It is fair.

If there is no preparation for milk in an Iced Latte should they charge the same price as a hot Latte.

The employees did not expend the effort of steaming/frothing the milk or half/half at the condiment bar.

The additional cost for a non-getto latte compensates the franchise owner for the time and human resources used in preparation.

For a company that charges $1.85 for a cuppa joe, they'd do well not being too snobby.

It would be interesting to see Barista Boucers guarding the condiment stand.

As far as I'm concerned, bring rennet and citric acid to Starbucks and make mozzarella from the milk on the condiment bar. I am, however, a little uneasy w/ "Ghetto" as an all-purpose modifier describin inexpensive substitutes. "Ghetto," Warsaw aside, is racially connotative, if not formally denotative, and thus does not seem that different than calling it a "lattle for black people."

Fesser - I had the same thoughts as you, but didn't bring them up, for a variety of reasons.

I thought about changing the name of the drink, but decided to retain the name of the drink as noted on the Starbucks Gossip site.

It never even occurred to me to think there might be a problem with this. How is it even morally questionable? You're ordering something on the menu, and making use of the offered condiments.
Actually, you're doing a lot of Starbuck's work for them!

Wow. I thought I just would order an iced coffee and add 1/2-1/2 at the bar because that was the way I liked it when it is 110* outside. I had no idea it had a name and sub-culture. It's just iced coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 to me.

WHY would I but a latte and then have them ice it? Makes no sense when it's over 80* out. I'm clueless as why this is an issue.

Oh no. I have made a ghetto latte. I always ask for my iced Americanos without water because I like that strong coffee taste. Plus it is much colder that way for hot summer afternoons. I don't ever fill the glass the rest of the way up with milk, but I've been known to add an inch or two.

I think as long as the customer is buying, the condiment bar is free reign. In South Korea I have to pay almost three USD for an iced Americano, and I'll use all the condiments I like for that price.

When I worked at Starbucks, I found it more annoying to see people pocket handfuls of packaged condiments, or people would ask for a cup, then go fill it up with cream or milk.

@kt,

it's not Starbucks who's driving those shops out, it's the people who chose to go to Starbucks over the local coffee shop. Simple as that. If people want the small one to stick around they should go to those stores and not to the chain.

Simple as that.

As for the "Ghetto Latte", hey, they put them there so that I can make my dirnk the way I like, so they shouldn't complain.

Tim Hortons for example does not give free condiments, you have to tell them when you order what you want.

I just call this an iced coffee and have been drinking these even before there was a Starbucks. I don't feel badly about it, or feel like changing my order just because it is now possible to order frou-frou espresso drinks for four times the price.

If I want espresso, I want it as the Italians have it - straight up.

The topic of this post and some of the defenses for abusing the free condiment bar are fairly close to this post (and comments) on Frank Bruni's blog:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=117

would you go to a fast-food place that has condiments out for sandwiches and make a salad out of them?

...hey Kate, thanks for letting me know about this...I'll definitely be saving some 'bucks' from now on...!

dear k [visitor]

FYI - an iced latte DOES NOT require steamed milk. starbucks uses cold milk straight from the carton. how would you ever add ice to steamed milk and expect the milk to stay steamed?!?!

I cant belive people really think about things like this.What a waste of time. If your that worried about 1.25 then go get yur coffee at the exxon down the road and put ice from the fountain drink in it.Starbucks sucks anyway.

This is what i call a jew-mac which is ok because i'm a jew.Go to micky-d's and order a .99 double cheeseburger and add lett. tom. and big-mac sauce and BAM, you have a .99 big-mac. Is this wrong?

Isn't an iced Americano with no water just an iced Espresso?

LEAVE IT AT STAR*UCKS
The practice of Ghetto Lattes is fine when you have bulk buying power, serve 3-5month old beans and squeeze your distributors for lower prices. However, those of us who are indy coffee houses, you know the ones that are real, laid back actual coffee houses that started this whole thing, can't afford this practice, our profits are razor thin (usually because we use local, organic FRESH products) we live in the neighborhood, employ local people and benefit the communities we are in. PLEASE think twice before building your own lattes at our indy shops, we just can't handle another hit.

I order my espresso on ice and add NO MILK! Yes believe it or not some take it without the condiments.

The markup on coffee is one of the biggest, right up there with pizza and popcorn. There is no reason why espresso (cheaper than coffe) + milk= 5 bucks. That's just stupid. Starbucks is making a klling and they know it. They are not worried about the ghetto-latte cuz guess what, they are still making money!

I spent much time in Italy and a espresso with steamed milk does not cost anywhere close to what cafes charge in the states and it's about a million times better.

In my store that wouldn't be a problem, though we've never made one to the best of my knowledge.

Sarah, however, you're a fool. Starbucks are not the all evil corporation everyone claims they are. They're very good with regards to quality and whilst they're expensive the beans are the best quality and we never allow old coffee or old beans to be used past their sell by date, stop being an ignorant fool and go drink your fizzy drinks from Mcdonalds.

Adding onto Claire. Sarah you are still an idiot. We don't squeeze our distributors for lower prices we pay them ABOVE fair trade prices so that they can support a family. In the event of natural disasters where there farms have been destroyed, did you know that on more than one occasion, Starbucks has paid all of the money needed to rebuild all of the facilities and get the farmer back on their feet.

Starbucks also benefits the communities we are in. http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/csr.asp Go there. It is all about Starbucks vow to Social Responsibility. Maybe you might learn something instead of spewing fallacies that some uninformed idiot who just doesn't like starbucks made up.

Thank you.

i'm a little torn on this issue. if they're getting an espresso over ice and filling the rest of the cup with milk in a way that would fit a proper ratio to be recognized as a latte i see it as abusing the condiment stand. however if they're adding about an inch or so of milk then there's no harm, just a drink i personally wouldn't want.
though i think that the iced lattes should be cheaper than hot, because it's just espresso with alot of milk and there's no actual manpower in making it.

i work for a smaller tea/coffee shop that's starting to franchise in canada, and i know that if anyone was abusing the condiment stand on a regular basis we'd be pretty screwed. we're at the point we have to charge an extra fifty cents for soy drinks.

i gotta say the whole ghetto lattes doesnt bug me, unless you pull up to the same cafe every morning in your BMW, dressed to impress and talking on your blackberry.....YOU CAN AFFORD IT! Pay full price dude!

I enjoy my local coffee shop, but I only buy the expensive drinks as a treat. Normally I get a plain cuppa joe and fix it the way I prefer, with a lot of half and half and sugar. Guess I'm making some version of a ghetto latte, but that is how I drink my coffee at home too, I just don't give it a fancy name.

The ghetto latte phenomenon is always a tricky one for cafes to get right. Why? Simply, balancing business needs against customer wishes.

I personally like my coffee with a splash of cold milk or two. Stores here don't typically put the milk out on the counter for customers: it's too hot most of the year, and the milk goes bad.

But if a coffee shop is afraid of customers ordering ghetto lattes all the day long, their business model isn't very effective, for sure. The shop will have bigger problems than undercutting their existing products with a ghetto latte. A half cup of milk should NOT break a business!

But if it must be done, perhaps a polite note explaining how much milk CAN be used by a customer or serving milk in single serving size. Most customers won't even notice or care, if they do.

Kenneth