Dallas man gets most expensive Starbucks drink ever for free

DALLAS, TX (KABC) -- A Dallas man claims to have created the world's most expensive Starbucks drink!

Andrew Chifari, 27, tweeted pictures Saturday showing a receipt for a drink worth $54.75, along with giant coffee creation. He started with a Venti Vanilla Bean Caramel Frappucino and then added 60 shots of espresso, chocolate and white chocolate syrup, caramel and hazelnut drizzles, protein powder, whipped cream, and nut and cookie toppings. The final product was 128 ounces, the same as a gallon jug!

"The recipe was just the best sounding thing I could think of that would make 50-plus shots drinkable. Since it was going in a glass vase, it had to be cold so I could carry it without burning myself," he said. "And I knew I couldn't drink it all at once, so a drink over ice would get diluted when the ice melted so that was out.

"A frappuccino was the only thing that made sense. Beyond that, I just tried to find flavors that would go well together. I settled on chocolate, hazelnut and caramel."

On Wednesday morning, Chifari tweeted that he "drank 1/3 the first day. Still working on it. About 15% left. I don't waste coffee." But by the afternoon, he had finally finished up the giant frappucino, tweeting "Aaaaaand done. Took 5 days, but I drank it all. #MostExpensiveStarbucks."

The drink didn't cost Andrew anything when he bought it over the weekend. That's because he's a Starbucks Gold member, which gives members a free drink of their choice after 12 purchases.

The "My Starbucks Rewards" loyalty program allows customers to receive a free birthday beverage or food item on their birthday, as well as a free item after earning 12 Stars (earned through purchase) that they are free to customize however they wish, Starbucks spokeswoman Maggie Jantzen told Good Morning America.

The prior record-holding most expensive free drink at Starbucks was $47.30.

"The baristas were all really nice about it. I walked in and just told them straight out that I wanted to break the record and they were cool with it," Andrew told GMA. "I went at a slow time and, fortunately, there were a lot of people working so I didn't back up the line. This location has two of the automatic espresso machines, so it wasn't like someone had to tamp and pull 60 shots manually."

Though anyone can hack the loyalty program like Chifari did, Starbucks is discouraging it.

"This particular beverage customization was excessive and something that we do not encourage," Jantzen said. "We want to ensure our customers receive the highest quality and most delicious tasting food and beverage products from us and we don't believe that this particular beverage choice was reflective of that."

KTRK-TV, our ABC News affiliate in Houston, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.