Starbucks US Cup Sizes vs. Starbucks UK Cup Sizes: How do they compare?
If you have ever wondered where Starbucks cup sizes get their names from, you are not alone. What is even more intriguing, as I discovered when I travelled to the UK, is that they have different cup sizes and options that are not available in North America, which was a bit confusing in the beginning. In this post, I’ll be looking at Starbucks cups in the US and the UK and how their features compare so that you will not feel as lost as I was if you happen to visit. Enjoy!
What are the differences between Starbucks US cup sizes and Starbucks UK cup sizes?
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Features |
Starbucks US cup sizes |
Starbucks UK cup sizes | |
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Coffee Variety |
Cold coffees served include iced americanos; several cold brews; iced coffees; iced flat whites; iced shaken espressos; iced lattes; iced mochas, and iced macchiatos. Hot coffees include brewed coffees, Americanos, Cappuccinos, Flat Whites, Lattes, Macchiatos, Mochas, and Espresso Shots. It has a wider range. |
Cold coffees include iced coffee and cold brew. Hot coffees include Brewed Coffees, Americanos, Cappuccinos, Flat Whites, Cortados, Lattes, Macchiatos, Mochas, and Espresso. It has a limited variety. | |
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Quality |
It offers reasonably good arabica bean coffee served iced or hot in cups of coffee in different sizes. |
It offers reasonably good arabica bean coffee served iced or hot in cups of coffee in different sizes. | |
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Quantity |
It has four iced coffee and four hot coffee cup sizes, with capacities ranging from 8 oz. to 30 oz. |
It has 3 iced coffee and 4 hot coffee cup sizes, with capacities ranging from 10 oz to 32 oz. | |
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More cup sizes, but less for the largest cup |
Fewer cup sizes, more amount for the largest cup | ||
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Customizations |
It has a wide variety of base drinks and therefore a higher number of possible customizations. |
It has a comparatively low number of base drinks from which to customize. | |
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Nutrition |
Most drinks on the Starbucks US menu contain more sugar, fat, and caffeine compared to the UK menu. |
Drinks on the Starbucks UK menu contain less sugar, fat, and caffeine compared to the US menu. | |
Starbucks US cup sizes vs. Starbucks UK Cup Sizes – How They Compare.
Coffee Variety
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Starbucks US serves a wide variety of iced coffee drinks, including iced americanos; several cold brews; iced coffees; iced flat whites; iced shaken espressos; iced lattes; iced mochas, and iced macchiatos. You can order a tall, grande, or venti cup, with some cold drinks also available in the Trenta cup size. Hot coffees available in the US include several Americano options, brewed coffees, cappuccinos, flat white lattes, macchiatos, and mochas, which you can order in a short, tall, grande, or venti cup. If you wish to have just espresso, you can order a solo, doppio, triple, or quadruple espresso shot, or specify the kind of shot you want in your coffee.
At any Starbucks in the UK, you will get iced coffee and cold brew served in small, medium, or large UK iced coffee size cups; and a small, medium, large, or extra-large hot coffee size cup for your brewed coffee and espresso-based drinks, including lattes, mochas, macchiatos, cappuccinos, americanos, flat whites, and cortados.
Starbucks US has a wider selection of coffee drinks compared to Starbucks UK and therefore wins in this category.
Quality
Starbucks US offers reasonably good arabica bean coffee served iced or hot in cups of different sizes. Starbucks fans love the coffee shop for the service, especially the freedom to craft their own and order it in a Grande or Venti cup. The company’s quality control strives to maintain the same quality throughout its network while also considering customer tastes.
In the UK, coffee is not as popular as tea. However, the quality of the drinks on offer closely matches what is available in the US.
It is a draw when it comes to quality. Starbucks strives to maintain consistent quality across all stores regardless of their location.
Quantity
With 4 iced coffee and 4 hot coffee cup sizes that have capacities ranging from 8 oz to 30 oz, Starbucks US has more cup sizes compared to Starbucks UK’s 7 options, which include 3 iced coffee and 4 hot coffee cup sizes that have capacities ranging from 10 oz to 32 oz.
