Starbucks ‘Edward’ speaks out after his crazy order goes viral
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There is absolutely no shame in Edward’s Starbucks ordering game.
Drinking in his newfound fame since his Venti Caramel Crunch Frappe with five bananas, seven pumps of caramel syrup, extra whip and more went viral last week, legendary Starbucks customer “Edward” doesn’t see anything wrong with making baristas whip up his super specific specialty drink — even though the barista who posted his outlandish order online as a joke got fired from the café.
“I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t order a drink like this again,” Edward Nagao-Itano told The Post of the $14 beverage. (He used 150 of his 1,500 Starbucks customer reward points to buy it May 1.)
“I just ordered another drink just like it yesterday.”
Edward, 31, unwittingly found himself in hot water last Monday after ex-Starbucks employee Josie Morales, 22, shared a Twitter snapshot of his complex coffee concoction, featuring 13 sugary ingredients.
His crazy cup of joe commands sent social media to its boiling point.
With over 335,000 likes, baristas and allies used Morales’ since-deleted tweet to demand the end of a TikTok trend that encourages Starbucks customers to order intricate customized coffees from the brand’s “secret menu.”
Like Edward’s busy brew, patrons who’ve taken their cues from the digital platform have ordered detailed and time-consuming blends like the “Strawberry Cheesecake Frappuccino” and the “Matcha Pink Drink.”
“Making drinks like these can be really stressful for baristas,” Morales told The Post. “Especially when managers want us to have each drink prepared for the customer in seconds.”
But Starbucks defended their customers’ right to request the labor-intensive libations, telling Fox News: “Customizing beverages at Starbucks and our baristas’ expertise in helping customers find and craft the right beverage has and always will be the heart of the Starbucks experience.”
“There are many ways for customers to modify their favorite beverage at Starbucks and most customizations are reasonable requests from customers,” a spokesperson added.
Morales was immediately terminated from his two-year term as a Starbucks barista in Los Angeles after his picture of Edward’s order went viral.
But, in an unexpected turn of events, the guys have become buddies.
“Once I was made aware that my order had gone viral,” Edward, a project manager and home health care aid, said, “I found Josie on Instagram and reached out to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble for posting it.”
Instead of taking offense to being outed as a persnickety Starbucks sipper, Edward said he saw Morales’ tweet as nothing more than a lighthearted joke.
“I wanted to let him know that he didn’t do anything wrong,” he added. “It’s definitely an order people could find funny.”
And Morales says Edward’s multi-step mixture wasn’t even the most convoluted task he was forced to tackle during his tenure behind the coffee bar.
“Last year, a customer ordered 26 drinks at once,” the former Starbucks staffer said. “And at least half of them came with all these crazy customizations and demands.”
“It took me over 10 minutes to make them all just right.”
Edward — who doesn’t have a TikTok, and had no clue about the Starbucks secret menu trend — is sympathetic to the baristas’ plight.
And he wants other creatively demanding drinkers to consider the coffee-makers’ hard work and efforts, too.
“It’s fine to keep ordering these speciality drinks from Starbucks,” Edward said, noting that he only allows himself the super sweet treat every once in a while.
“As long as you take care of the people who make the drinks by giving them a decent tip, then everyone should be happy.”
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