On a recent Tuesday morning, as my alarm clock blared its painfully shrill noise at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am, the only thing that got me out of bed was the promise of an ice cold vanilla latte with 2 pumps of syrup and cold foam on top.

I dragged myself out of bed and quickly got ready for school, all with the thought of the latte on my mind. 

The ritual of going to Starbucks before school has become a near-daily event. Each morning, Adina (a fellow editor of this newspaper) picks me up in her Honda minivan, and we drive to the Starbucks a few minutes away from my house. With both of us perpetually late to school, we’ve gotten the timing down to an exact science. Instead of 15 minutes late, we are a mere five minutes late. 

When we get to the Starbucks, Adina pulls over to the side of the road, I quickly get out of the car and rush into the Starbucks as she makes a u-turn of questionable legality. By the time she turns around, I am standing outside the Starbucks, drinks in hand, with a smile on my face. 

But on this particular Tuesday morning, as the barista handed me my drink, it became immediately clear that something had gone very wrong. 

I had ordered a cold drink, but this cup was made out of an opaque, cardboard-like material instead of the usual transparent plastic. I looked down at the label, checking to see if they had given me a hot drink instead of a cold one. But no, my order was perfect, down to the exact number of vanilla syrup pumps. 

I was confused, concerned, and shocked about the state of my Starbucks drink. Why had the cups suddenly changed? How could I see my drink if the cups were made out of cardboard? How could they do this to my beloved coffee?

As a seasoned Starbucks drinker, I am here to offer my expert opinion on Starbucks’ latest cups. 

The new cups are white and made out of a compostable material that closely resembles cardboard and are part of Starbucks’ years long efforts to promote sustainability and become more environmentally friendly. These new cups are made from molded fiber and come with either a dome or a flat top. They are currently available in 14 states, and Starbucks is hoping to make all their cups fully compostable by 2030. 

The truth is that drinking out of the new cups is an experience that does not measure up to the old ones. 

When I took my first sip, the coffee immediately spilled out from underneath the lid, staining my clothes. The old plastic cups came with a raised section that made them easier to drink from. The new cups do not, making it easier to spill your beverage. 

The next morning, I went to Starbucks (again) to see if maybe I would have gotten used to the new cups. 

The short answer: I did not. 

The long answer: the top of the cup turned an unappetizing green after a few sips, and Adina’s matcha had a strange taste (but to be fair, I cannot be sure that this is from the cup). 

The old cups were sleek and shiny. The new cups are clunky and dull.  The plastic cups allowed you to instantly see your beverage and appreciate it in all of its caffeinated glory. But with the new cups, your drink remains a mystery until you take that first sip. The new cups don’t only change the look of your drink; they also change the taste of the drink and leave an unpleasant aftertaste. 

The new cups are like paper straws. The intention is noble, but the execution missed the mark. Despite this, I admire Starbucks’ steps to help repair our polluted world in any way they can. Starbucks currently makes 4 billion paper cups per year in order to meet demand from customers. This amounts to 1.6 million trees cut down, which takes a heavy toll on the environment. 

To all the people who love Starbucks but hate the new cups, this might actually be a blessing in disguise. 

I’ve spent $6 on an overpriced, and often mediocre drink for years, but now I’m finally trying coffee from new places (if you live in Santa Monica, get the Iced Macadamia vanilla latte from Jyan Isaac, and the Vietnamese Coffee with Egg from Blossom and Friends). I’ve started going to new coffee places throughout Los Angeles, tried new flavors, and experienced the coffee of different cultures, all of which has supported small businesses in the process.

If you want to see stars because your coffee is so good, I recommend that you bring your bucks elsewhere.