Starbucks US wins in the quantity category for having one option more than the UK.
Customizations
The beauty of Starbucks is the ability to customize, and the number of customizations that can be made is limited only by the base drinks available to the customer.
Because Starbucks US has a wider variety of coffee options, the number of customizations possible is higher, and therefore is the winner in this category.
Nutrition
Although Starbucks makes an effort to maintain consistent quality and similar ingredients throughout its stores, the company also considers customer-specific tastes. As a result, most drinks on the Starbucks US menu contain more sugar, fat, and caffeine compared to the UK menu.
Neither Starbucks US nor Starbucks UK is better than the other when it comes to nutrition, so it is a draw.
Starbucks US Cup Sizes vs. Starbucks UK Cup Sizes: Cup Sizes Explanation and Comparison
Starbucks UK Cup Sizes Explained
Starbucks UK ICED COFFEE SIZES
- Large (32 Oz.)
The UK large, iced coffee cup serves 32 oz or 946mL, which is the most amount of beverage you can get in a cup at Starbucks anywhere.
- Medium (24 Oz.)
Starbucks UK Medium-sized iced coffee cup measures 24 oz (710mL) and is the same size as the UK Xtra large hot coffee cup, indicating that cold drinks are served in larger cups than hot drinks in the UK.
- Small (16 Oz.)
In keeping with Starbucks UK’s confusing cup size trend, the iced coffee smallest cup carries 16 oz (473mL), which is of almost similar capacity to their hot coffee medium-sized cup.
Starbucks UK HOT COFFEE SIZES
- Xtra-Large (24 Oz.)
Starbucks UK Xtra-large hot coffee cup has a capacity of 24 oz (710mL) and is so named because it is a size larger than the hot coffee 20 oz large size cup.
- Large (20 Oz.)
The UK 20 oz (591mL) large cup for hot drinks has the same capacity as Starbucks’ US Venti hot drinks cup and is the only size in which the cup and capacity are the same for the two menus.
- Medium (14 Oz.)
Starbucks UK medium size cup is the most popular hot coffee size, just like in the US, but it is slightly smaller, measuring 14 oz (414mL).
- Small (10 Oz.)
Starbucks UK hot coffee small cup is in the regular small cup size range for the smallest cups and serves 10 oz (296mL) of hot coffee.
Starbucks US Cup Sizes Explained
STARBUCKS US ICED COFFEE SIZES
- Trenta (30 Oz.)
Trenta means thirty in Italian and is pronounced “tren-ta”. The Trenta size is only available for cold drinks, and the cup holds 31 oz (918 mL), which translates to about two Grande size cups.
- Venti (24 Oz.)
In Italian, Venti means twenty, but Starbucks US will serve you the 24oz (710 mL) of iced coffee in this cup, the extra because of the ice, they say, which is a bit baffling since the same treatment is not extended to the other iced coffee cup sizes.
- Grande (16 Oz.)
Although the word “grande” means “large” in Italian, Starbucks grande is the “medium” cup. This became the case when they introduced the larger-sized Venti cup. A Grande cup holds 16 oz (457 mL) of iced coffee.
- Tall (12 Oz.)
Starbucks US tall cup holds 12 oz (355 mL) and happens to be the smallest iced coffee cup size, pushed to that position after the introduction of the Venti and not renamed as there is a smaller cup in the hot coffee section.
STARBUCKS US HOT COFFEE SIZES
- Venti (20 Oz.)
The Venti gets its name from the Italian word for ‘twenty’ and is pronounced “ven-tee” and refers to the 20 oz (591 mL), the largest size of hot coffee you can get on the standard Starbucks menu.
- Grande (16 Oz.)
This is the most common drink size at Starbucks, as it holds “medium” sized drinks, despite the word “grande” meaning “great” or “large” in Italian and Spanish. The cup holds 16 oz (457 mL) of hot coffee. Grande is pronounced “Grahn-deh”.
- Tall (12 Oz.)
