing, Howard Schultz, took a trip to Italy. He was impressed by the espresso bars in Milan specifically and decided to develop a similar coffeehouse culture in Seattle to mimic that of Italy. And so the very first Starbucks caffè latte was served in 1984.
3. The Frappuccino was born in 1995.
Everyone's favorite blended beverage has been around for two decades and was followed by the bottled frappuccino coffee drink in 1996.
4. The rewards program has totally changed.
If you were used to using the original Starbucks loyalty card, then you were probably pretty shaken up when things went haywire. Back in February, Sbux announced it would be swapping stars per visit to stars per dollar spent. And people were not happy when the math worked out to $62.50 in order to earn gold star status.
5. Some secret menu items are *seriously* top secret.
Often times baristas have no idea how to make them. The undertow, a hot espresso slowly poured over a spoon into cold milk, was a hot topic on Reddit for months. And then the rainbow drinks took Instagram by storm so quickly that baristas couldn't keep up, leading sites like Delish to help you figure out how to order them properly.
6. Starbucks is redefining what a café is.
Totally bare of comfy couches and a plethora of outlets for laptops, a new wave of Starbucks stores is going after the in-and-out-in-just-a-minute model of "express stores." That means you order at a first counter, pay, then pick up at a second counter and be on your way in one super smooth and fast visit.
7. Some of the most beautiful locations are abroad.
International Starbucks stores are almost reason enough to travel. One is situated in Prague Castle in the Czech Republic, another sits between two continents in Istanbul, Turkey along the Bosphorus Strait.
8. Baristas might spell your name wrong on purpose.
Two years ago one comedy channel on YouTube produced a video "explaining" why Starbucks baristas can never seem to spell your name correctly. Even the simplest names like "Susie" and "Jessica" get a crazy barista twist like "Soozie" and "Gessika." Because you posted about it on Twitter, Instagram, and Vine. Free advertising, am I right? But also because they're writing names down 500+ times a day and it's entertaining to them.
9. There's a specific way you should be ordering.
Baristas reveal the most efficient way to ask for your coffee: hot or iced, size, number of shots, syrups, type of milk, name of the drink. So "iced venti whole milk macchiato."
10. At one location baristas aren't allowed to ask your name.
It's situated at the CIA headquarters in Langely, VA and known as "Store Number 1." There, baristas know officers by their order, not their names—i.e. "caramel macchiato guy" and "iced white mocha woman." Pretty stealthy, huh?
11. There are some super low-cal drinks on the menu.
Ten of them, in fact. And they're not all "light" or "skinny." Surprisingly, you can order an iced caffè Americano (just 10 calories!) and shaken iced teas that are only about 60 calories with sweeteners.
12. The best frapps come from other countries.
Seriously, what will it take to bring that orange honeycomb crunch flavor from Singapore over to the U.S.? And don't even get us started on the chocolate crunch frapp in Japan or the cookie latte from China.
Follow Delish on Instagram.
