Tag: News

• President Biden has long depicted Trump as a major threat to democracy in the US.
• Biden used the argument against the GOP in 2022, with many Democrats later praising the strategy.
• But a new WaPo-George Mason Univ. poll shows that swing-state voters are giving Trump an edge on the issue.

President Joe Biden has staked a major tenet of his reelection campaign on painting former President Donald Trump as one of the biggest political threats to democracy in the US.

It was an issue that Biden played up heavily against the GOP in the 2022 midterms, issuing a stern warning a week before the election where he argued that "democracy is at risk."

"We're often not faced with questions of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy," he said at the time. "But this year we are."

Democrats ended up retaining control of the Senate and losing their House majority by a much narrower margin than predicted, with many in the party arguing that Biden's messaging had been a success.

But ahead of the November election, voters in six key swing states gave Trump an advantage on who would be better suited at handling threats to democracy, a reflection of the continued challenges that Biden faces as he seeks a second term in office.

In a survey conducted by The Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University among registered voters from mid-April to late May, Trump led Biden 44 percent to 33 percent on the democracy issue. Sixteen percent of respondents indicated that neither candidate had an advantage on defending democracy, and seven percent said that both men were equally able to handle the issue.

Among "deciders," which includes voters that only voted in one of the past two White House contests, are aged 18 to 25, have been registered voters since 2022, or aren't planning to back Biden or Trump in the upcoming election — Trump has a nine-point edge (38% to 29%) over Biden on democracy issues. Nearly a quarter (23%) of "deciders" said that neither candidate was adept at handling the issue, while 10% indicated that both candidates could effectively tackle the issue.

The findings come at a critical stage for the Biden campaign, shortly before a Thursday debate that has the potential to reshape what has been a tight presidential contest between the incumbent and the ex-president.

Biden came into office pledging to be an effective steward of the federal government just days after the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 — where pro-Trump supporters attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

But Republicans have remained overwhelmingly behind Trump since then, with many GOP lawmakers downplaying the January 6 riot and arguing that the ex-president would be a better leader on the world stage.

• Another US Navy carrier strike group is headed to the Middle East.
• The USS Theodore Roosevelt and its escort warships will take over counter-Houthi operations.
• It will be the Pentagon's third strike group to enter the region since the fall. 

Two US Navy carrier strike groups have come and gone as conflicts in the Middle East — from Gaza to the Red Sea — continue with no immediate end in sight. A third carrier strike group is working its way toward the region.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is currently in South Korea, but it will soon depart for the US Central Command area of responsibility. Its arrival will make it the third CSG to enter the Middle East's turbulent waters over the past nine months.

Beyond Israel's war in Gaza and Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, there are growing concerns over the possibility of more violence in Israel and Lebanon as tensions flare.

Ford strike group

Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel, followed by the latter's retaliatory war in Gaza, triggered an outburst of violence across the Middle East and quickly prompted the US to move additional military assets — like aircraft and warships — into the region.

In a move aimed at preventing the conflict from widening and signaling its support to Israel, the Pentagon directed the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

A carrier strike group is a naval formation that includes a carrier, its air wing, and several other warships such as cruisers and destroyers. It's a very flexible — and powerful — show of force with a tremendous capacity for both defense and offense.

Alongside the carrier Ford, the other ships in the group included the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Normandy and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt.

The Ford carrier strike group was already several months into its first full deployment when it made the pivot, but it had its time at sea extended nearly 80 days before returning to the US in January. In the meantime, other Iran-backed actors across the region stepped up their attacks on Israel, the US military, and civilian mariners, causing new problems.

USS Carney was the first American warship to engage Houthi attacks in October, and it later, alongside another warship, helped shoot down ballistic missiles during Iran's unprecedented mid-April attack on Israel.

Eisenhower strike group

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group first deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean in October, bringing in more firepower alongside the Ford. The flagship carrier then moved into the Persian Gulf, sending a deterrence message to Iran as other CSG elements responded to the Iran-backed Houthis as they started attacking commercial vessels in what the rebels characterized as a response to the Israel-Hamas war. As this fight ramped up, the Eisenhower would sail back into the Red Sea.

The strike group was tasked with defending shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from the unrelenting Houthi attacks, intercepting scores of missiles and drones in a high-tempo operating environment.