In typical Starbucks style, the tall cup holds 12 oz (355 mL) of hot coffee, and in typical Starbucks style, this cup is not called small because it is a step down from the medium grande. After all, there is a smaller cup that follows it.
- Short (8 Oz.)
The small-sized 8 oz (236 mL) Short cup is the smallest cup reserved for hot drinks only and is named “short” in contrast to the “tall” cup. The size is comparable to a standard small cup, which can be 8 oz. to 12 oz. at other establishments.
STARBUCKS US ESPRESSO SHOT SIZES
- Solo (.75 Oz.)
Carrying on the Italian theme to espresso shots, solo means only one, but whereas in other places one shot is referred to as a single shot and is generally 1 oz of espresso, Starbucks’s solo is 25 % less at just 0.75 oz. A Starbucks regular or standard solo shot of espresso will contain about 75mg of caffeine.
- Doppio (1.5 oz.)
Doppio means “double” in Italian. Starbucks double shots are two solo shots, making 1.5 oz of espresso.
- Triple (2.25 Oz.)
Triple is an English word equivalent to Italian triple, which means three times, for three shots, making 2.25 oz of espresso.
- Quad (3 Oz.)
When a drink needs four shots of espresso, you ask for quad shots, and at Starbucks, you’ll end up with 3 oz of espresso in it, because quad refers to four in Italian.
Starbucks US vs. Starbucks UK Cup Sizes: Medium Cup Size
Starbucks US medium cup size is the 16 oz grande, which is the same sized cup for both iced and hot coffee. The main difference with the Starbucks UK medium cup size is that the company uses two different cup sizes, with the UK iced coffee medium cup holding 24 oz and the UK hot coffee having 14 oz, which is closer in volume to the US Grande size.
Starbucks US vs. Starbucks UK Cup Sizes: Large Cup size
Whereas Starbucks’ US Venti(large) cup holds 24 oz for iced coffee, the UK’s large iced drink cup has a capacity of 32 oz, which is a major difference. However, the hot drinks’ large cup sizes are identical in the two locations, each holding 20 oz.
Starbucks US vs. Starbucks UK Cup Sizes: Extra Large Cup Size
The major difference is that Starbucks UK has an extra-large cup size for hot coffee that measures 24 oz, while Starbucks US does not exceed 20 oz for hot drinks. When it comes to iced coffee, Starbucks US serves a 30 oz Trenta (extra-large) cup, which is not available in the UK. However, this extra-larger has a lower volume compared to the UK’s large iced coffee size, which holds 32 oz.
Final Verdict: So, which is better? – Starbucks US cup sizes or Starbucks UK Cup Sizes
Neither Starbucks US nor Starbucks UK cup sizes are superior. This is because you can always get a cup that will suit your thirst in either range, and both have cups with low and high-volume alternatives. For the popular medium cup, I found that the cup holds almost the same amount of hot coffee in the US and the UK.
FAQ SECTION
Does Starbucks UK offer more cup varieties than Starbucks US?
No, Starbucks UK has fewer cup options than Starbucks US. It has 3 iced and 4 hot coffee sizes compared to Starbucks’ US 4 iced and 4 hot cup sizes.
Which one has more coffee for large cup sizes between Starbucks US and Starbucks UK?
Starbucks UK Large iced coffee cup size (32 oz) has more coffee than Starbucks US Venti iced coffee cup size (24 oz). However, both Starbucks UK’s large hot coffee cup size and Starbucks US Venti’s hot coffee cup size hold the same 20 oz.
Does Starbucks US offer more quality coffee in each cup size than Starbucks UK?
No. The quality of coffee is consistent throughout the company’s locations; however, the taste may differ depending on customers’ preferences and expectations.
Are Starbucks cup sizes larger in the US than in the UK?
Starbucks UK has larger cups, with the largest iced coffee size holding 32 oz compared to the US Trenta at 30 oz, and the UK Xtra-large hot coffee size holding 24 oz compared to the largest US cup size for hot coffee, which is a 20 oz Venti.
Are Starbucks’ sizes the same in the US and the UK?
No, Starbucks sizes in the US and the UK have different names and capacities.
