25+ Coffee shop customers who had bizarre drink orders: 'It literally made my mouth go numb'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 11, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Imagine making a coffee drink so outrageous that it makes a coffee shop create a new rule in response. That's basically happened to a few people who got coffee beverages so bizarre that it upset the baristas! 

Workers at popular coffee chains have seen it all. They'll have people who order things like a large cold brew with dozens of added sugars and Splendas. Sometimes this person will be a regular, and will somehow order the same 2500 calorie drink every single day. I was also surprised to learn that some people will order multiples of their favorite drink at the same time, going up for multiple refills. Taking advantage of a company's refill policy once is just a smart financial choice… but if you're having like, 4 large coffees in an hour, you might be wrecking your kidneys just to get your money's worth at the coffee shop. 

Some people weren't drinking crazy amounts of coffee, but they were mixing beverages that should never be in the same cup together, like lemonade and espresso. A few people like to order coffee and tea in the same cup, which makes me curious to try such a beverage. Check out the cursed coffees below to see which one surprises you the most. 

Up next, read the wild story of a delivery driver who got tasked with carrying more than 224 water bottles up to a 17th-story apartment with no elevator: "I'm not walking up 17 flights of stairs." 

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  • 01
    Have you ever had someone order- via app, counter or drive- thru, that has made you cringe or think "that's gonna taste disgusting!" Did you get to witness the customer try it?
    via u/[deleted]
  • 02
    LunarPrincessss my store has a semi-regular order that gets a venti passion tea with no water and instead sub heavy cream, 6 sugar free vanilla and 3 scoops matcha. it ends up looking like actual V
    via u/LunarPrincessss
  • 03
    whitenoize21 Ah yes. One of my favs from my time at sbux. Had a pharmaceutical rep come in every Tuesday to buy about 30 drinks for doctors. I was the SM and this man would email me the drink order the night before so we could have it ready at pick up. One night I get the order and see something.....odd. I emailed back and asked if it was a
    via u/whitenoize21
  • 04
    typo. It was not. This doctor's order was a venti caramel Frappuccino with 30 Splenda. 30. My partners opened 30 Splenda packets and added it in. I remember even the pharm rep asking "is this normal?"......no. No its not. There was some leftover in the blender and we poured it into sample cups to try. It literally made my mouth go numb. But, every Tuesday, had to make that monstrosity.
    via u/whitenoize21
  • 05
    eclectic-kitty I have one co-worker who'll regularly get a lemonade with shots of espresso in it. Another often gets iced passion tea with a packet of salt, she says it's like gatorade, for the electrolytes...
    via u/eclectic-kitty
  • 06
    Zalaya Grande pink drink with vsc instead of coconut milk, 6 pumps vanilla, and vsc cf on top
    via u/Zalaya
  • 07
    leomaxxx15 I had someone order half cold brew half lemonade. Me and the other people working there tried it after he left and it was as disgusting as it looked
    via u/leomaxxx15
  • 08
    PleaseOhGod Why a grande pike with 30 pumps of classic (literally half a cup of syrup) and... 2 splenda and extra steamed cream. There was literally like maybe an inch of room. for actual coffee. I just can't imagine stomaching that
    via u/PleaseOhGod
  • 09
    yugenf3y we have a customer who orders these usually twice a week and gets 3-4 each time: venti trad misto quad 11 stevia 10 vanilla bean 2 sf vanilla coconut milk heavy cream add whip it's horrifying and she's also SO r de bc she comes as we are going to lock the
    via u/yugenf3y
  • 10
    doors.. and will ask if she can look at our cups or make another purchase to which we say no bc it's a minute after closing. she also asks for another 10-20 packs of stevias
    via u/yugenf3y
  • 11
    edit: she also sits in the parking lot after and drinks them, and before she comes in to grab them she's waiting in her car for usually 5-10 minutes so she's purposely coming in as we are locking the doors
    via u/yugenf3y
  • 12
    solsday He'd get this four times a day. It was a Trenta Iced Coffee w/ 19 pumps classic, Extra Half and Half. light ice, and would have us unscrew the lid of the caramel drizzle bottle and pour it until he
    via u/solsday
  • 13
    said when. (usually went through 2/3rds of the bottle doing this. sometimes the whole thing) He actually sparked a whole morality of service debate at our store.
    via u/solsday
  • 14
    Cheezburger Image 10528045824
    via justin bhalla on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 15
