Starbucks Is Bringing Back Refills—But There’s a Catch

Starbucks is now offering a nice perk (no pun intended). You can now enjoy a free refill of hot or iced brewed coffee or tea. But before you start handing the baristas your empty cup for your free refill, there are a few caveats you need to be aware of. 

According to their website, you must have your initial beverage in-house. In other words, you can’t order a drink to go, come back later with your empty cup and expect a free refill. You also can’t “save” your refill for another time or bank a bunch of free refills up. The refill is good only for the same visit at participating Starbucks. Also, your initial purchase must be in a reusable cup or “for-here” serveware. 

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While your initial beverage can be anything off the menu, the refill is restricted to hot or iced brewed coffee or tea. In other words, if you order a Frappuccino as your first beverage, you cannot get a free Frappuccino refill. In addition, the site states that the free refills “exclude Cold Brew and Nitro Cold Brew, Iced Tea Lemonade, flavored Iced Tea and Starbucks Refreshers base.”

How Do Starbucks Refills Work?

When you order your initial in-house beverage, it will be served in a ceramic mug or glass. You can also bring your own clean personal cup from home. How many free refills can you get? As many as you want during that visit, and each will be served in a ceramic mug or glass. Just keep in mind that regardless of what your initial beverage was, the free refill is only for hot or iced brewed coffee or tea—so don’t get too excited about bottomless lattes. 

Let’s say that you’ve had your first beverage and want your free refill of hot or iced brewed coffee or tea, but you need to leave. Can you get your free refill to go? Yes, you can. And if you don’t have your own personal cup or if it’s dirty from your first beverage, you can ask for a paper cup to go. 

But Wait—There’s More

Starbucks has also brought back its condiment bar, which includes a variety of creamers, milks and sweeteners. That means you can tweak your beverage however you like, and your free refill of hot coffee or tea can get a quick makeover with milk, cinnamon, honey or other add-ins. 

In addition, the company has instilled a new Coffeehouse Code of Conduct. You may have already heard that Starbucks is barring non-customers from using the coffee shops’ bathrooms, and there are a few more rules coming to your local store. The rules in the code of conduct include:

• No misuse or disruption of Starbucks spaces
• No discrimination or harassment
• No violence or abusive/threatening language
• No consuming outside alcohol
• No smoking/vaping or drug use
• No panhandling

Those unwilling to follow the code of conduct will be asked to leave, and if necessary, law enforcement will be called. Starbucks will display its code of conduct in each store as a reminder. 

So there you have it! As they say, their green aprons are on, playlists are ready, and their mugs are waiting to be filled—and refilled—with the finest Starbucks brewed coffee. So if you’re looking for a place to hang out and have a few sips, you can add the chain to your list.