The strike group also targeted the Houthis directly in Yemen, hitting rebel facilities, weapons, launchers, and other assets that support their campaign. The vast majority of these airstrikes were carried out unilaterally, though several rounds were conducted alongside British military forces.

Alongside the carrier Ike, the strike group consisted of the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea and guided-missile destroyers USS Mason and USS Gravely.

After a seven-month-long run in the Middle East, which included two deployment extensions and a resupply and rearmament, the Eisenhower strike group finally departed the Red Sea this past weekend. The group is operating in the Eastern Mediterranean before heading back to the US.

Roosevelt strike group

Slated to replace the Eisenhower is the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group.

The Roosevelt strike group is set to depart the Indo-Pacific region in the coming days, upon completion of a scheduled exercise, and sail to the Middle East.

There, the strike group "will continue to promote regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region," Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said this week.

With the Eisenhower strike group back in the Mediterranean and the Roosevelt still in the Indo-Pacific, the US is left without an aircraft carrier in the Middle East region for the first time in a while.

It's a development that is taking shape amid a particularly active stretch for the Houthis, who have struck multiple commercial vessels this month alone, including one with an explosive-laden drone boat for the first time since they started attacking ships in the fall.

However, Ryder said the US still has "capability in the region" to counter the rebels, including destroyers in the US Central Command and European Command areas of responsibility that are equipped for intercepting enemy threats.

These warships, the destroyers in particular, "have been very active in providing those kinds of defenses, as well as other capabilities to include aircraft and ISR capabilities," he said, referring to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The movement of American forces in the region comes amid heightened fears that Israel and Hezbollah could clash in an all-out war that officials warn could be highly devastating for civilians. The two sides have exchanged tit-for-tat strikes since Oct. 7, but recent weeks have seen increasingly escalatory rhetoric between them. The US and others have urged restraint.

As for the other crises, the incoming Roosevelt carrier strike group has its work cut out for it. Houthi attacks show no signs of slowing down, and the cost of the US naval presence continues to rise.

By late May, the Eisenhower carrier strike group had already fired off more than 500 munitions, amounting to some $1 billion in spent weaponry and raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the mission.

• The carbon dioxide removal company Equatic has begun designing its largest plant yet.
• The project will be North America's first commercial-scale CDR plant, scheduled to go online by 2027.
• Many questions remain over CDR's environmental and economic impact.

The oceans are our planet's largest carbon sink, naturally absorbing about 25% of the carbon dioxide that humans emit. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) companies like Equatic are trying to harness that natural process to absorb even more.

"We take what the ocean does already and amplify that," Edward Sanders, COO at Equatic, told Business Insider.

On June 18, Equatic announced it started engineering designs for the world's first commercial-scale, ocean-based CDR plant, Sanders said. The plant could remove carbon dioxide at a rate that's 99,000 times as fast as the oceans.

Equatic is one of about a dozen marine CDR companies that have sprouted in recent years in an effort to accelerate the ocean's natural capacity to absorb more CO2. A report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine estimates that marine CDR could remove billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

The technology is still in its infancy and it's unclear what the environmental impacts will be — especially at a large scale. But CDR is a necessary step in mitigating climate change; reducing greenhouse gas emissions is no longer enough to limit global warming to 1.5 °C to 2 °C by the end of the century, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

How Equatic is sucking CO2 from the air

There are a lot of different ways to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Equatic's technology, for example, uses something called seawater electrolysis. It takes seawater and runs an electric current through it, which splits the water into hydrogen, oxygen, and two separate fluids: one acid and a base.

"The process stores carbon that was dissolved in the water as a solid, similar to the material that makes up seashells, and creates an alkaline slurry that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via a cooling tower," Sanders told BI over email.

As an added bonus, the hydrogen can be converted into clean hydrogen fuel, which Equatic can either reuse to power its CDR plants or sell. Companies including Boeing and payment service provider Stripe have signed contracts with Equatic for its hydrogen.

Equatic has proven its technology can work

Equatic already has two small pilot plants to validate its technology — one in LA and a second in Singapore.

The company is also building a larger plant scheduled to go online in Singapore later in 2024, which will absorb about 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and lay the groundwork for the company's first commercial-scale plant. That plant will launch in 2026 or 2027 in partnership with Canadian carbon removal project developer Deep Sky.

