There’s nothing better than a shopping spree, accompanied by a Starbucks bev of your choosing (and a cake pop, obviously). If you have the kids in tow, however, you might want to double check the caffeine content of their go-to drink before you place your order.
One dad made the unfortunate mistake of assuming a certain colorful beverage was caffeine free, and shared his experience on Reddit’s r/TIFU (Today I Fucked Up) as a PSA to other parents.
“I was in Target with my 4-year-old daughter. I swung by the Starbucks for coffee,” Redditor u/hes_the_Zissou (we’ll call him Zissou) wrote. “She asked for a lemonade and a snack. I saw they had lemonade refreshers- some with strawberries and some with acai. She got super excited, so I thought I’d get her a large strawberry lemonade refresher. She loved it and chugged the whole thing before I finished my coffee.”
Soon enough, his daughter was bouncing off the walls of Target. When Zissou’s wife caught up to him, she immediately realized what was going on: he had gotten his daughter a large, caffeinated Refresher.
Yup, a large, or venti, Starbucks Refresher contains 70 to 85 mg of caffeine — more caffeine than a grande matcha latte or any of the store’s teas, and much more than Zissou’s daughter had ever had.
The comments were pretty up in arms over Zissou’s decision, but surprisingly, not for giving his daughter a caffeinated drink. Nope — they were upset he got her a large.
“Who gives a 4 year old a LARGE sugary drink?” one user wrote.
“You bought a 4 year old a Large?! Even of just lemonade that’s a ton of sugar,” said another.
*Sigh* Never expect people to be calm about a random child’s sugar consumption on the Internet.
A few users actually related to Zissou, with one sharing out the same thing happened to them at Panera (a large Charged Lemonade at Panera contained a whopping 265 mg of caffeine, although the store no longer sells them).
“Chalk it up to life experience and a funny story you’ll tell your daughter’s future prom date,” the user said.
If you’re planning on visiting Starbucks anytime soon, caffeine content can be found on the app, in the nutrition and ingredients list for each beverage. However, it’s not usually posted on in-store menus — so I can see how the mistake was made!
One Redditor, a Starbucks employee, also shared that baristas aren’t trained to point out that the Refreshers are caffeinated, although they personally would double check that it was okay with the parent if they were clearly ordering it for a child.
If you’re ordering online, or your barista is super busy, they might not be able to notify you of a slip up. Some fruity, caffeine-free choices currently on the menu include regular lemonade, strawberry lemonade, and the iced Passion Tango Tea (it kind of tastes like Hawaiian Punch!). Just remember, if you see the word “Refresher,” you might be in for a chaotic afternoon!
