ghetto latte n. a purchased espresso to which is added a free dairy condiment such as milk, half-and-half, or whitener. Editorial Note: Ghetto as an adjective meaning “fake, imitative, improvised, shoddy” has been used for at least nine years. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
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This is a curious example of what goes around comes around in that the “Ghetto” was originally the Jewish quarter of, I believe, Venice. The word lost its Italian connection for generations, only to find it again with this coinage in its applicability to drinks of (putative) Italian lineage.
Call it what you want, i.e. Ghetto Latte, but when Starbucks charges an extra $1.25 to add a few tablespoons of milk to expresso, that is highway robbery!! How come it is okay for Starbucks to rip off the customer, but it’s not alright for the customer to save a buck here and there. I’m just upset that I didn’t think of this strategy sooner.
I’ve been drinking what you call ‘ghetto lattes’ for over a decade. I’ve always looked at the extra $1-2 for steamed milk as a sucker’s tax.
Starbuck “cult customers” need to stop taking starbucks so serious. The flaw is in Starbucks pricing, there should not be such a loop hole. The really pathetic people are the ones who pay the 1.25 just so they don,t look cheap, another Starbucks donation. Their coffee is great and their marketing genius, but, would you pay an extra $100 dollars for a pair of shoes if the same pair was right next to it on sale, just to say you did? Don’t think so.
Latte Schmatte.
1/2 cup of milk is a bit excessive, but people have been putting creamers on the table at the diner for decades. Why are the kids behind the counter so upset? They aren’t paying for the milk, the owner is. I don’t bother with starBUCKS, or any other place where snotty little kids are serving overpriced coffee and begging for tips with a little jar. You want tips? Get a job where they are warranted and don’t beg, you arrogant little puke. Anyone who deserves a tip will at least have the decency to accept it from me directly, but these people can’t be bothered to have that much contact.
Does it still go on in NYC that when you order coffee in a diner they ask white or black? And if you answer, white, they put the milk in it and hand you the cup, having figured out how to make a profit in any ghetto.
My “ghetto latte” is usually the result of ghetto beans—crap brew that requires milk or 1/2 & 1/2 to reach drinkable flavor. Truly good espresso does *not* need such adulteration. In the greater SF Bay Area region, Graffeo, Illy, and Monterey Roasting Company reach this distinction. Sadly, other beans, including markedly Starbucks, do not (sorry Peets, you neither).