Researchers estimate that by 2050, it will cost between $230 and $540 to remove one ton of CO2 from the atmosphere. But Equatic offsets the cost of CDR by producing and selling green hydrogen. The company predicts the new plant could achieve CDR at less than $100 per ton by 2030.

Ultimately, Sanders envisions a global fleet of these CDR plants.

"Once we get to that point, we're not talking about a hundred thousand tons, we're not talking about millions of tons, we're talking about hundreds of millions of tons because this technology can be replicated in many countries," Sanders said.

Questions remain about CDR's economic and environmental impact

Since there are no commercial-scale, ocean-based CDR plants online yet, practically nothing is known about their impact on the environment and local economies.

In general, ocean-based CDR techniques manipulate seawater in ways that could potentially disrupt sea life.

"You're going to be pulling in phytoplankton and bugs and other potential living creatures from the ocean and filtering those out can have some environmental impacts," Jessica Cross, an earth scientist with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who specializes in CDR for the oceans, told BI.

Exactly what those impacts are depends on where a CDR operation is and what organisms are involved.

Sanders told BI that Equatic closely monitors discharge from its CDR plants to ensure they comply with legal pollution standards. Its upcoming plant in Singapore will also filter seawater to remove sea life before water enters the plant.

We can't fully rely on CDR to mitigate climate change

Because CDR is expensive and limited in scale, we can't abandon decarbonization and emissions reduction efforts, Cross said.

The benefits of this technology are "far in the future, whereas the risks of initiating this industry and this infrastructure development are local, short-term, and much more immediate," Cross said.

"Figuring out how to balance, again, this sort of diffuse global benefit with this local risk that happens, it is something that responsible researchers should be grappling with," she said.

• Sam C. Wilson played Blood in "House of the Dragon" season two.
• The British actor broke down how "horrific" ending to the first episode was filmed.
• He also revealed that his character's brutal death was almost even grislier

The actor who played Blood in "House of the Dragon" season two broke down how the gruesome first episode was filmed in an interview with Business Insider.

The shocking season two premiere sees Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) hire mercenaries Blood (Sam C. Wilson) and Cheese (Mark Stobbart) to assassinate Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell).

When they fail to find Aemond in the Red Keep, they use knives to slaughter a Targaryen toddler instead, as their mother, Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban), flees the room.

Some fans criticized the scene because it wasn't as gory and brutal as the child's death in the book the show is based on, "Fire and Blood."

Here's how the Blood and Cheese scenes were filmed, according to Wilson.

The child actors on the "House of the Dragon" set weren't involved in the killing

Unlike in the book, viewers only see a couple of shots of Blood and Cheese lunging at the cot before putting a hand over the child's mouth. It then cuts away to focus on Helaena, instead of the toddler being killed.

"We had a dummy that was, I suppose, a loosely dressed, slightly more human-looking resuscitation dummy. On the day we knew it would be a cutaway with implied violence," he said.

"So we went over to this cot and just looked busy in the most horrible way."

Wilson also assured fans that none of the young actors who were involved in the scene saw what he and Stobbart acted out.

"The children were only about when we sort of looked upon them sleeping. And then whenever there was any dialogue or any sort of nasty words being said, any kind of implication of anything like that, the kids were nowhere near it," he said.

Responding to fans complaining that the scene wasn't gory enough, Wilson said that the idea of the violence inflicted on a child is distressing enough.

"I think that, ultimately, it was still horrific. I mean, because I did it so long ago and I look different now when I was watching it… I really was wincing. It's not a nice watch for me either," he said.

Don't worry, they didn't actually kick the dog

Wilson and Stobbart were somewhat upstaged by the cute canine costar who accompanies Blood and Cheese on their mission. Audiences were upset when Cheese kicked the small dog — whose real name is Bobby.

"People seemed more disgruntled at the dog kick than beheading a child!" Wilson joked.

But he stressed that Bobby "didn't even see the swing of the foot" during filming.

"The dog was the real star. You should have seen his kennel. A real diva," he continued. "Bobby is the dog's name, unbelievably sweet little thing. And I also have to tell a journalist, the dog was not kicked!"

Blood's death in episode two was nearly much more gruesome

In the second episode of the season, King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) executes Blood to get revenge for his son's death. Although Wilson said he was up for "epic" torture faithful to the book, his character is killed quickly with a mace.

