Barista to Customer: No, You Can't Have Espresso on Ice

A barista in Washington, DC, has unintentionally raised a philosophical quandary by rejecting the idea that the customer is always right. When a guy asked for espresso on ice, the barista flat out refused, the Huffington Post reports via a Prince of Petworth transcript. "We don’t do that because it will ruin it. We make the best espresso in the city and putting it over ice will shock it," the barista at Chinatown Coffee Co. reportedly said. When the customer seemed befuddled, the barista replied, "Aw, did I just ruin your day?"

HuffPo notes that a few years back, a disgruntled customer blogged about another coffee shop's rejection of his request for the same drink. As the post gathered traction, the shop released a statement of its rules, including: "No espresso in a to-go cup. No espresso over ice. These are our policies. We have our reasons, and we're happy to share them." (More espresso stories.)