Shine OnFlorida man orders world's most expensive Starbucks drink
This July, 23-year-old medical student Sameera Raziuddin thought she broke the record for most expensive Starbucks drink by ordering a 60-shot frappuccino worth $57.75.
She even brought her own jug to hold the 192-ounce beverage.
But earlier that month, Jarrod Johnson in West Virginia ordered a record-breaking 77-shot $71.35 Starbucks drink. He had baristas fill a cooler with the massive drink.
Yesterday, a Florida man broke the record once more.
William Lewis ordered a 101-shot “Mega” latte worth $83.75 and because he’s a holder of the My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program’s Limited Edition Metal Card, the drink was actually free.
Into the 160-ounce novelty cup Lewis ordered online, a barista poured a grande latte, followed by 99 more shots of espresso and 17 pumps of vanilla syrup.
"It’s an internet challenge," Lewis, a political and business consultant and talk show host tells TODAY. “I wanted to beat out the record.”
Lewis shared the giant cup of coffee, which contained roughly 6464 milligrams of caffeine, with four of his friends.
“That’s about 32 ounces per man, a little more than the Starbuck’s 31 oz Trenta size,” TODAY’s Ben Popken writes. “The giant gag cup was poured into normal-sized Starbucks cups for each to drink from.”
Health Canada recommends that healthy adults consume no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. Lewis and his four friends each consumed almost 1,300 milligrams.
Starbucks spokesperson Linda Mills says the chain “wouldn’t recommend” drinking such a massive coffee.
In fact, Starbucks doesn’t endorse the “Most Expensive Starbucks Drink Challenge” at all.
“A recent action item stated we were NOT to fulfill these requests, and all beverages are limited to the size cups that we serve. We are not required to serve frappuccinos in cups bigger than 26 oz,” one Starbucks employee posted on Reddit this summer.
“Per our existing policy, beverages larger than Trenta size (31 oz.) cannot be made or served. This includes personal cups that exceed 31 oz (or a Trenta-sized cup). For blended beverages and espresso drinks, those cannot be made or served in sizes larger than a Venti (24 oz cold cup/20 oz hot cup),” Starbucks advised in previous record breaking-attempts.
Lewis’ regular morning coffee order is already pretty impressive:
“As a Starbucks connoisseur, friends on Facebook are always making fun of my morning coffee,” Lewis tells EyesOnNews. “At $9.53 when rung up properly, my signature ‘Bill’s Morning Start’ a six-shot Venti, four-pump Vanilla, one-pump Mocha, extra-hot, extra-fat, upside down latte, is sure to keep you going throughout the morning.”
As huge as some of these Starbucks orders seem, none have come close to the world record for largest cup of coffee. Created by Caffe Bene in South Korea this summer, the world’s largest cuppa stood more than 3 metres high and held 14,228.1 litres of iced black Americano.
And if you really want an expensive cup of coffee, forget adding extra shots to a coffee-chain cup of joe. Try Black Ivory coffee, one of the world’s most exclusive coffees.
The coffee beans are found in the dung of Thai elephants — and retail for more than $1,100 a kilogram.
How do you take your coffee?
