Tossing your espresso in a short cup size will ensure it's cold before you drink it and will ruin the crema. Espresso should be served in a ceramic demitasse espresso cup. The cup size for espresso is of capital importance. For example, using the appropriate drinkware, a cappuccino is about 5 oz. So, it's not that small (and not so cute) after all. Think of your typical coffee mug, which holds somewhere between 8 to 12 oz of coffee.

This extra small sized cup, 8 oz or 236 mL size is equivalent to a standard cup. And it's the only cup name that makes sense. Short is a cute name for the smallest cup size at Starbucks. I guess they want to 'encourage you' to order larger sizes? We are still a bit confused though why this only applies to the Venti size and not the Grande and Tall ones. So when you’re ordering your iced coffee you won’t miss out on any of the caffeine goodness.

The reason is to accommodate any ice cubes that go in your cold Venti size. It's pronounced 'ven-tee' and it makes reference to the 20 oz cup size (although the Italians would roll their eyes because they don't use the imperial system). The Venti name comes from the Italian word for 'twenty'. This is the equivalent of 3 standard cup sizes.large it is indeed! One for hot drinks at 20 oz or 591 mL of coffee, and one for cold drinks at 24 oz or 710 mL of coffee. The Venti cup size is the large cup size at Starbucks.īut of course, it's not as simple as that. Think 'Grande' from Ariana Grande!ĭespite the confusing terminology, this is the most popular drink size at Starbucks. It holds 16 oz or 457 mL of coffee, or the equivalent of 2 standard cups.Ĭonfusingly, Grande in Italian (and Spanish) means 'large' but this is the medium sized drink at Starbucks. The Grande cup size is medium at Starbucks. It's not especially tall, and it's definitely not the smallest cup size on offer (there are 'secret' drink sizes - more on that below). The name 'Tall' for Starbucks' small cup size is a bit of an enigma. In most countries (outside North America) a standard sized cup is 8 oz or 236 mL. It's a tall order to call the Tall cup size a small size though. The Tall cup size is the small cup size at Starbucks. So sit back and relax with a nice hot coffee (or tea), because we're about to get started! We'll also address whether their cup size names are pretentious or a stroke of marketing genius. We will also take a look at why Starbucks uses Italian names for their cup sizes, and see which size is the most popular at Starbucks.

In this post, we will explore the different Starbucks cup sizes and answer some of the most commonly asked questions about them. Lots of people have no idea what the different Starbucks cup sizes are called, what they mean, or why they're even called like that. It seems you don't know your Venti from your Grande or Tall…īut don't worry, because you're not alone. You sheepishly say a 'small coffee' and what you get instead is a tall coffee. You walk into your nearest Starbucks, and before you can even utter the words 'a small coffee, please,' you're assaulted with a barrage of strange Starbucks cup sizes and names that sound more like they belong in an Italian coffeehouse than a trendy American café.

Starbucks drink sizes