But the scene could have been grislier.

"I think there was talk of Aegon potentially missing and not getting a clean break, so my jaw comes off. Which again, I'd have been totally down for," Wilson said.

It took seven hours to build the prosthetics of Blood's broken face, before the death scene was filmed five times.

"They film the shot with you already bloodied up, and then you go out and you have all the prosthetics removed, and then you come back in and film it again," he explained.

"If you slowed it down, the mace would be swinging to an unmarked face up until it connected, and then it would be a jump cut to when we had the prosthetic on."

Wilson hopes his relatively small role will lead to even greater things. Leading roles in one of the biggest TV shows of all time made "Game of Thrones" alum, including Kit Harington, Richard Madden, and Emilia Clarke, household names. Meanwhile actors with smaller roles in the series have also seen their careers flourish, like "The Last of Us" star Bella Ramsey.

Wilson will next be seen in the crime-comedy movie, "Deep Cover," alongside Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, and "House of the Dragon" star Paddy Considine.

There's also a super-secret project that Wilson can't say anything about —but judging by the ear-to-ear smile over Zoom, he's incredibly excited about the future.

• Joe Biden got his wish to hold the earliest major presidential debate ever.
• Even the president's allies admit the debate will unlikely dramatically alter the race.
• But Biden needs his debate against Trump to shake things up and quiet the remaining skeptics.

President Joe Biden needs his debate gamble to pay off.

Biden, who views his life as shaped by fate, decided to try to upend his reelection campaign by scheduling the earliest major presidential debate. He also got his requests to boot the audience, mute the mics, and strongarm Fox News out of potentially hosting the entire affair.

His campaign, according to The New York Times, recognizes that in the short term, the first faceoff with former President Donald Trump is unlikely to change the current dynamics of the race.

National polling shows the race in a virtual dead heat. There's been less polling of the battleground states, but on average, Trump holds a narrow lead in the states expected to determine the race. According to RealClearPolitics' averages, Michigan and Wisconsin are too close to call while Trump holds an extremely narrow lead in Pennsylvania.

Studies have shown that debates have only a modest effect on the outcome of presidential elections. Voters are often swayed more when they know less about a candidate. Americans don't need to get to know either man. In fact, it's expected that the decisive swath of voters could be people who loathe them both.

Biden continues to face questions about whether he will be replaced. (He won't.) The lingering doubts are largely due to factors like the president's abysmal approval ratings, which have never recovered from the post-Afghanistan withdrawal. At this point, Biden and his allies have also massively outspent Trump. Their attack ad advantage is set to dissipate in the face of Trump's gigantic fundraising haul after becoming the first former president to be convicted of a felony.

According to The Times, Biden's team hopes the debate will jolt Americans into paying more attention to the race. History shows that the traditional fall presidential debates are one of the few live, non-sporting events watched by tens of millions of Americans. Studies have also shown that debate watchers tend to be people who are already more politically engaged — not usually the group that decides elections.

No one knows what Trump is going to do.

Biden knows his best chance of benefiting from his gamble will be across the stage. His campaign even chose the podium position over the final speaking order, handing Trump the last word of the night.

Incumbent presidents typically struggle in their first debate (just ask Obama or, better yet, Trump), but Biden has spent days prepping at Camp David for his first exchange with Trump since 2020. Trump, never one to want to be seen as over-preparing, said on Tuesday evening his whole life was debate prep.

"I'm not sure you can lock yourself in a room for two weeks, or one week, or two days and really learn what you have to know," Trump told his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski during an interview on NewsMax.

Americans aren't surrounded by the crush of Trump news like they once were. A breakout moment could easily remind voters why they soured on the former reality TV star in the first place.

Trump's over-the-top, constantly interrupting performance in the first 2020 debate was widely panned. Now, Biden has a record of his own. Republicans are nudging Trump to train his focus on lighting the president on immigration and the economy — issues where polls show he has a big advantage.

Staying on message has never been part of the Trump brand. In recent days, the former president has tried to pivot a little by playing the traditional expectations game before the debate begins. The former president has talked up his successor despite spending years portraying him as too feeble to do the job. Trump's allies are also working the referees, CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, in an effort that would have made the late Bobby Knight blush.

But there's always a but. After all, we're talking about the man who talked about the size of his penis during a 2016 GOP primary debate.

