Why Tall is Small for Starbucks?

Starbucks is a bliss to millions of caffeine addicts across the world who can’t start their day without having a cup of coffee, including myself. No doubt Starbucks is the leader of the gourmet coffee revolution and it has become an important part of our life. From offering its world-class Espresso, Cappuccino and Latte with a blend of seasonal flavors, it has always delighted us.

When I was in India, I used to order Short Cappuccino that was sufficient for me. But after coming to the US, when I went to Starbucks for the first time and ordered Short Cappuccino, the girl who was taking my order corrected me and asked to take Tall Cappuccino pointing at the reference cup sizes shown below. I got totally confused as of why she was referring the smallest cup size as Tall? 

cup sizes

 

I did my research and got to know very interesting facts about it. Originally, Starbucks offered only two sizes: Short (8 ounces) and Tall (12 ounces).  When they added Grande and then Venti, they kept the old nomenclature for the original drinks. At some point, they started de-emphasizing the Short option (though you can still order it), so it started to appear that Tall was the label for their smallest size.

 

Here are the updated cup sizes and their meaning:

Short – 8 oz.

This is the least size that Starbucks offers and only available for hot drinks. This size is referred to as kids size, mostly not commonly ordered in the coffee shop.

Tall – 12 oz.

Tall is regarded as a ‘small’ size drink.

Grande – 16 oz.

Grande is read as ‘GRAWN-day.’ It is an Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French word for large. The Starbucks Grande is 16 oz. in the U.S.

Venti – 20 oz.

Venti is pronounced as ‘VENN-tee.’  Starbucks Cup Sizes meaning is really unique with Venti which comes at 24 oz. when cold. Venti means twenty in Italian.

Trenta – 31 oz.

Trenta means thirty in Italian. The Trenta size is kept for serving iced drinks including iced coffee, iced tea, lemonade and other drinks served over ice. It is the newest addition and the largest in capacity among all coffee sizes.

It could be Starbucks marketing strategy to keep the cup sizes bit confusing but the company’s knows how to meet its customer expectations and enhancing their experiences. Through customizing coffee drinks and one-of-a-kind strategies the largest coffeehouse company has proven that it deserves the title it holds. And that is the reason why we love Starbucks…? 

Image Courtesy: Giphy.com
Image Courtesy: Giphy.com

Do let me know your favorite Starbucks cup size in the comments below?

Love
Ana

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39 Comments

    1. alisonrost

      March 18, 2017

      I’m not a coffee drinker .. but when I do stop at Starbucks it’s always a “Venti Passion Ice Tea Lemonade” (and maybe a cake pop if no one is looking!)

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    1. John

      May 31, 2016

      Nice article but I’m sorry, I feel compelled to interject with this statement in particular: “No doubt Starbucks is the leader of the gourmet coffee revolution” – this may be the case in the US, but Australians & Europeans were indulging in gourmet (Espresso?) coffee decades before Starbucks even thought about setting up shop there… And in my opinion, Starbucks is the epitome of coffee butchering, not “gourmet coffee” which is probably why their venture into Australia has failed miserably. IMO the consistently best coffee in the world can be found in Italy (their Autostrada petrol stations make a mean macchiato!) and Melbourne, Australia.

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    1. Ryan Biddulph

      November 8, 2015

      Hi Ana,

      Gotta love Starbucks in the States…tall is small, then we get bigger. Downed a small but mod sized cup of cafe in Nicaragua this morning. Just right.

      Ryan

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