11/03/2014 at 11:01 AM ET
Courtesy 4BillLewis
Too bad Starbucks doesn’t make a red holiday cup big enough to fit a 101-shot latte.
A Florida man named William Lewis broke the record Wednesday for the most expensive Starbucks beverage with a grande latte that cost $83.75 and contained 99 extra shots of espresso and 17 pumps of vanilla syrup, mocha and matcha powder.
Lewis, a political consultant and talk show host, brought his own gigantic mug to sip his custom order. By rough calculations, his cup of joe contained about 6,464 milligrams of caffeine.
Since Lewis is a card-carrying Starbucks loyalty program member who was up for his free beverage, the 160-oz. drink was free.
The previous record-holder, medical student Sameera Raziuddin, broke the most-expensive-free-drink record in July with her $57.75 custom frappuccino, which included 60 shots of espresso. Raziuddin, who lives in Florida like Lewis, also brought her own vessel: a 1.5 gallon container with its own spigot.
Starbucks doesn’t exactly support the pricy free drink endeavors, Today reports. Lewis’s beverage, “is naturally against our policy,” a Starbucks spokesperson said, adding that “we wouldn’t recommend” drinking the gigantic coffee.
—Morgan Gibson
