So I’m enough of a regular at the Stone Creek Coffee in Whitefish Bay that I’m the mayor there on Foursquare. The manager there, Kendra (@stonecreekkb), is truly one of the best baristas I’ve seen anywhere. Before going to vote today, I made a quick stop there with Milwaukee’s best children’s photographer (@annamayerphoto). Today, Anna was jonesin’ for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, which at Stone Creek includes a bit of Oregon Chai. Now Kendra, knowing that Anna prefers the Rishi Chai over the Oregon Chai (because she is the best), offered to make it with Rishi instead. It sounded interesting, so in an uncharacteristically adventurous move, Anna went for it. Of course it was hot, so she couldn’t taste it immeditately to offer any feedback.
About 2 minutes into our drive to the polling place, she tried it only discover that it was awful! I believe the reaction was something like, “Aw, phlaw, yuck! That tastes like soap!” I could be wrong as it was very fast and slurred, but I believe I’ve got the gist of it. She tried a couple more sips to see if it was just he shock of the different chai, but with every sip, it was just as bad. In an effort to save the day, I took a sip. Uh….no. Tired a couple more sips, and … no. This drink was not working with this chai. As awful as, it was I don’t fault Kendra, but rather applaud her for offering the drink. I have no doubt that if this scenario would have occurred in the store, she would have remade the drink in a heartbeat. But, alas, we weren’t in the store; we were 2 miles away. That’s where Stone Creek gets it, and what makes this story bloggable.
After voting, we went to the Glendale Stone Creek to get a replacement since it was right by our polling place. As we were at a different store where we are not regulars, we fully intended to buy a new drink. On the off chance they might offer a replacement we brought in the still-somewhat-relatively-warm, aforementioned beverage. We were warmly greeted by both baristas. I wish I would have gotten their names. Maybe we could just give them good Wisconsin names. Let’s call them Mark and Amber. 🙂 After just a very brief explanation, Mark began remaking the drink. No hesitation. No questions. No-brainer. Just good service. The conversation that ensued among the four of us during the remake was one that cemented in my mind that Stone Creek Coffee GETS customer service.
Oh, and new Pumpkin Spice Latte? It was everything it was supposed to be 🙂
Stone Creek, you’ve been spied: Thumbs up.