© Provided by The Independent A man whose extravagant Starbucks order went viral has defended his preferred complicated coffee concoction and even struck up a friendship with the man who made it.
Speaking to The New York Post, "Edward", who declined to provide his last name, said he didn't think twice about his order. In fact, he told the Post that he recently slurped down another now-infamous Venti Caramel Crunch frappe with a whopping five bananas, seven pumps of caramel syrup, and extra whipped cream.
The barista who snapped a photo of the novel-length order - garnering hundreds of thousands of likes on Twitter - ultimately lost his job over the viral post.
Jose Morales told the Post that "making drinks like these can be really stressful for baristas" and employees are under intense pressure to serve customers quickly.
However, Starbucks stands by your right to grind a morning coffee line to a halt with endlessly complicated orders, telling Fox News: "Customising beverages at Starbucks and our baristas' expertise in helping customers find and craft the right beverage has and always has will be in the heart of the Starbucks experience."
In an inspiring tale of coffeeshop camaraderie, Edward and Mr Morales have become friendly after the order ordeal.
"I wanted to let him know that he didn't do anything wrong," Edward told the Post. "It's definitely an order people could find funny."
Mr Morales said Edward's drink was not even the most labour intensive order he had witnessed.
"Last year, a customer ordered 26 drinks at once," he said. "And at least half of them came with all these crazy customisations and demands."
People on Twitter, such as comedy writer Ashley Nicole Black, were unsurprised Edward's order was made via the official Starbuck app and not at a physical counter.
She tweeted, "I knew it had to be an app order. No one would order that out loud making eye contact," in response to Mr Morales now-deleted tweet.
However, her assertion that the TikTok trend was a byproduct of the dehumanisation of the ordering process was disproved by @tunafishpro who shared a large receipt with lots of drink customisation add-ons that had been ordered in person.
She replied, "you'd be surprised. A lady ordered this in person with a completely straight face," alongside the image.