Trump, his senior aides, and official GOP accounts are senior campaign aides, and official GOP accounts are pushing a right-wing conspiracy that Biden is going to juice before the debate like a 1990s-era MLB star. The former president has even demanded that Biden take a drug test.

If that becomes the night's story, Biden would be happier than getting a double scoop. And then, his bet could pay off.

• I tried every flavor of Culture Pop probiotic soda I could find and ranked them from worst to best.
• I found a lot of the flavors tasted like a halfway point between regular soda and flavored seltzer.
• Of all the flavors I tried, the watermelon-and-lime Culture Pop was my favorite.

Supermarket shelves across the United States are filling up with prebiotic and probiotic sodas that claim to be good for your gut.

Popular brands like Poppi and Olipop say their sodas contain prebiotics designed to help good bacteria grow. Culture Pop, on the other hand, is a probiotic drink that says it contains the live bacteria other brands help to cultivate.

But people have questioned the sodas' advertised benefits. Poppi recently became the subject of a class-action lawsuit alleging that, contrary to its marketing, its drinks don't contain enough prebiotic fiber to affect gut health.

Even so, I like that these beverages are lower-sugar alternatives to classic soda drinks. Culture Pop, for example, has no added sugar or sugar alternatives. Its sweetness comes from fruit juice.

And, after trying different flavors of Poppi and Olipop prebiotic sodas, I was curious to see how Culture Pop stacked up against the competition in terms of taste.

To find out, I grabbed every flavor of Culture Pop probiotic soda I could find and ranked them from best to worst.

My wife and I both agreed that Culture Pop's lemon-lime flavor was our least favorite.

I found that every flavor of Culture Pop required at least a small adjustment of expectations.

I'm not accustomed to soda with relatively little sugar and no artificial sweetener, and a lot of the Culture Pop varieties tasted like a halfway point between traditional soda and flavored seltzer.

However, Culture Pop's lemon-lime flavor was so different from a Sprite or 7-Up that it was a little jarring. I found it to be very tart and didn't like the taste.

My wife agreed that this was the least appealing of the bunch.

The black-cherry flavor had a bit of an unpleasant aftertaste.

Culture Pop's black-cherry variety tasted distinctly like a cough drop to me — but one of the tasty, candy-like cough drops like a Luden's.

This may have been the most assertive of the Culture Pop flavors I tried, with an acidic, wine-like tang. But again, it's important to keep in mind that all the Culture Pop flavors I tried were fairly muted by soda standards.

The taste wasn't unpleasant at all, but there was a hint of an aftertaste that I didn't love.

One flavor stood out when I tried the wild-berries-and-lime soda.

All the Culture Pop flavors I tried listed white-grape juice as one of the primary ingredients, giving each soda a tangy acidity.

In this case, however, the lime flavor was a bit more prominent than the wild berries, which presented as a hint of blueberry aroma. Otherwise, I thought this soda was vaguely fruity.

The strawberry-and-rhubarb flavor surprised me.

The first Culture Pop flavor I tried was the strawberry-and-rhubarb variety. When I poured it into the glass, I was immediately surprised by the color. I expected the liquid to be electric pink, but the soda had more of a yellow-ish ginger-ale color.

I also expected to be overwhelmed by the sweetness of strawberries, but my first impression came from the unexpectedly vegetal taste of the rhubarb. The strawberry flavor was subtle but tasted like actual strawberries. This was definitely a flavor that grew on me as I drank it.

The ginger-lemon-and-turmeric flavor tasted like ginger beer.

Once I selected my top three Culture Pop flavors, it was tough to choose my favorite. However, the ginger-lemon-and-turmeric variety probably could have taken the top spot if I tasted it on a different day.

The ginger and lemon flavors were both distinct, but neither was overpowering — there was a slight, spicy bite from the ginger, then a bright tartness from the lemon.

It was harder to make out the turmeric flavor, but in general, the soda had the vibe of a pleasant herbal tea. I even thought it tasted slightly closer to the taste of ginger beer than most commercial ginger ales I've tried.

Culture Pop's orange-mango-and-lime flavor was my wife's favorite.

I was also surprised by the color of Culture Pop's orange-mango-and-lime soda. This one had a pleasant salmon color instead of the neon-orange hue I expect from many orange sodas.

