Is this gross? Possibly a health code violation?

[LSLGuy]

@Grrr

The manager then promptly took it and threw it in the trash: “Anything that goes over the counter goes in the trash”.

I am not now nor have ever been in food service. But my impression from years of receiving food service is …

Yup. IIRC the rule for table service by waitstaff is “Once it touches the patron’s table it’s theirs. Or it’s trash.”

The OP’s situation is hovering on the border. IMO once the barista finished the drink & set it on the counter it was out of the store’s control. When their hand comes off it, that’s the moment it becomes “unclean” in my non-expert take on the regulations. Had I been the manager on duty and seen that maneuver the entire pot of cider would have gone down the drain.

Whether the barista was untrained, rebellious, indifferent, or simply had a momentary brain fart would be interesting to know.

[jnglmassiv]

@Colibri

The actual cost of the cider to the coffee shop is trivial, and not worth making a bad impression.

I’ve worked at a corporate coffee place and the cider arrived powdered in a mylar pouch. No one’s in back juicing apples. I don’t know the wholesale cost but it was cheap.

“If it’s cloudy & brown, you’re in cider town.
If it’s clear and yella, you got juice there, fella.”

[msmith537]

@purplehorseshoe

I am unclear on this “cider pot” so please excuse my ignorance.

Is this, like, a large vessel on simmer/boil from which, presumably, fresh drinks are pulled?

If so, did the cooled (but presumably otherwise untouched) drink get poured back into a communal vessel that re-boils the whole lot?

In that case, I’d assume the heating of the ingredients would nuke any imaginary germs that somehow could be re-transmitted back into the general cider.

I’ll allow, however, that the optics ain’t great. Wait a sec until there aren’t any customers to see, then pour the cold/unwanted drink back into the main pot.

That’s basically it. Plus the “pot” isn’t that big so toss a large drink back into it would probably cool it down a bit.

[Aspidistra]

I think it is actually wrong from a health point of view - because of temperature control. Things that are sitting about for a long time are supposed to be kept out of the “danger zone” (5-60 degrees in Oz - don’t know what the rules are in the US), and if they go into that window for a while you can put them in the fridge for later (as long as it’s not too long) but you’re not supposed to heat them up again.

So, yes, letting the cup cool right down and then putting it back with the hot stuff would be a no-no. Objectively probably not that dangerous compared to, say, re-warming a meat pie, but I think it would be against official health regulations here.

[RivkahChaya]

@Grrr

The manager then promptly took it and threw it in the trash: “Anything that goes over the counter goes in the trash”.

On that: had I been the OP, I would have asked for a new cup, hot or not, given that the one offered had been sitting alone on the counter on the “customer area,” apparently.

If I were the barista, on noticing the customer had left, but having the correct drink ready, I would keep it on the employee side of the counter. Not to be able to pour it back if the OP never returned, but to be able to assure the customer that it had been “overseen” while we waited for him to return.

And yes, I think this was a violation, and kinda gross.

Once when my son was little (a very tall-for-his age 2 & 1/2), he grabbed a French fry off a waiting tray that was not ours, on a restaurant counter. I apologized profusely and offered to replace all the food on the entire tray. The customer said no, please just replace the fries, though. The counter person, on observing, had gotten a new fry already, replaced the one on the tray, and when I said I’d pay, told me not to worry about it. I got lucky. But that’s how I feel about being secure in the knowledge your food has not been tampered with.

[RivkahChaya]

@jnglmassiv

I don’t know the wholesale cost but it was cheap.

The cup that went into the trash probably cost the shop more.

[msmith537]

@RivkahChaya

@Grrr

The manager then promptly took it and threw it in the trash: “Anything that goes over the counter goes in the trash”.

On that: had I been the OP, I would have asked for a new cup, hot or not, given that the one offered had been sitting alone on the counter on the “customer area,” apparently.

I think the drink never left the back counter.

Ultimately it wasn’t a big deal. I actually ordered the same drink this morning.

[Ranch_Dip]

@Thudlow_Boink

but it seems paranoid to worry about it.

Not paranoid at all. The person who got it as a mistake probably opened it and maybe tasted it. How else would they have known it was wrong?

[TriPolar]

@msmith537

I think the drink never left the back counter.

In that case there was nothing wrong with what they did. We should assume the employees did their job and that cider was not contaminated in any way. It’s still not a smart thing to do in front of customers.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@Ranch_Dip

The person who got it as a mistake probably opened it and maybe tasted it.

I got the impression from the OP that the drink in question was one they made specifically for him after they realized their mistake, not one that they had mistakenly given to someone else. But I could be wrong about that.