    m8m3 the day pineapple passion fruit came out a guy got that with a single shot - he said he was curious
    via u/m8m3
  • 16
    vanilla_made just made a dragon drink with 3 scoops of matcha and it literally looked like sewer water... also had another that was a pink drink with 3 shots. absolutely foul
    via u/vanilla_made
  • 17
    ayepapi Yesterday someone got a venti oleato shaken esp with golden foam and DECAF. So all that oil and for what
    via u/ayepapi
  • 18
    Loud_Rhubarb I've had a lot of horrifying orders, but the one that haunts me is the Eastern European customer who ordered a "hot tea and coffee". Not two drinks though. ONE drink. Half brewed earl grey, half pike. It smelled like h I and when I gave it to him he took a sip and said "not what I usually get, but this is even better!"
    via u/Loud_Rhubarb
  • 19
    PixieMari Matcha frapp with raspberry, caramel, toffee nut, and chai, it was brown and smelled horrendous
    via u/PixieMari
  • 20
    cody_cain Back before I quit, we had a venti black tea lemonade with 2 pumps cinnamon dolce and 2 long shots, later she changed it to a venti mango lemonade with 2 long shots. Sh tasted like ciga ttes
    via u/cody_cain
  • 21
    Comfortable-Plan... I had a delivery with two venti ice Carmel macchiatos made with heavy cream. I googled it and one of those was 2500 calories
    via u/Comfortable-Plane944
  • 22
    Cheezburger Image 10528045312
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 23
    Firm_Friendship_9... We used to have a regular that ordered this every single day, it was two trenta black teas, no water, no ice, 10 Splenda 10 pumps raspberry. Thank god she stopped coming after raspberry got discontinued because she was such a b
    via u/Firm_Friendship_9148
  • 24
    KahlanKhaos Trenta Chocolate Cream Cold Brew, 12 vanilla, 12 classic, 3 shots, extra 2%, extra cream, extra sweet cream, extra ice, extra chocolate cold foam. Peak Rush Mobile Order and I pulled the sticker and was
    via u/KahlanKhaos
  • 25
    like "Where do they want me to put all these things?!" I got the same order a couple other days and wasn't as overwhelmed. But that first time was awful. They got maybe half an inch of cold brew.
    via u/KahlanKhaos
  • 26
    RedBeardBigHeart Barbie Frappuccino, Little child probably 8ish, asked nicely and drank it. Her face went from yippee to shock horror. Made her another drink for free.
    via u/RedBeardBigHeart
  • 27
    UndeadFleshPapi Had a dude who would come in and get a venti 10 shot iced espresso with 2 pumps of basically every syrup except raspberry and peppermint, heavy cream, an ungodly ammount of caramel drizzle in/on the drink on top of a literal tall iced cup FULL to the brim of caramel drizzle. Hed also go if we absolutley
    via u/UndeadFleshPapi
  • 28
    didnt put his drink in a trenta cup. Also had a coworker who would get a venti iced matcha latte made with sweet cream (like, all of it), 4 shots of blonde espresso, toffee nut syrup, raspberry syrup, strawberry puree, vanilla sweet cream foam and about an inch of caramel drizzle. Made me wanna vomit.
    via u/UndeadFleshPapi
  • 29
    Bludandy Asking for iced coffees blended. They just never come out right, just a slushy icy mess and never like they intend (they usually want base-free fraps.) They're not the worst drinks, but I just feel bad for people ordering them because it's never a great result.
    via u/Bludandy
  • 30
    Cheezburger Image 10528045568
    via Diana Oramas on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 31
    [deleted] My old regular. Trenta green iced tea, no water, no ice, 37.5 splenda and you had to count/dump them into the shaker in front of her. If she thought you out more than the half packet at the end she'd make you redo it. She would sit in the lobby for ten minutes, drink the entire thing, and get a refill of the exact same thing to go.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 32
    It got to the point that we would brew two extra pitchers of green iced tea around 10am every day because her drinks used up most of them. Plus we would have 38 splenda packets counted out into short cups ready for her to get there.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 33
    Domstachebarber I worked at an R bar. My coworkers beverage was blonde shots in ginger beer. Totally disgusting.
    via u/Domstachebarber
  • 34
    voldys_moldy_witch Pineapple refresher with peach juice and chocolate cold foam
    via u/voldys_moldy_witch
  • 35
    espaulson I've posted the so many times in this Reddit but this girl who order a grande white mocha with 16 pumps white mocha. And yes I witnessed it and he was like mm perfect and drove away happy. I was just like my body would revolt but kudos lol
    via u/espaulson

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drinks coffee shop job barista customers terrible customers entitled customers employees tea coffee energy drinks workers
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