This flavor seemed the closest to a seltzer of all the varieties I tried and even tasted less sweet than the rest despite an identical calorie count.

The orange flavor was quiet but obvious, but the mango and lime notes were harder to pick out. This flavor also includes a bit of chili powder, which added a touch of spice that I really enjoyed. This one was my wife's favorite.

The watermelon-and-lime flavor was my favorite.

When I opened the can of watermelon-lime Culture Pop, it had such a strong watermelon scent that I worried the taste would be overbearing.

However, the actual watermelon flavor was mild and nicely balanced by the tartness of the lime.

This was immediately the most refreshing tasting of the seven flavors I tried. It was light and crisp, and though I couldn't quite distinguish the rosemary that's listed in the ingredients, there was something pleasantly herbaceous about the soda that added a nice nuance.

• I was a Starbucks barista for a year, and I saw plenty of customers waste their money.
• You can usually get a better value on iced drinks by asking for light ice.
• Grande and venti lattes have the same amount of espresso, but the latter costs more. 

I worked as a Starbucks barista for nearly a year, and I became extremely familiar with just how expensive the popular coffee chain is. 

As a stingy spender, I made several mental notes on ways customers would unnecessarily waste their money during my shifts.

Here's what I wish people would stop paying extra for — plus ways to save a little cash.

I wouldn't pay a premium for cold drinks filled halfway with ice

The easiest way to avoid spending an arm and a leg on half a cup of ice with a hint of the beverage is just to specify that you'd like light ice. 

Trust me, baristas are aware that the oversize scoop of ice in a drink can be frustrating. But many are happy to replace the extra ice with liquid if you ask for it. Light ice is even an option on the app. 

It might be unnecessary to pay for a shot of vanilla syrup to sweeten a soy latte or cappuccino

Starbucks charges customers for a pump of syrup added to an otherwise plain latte, cappuccino, or cup of coffee. But people might not know that the soy milk the chain uses is vanilla-flavored.

The flavoring is more subtle than an actual pump of syrup, but if I already plan on ordering a sweetened coffee with milk alternative (which, unfortunately, also costs a bit more), I usually get soy and save on the extra fee. Otherwise, I'd end up paying one fee for unsweetened oat milk/almond milk and another for vanilla syrup. 

Unfortunately, for lovers of caramel, hazelnut, and peppermint syrups, you're stuck with the extra charge for the sweetener. 

If you're a regular customer, you may not need to pay out of pocket for Starbucks merchandise

I refuse to pay out of pocket for special Starbucks tumblers, mugs, or coffee beans. If I find irresistible merchandise, I'll take advantage of the Starbucks rewards program.

If stopping by for a drink or food item is already part of your daily routine, then you'll easily rack up star rewards in the app that you can redeem for complimentary items. If you have 400 points, you can select any merchandise worth up to $20.

You'll have to pay the difference if it's more than $20, but many of the basic items are within the price point. 

It's not usually worth ordering Americanos — they're literally just espresso and water

A grande Americano will cost you around $4, which is rather pricey for three shots of espresso with water. 

Instead, make your own. Ask for a doppio or triple shot of espresso (whatever you prefer) in a grande cup, and then ask for added water. You can essentially get an Americano for almost a dollar less. 

If you're looking for a caffeine fix, stop wasting your money on hot venti lattes

If you order a hot venti latte or cappuccino, you're still only getting two shots of espresso, which is the same amount you get in a grande. 

In a way, buying a venti latte means you're paying half a dollar more for a more diluted caffeine-to-coffee ratio.

If you prefer iced lattes, a grande comes with two shots and a venti comes with three shots, so that's a different story. 

Don't miss out on the 'bring your own cup' discount

Although many Starbucks stopped serving customers their orders in reusable cups during the coronavirus pandemic as a health and safety precaution, several locations have restarted the program. 

This prevents additional plastic use and saves you $0.10. Rewards members also earn 25 bonus stars when they use their own mug, which can then be used to pay for a milk alternative, syrup pump, or additional espresso shot.

Stop paying for bottled water

I've always been baffled by people who insist on buying bottled water from Starbucks. I can understand if you absolutely need something unopened, but other than that, there's no reason to pay full price for the one thing the chain offers for free. 

Don't be afraid to order any size cup of water. Baristas will even add ice if you ask for it.

This story was originally published in June 2023 and most recently updated on June 26, 2024.