Starbucks’ Secret Petite Cups: The Short and Demi Sizes You’re Missing Out On

While Starbucks' tall, grande, and venti sizes are popular, many coffee lovers don’t know about the petite short and demi cups. These smaller sizes are designed specifically for hot drinks and offer a more traditional coffee experience with single shots of espresso or coffee.

Starbucks' Short and Demi Cups Offer Petite, Hot Drink Options with Italian-Inspired Flair

Although Starbucks is not an Italian company—it opened its first location in Seattle in 1971—the coffee empire has been bringing a bit of Italy's coffee house culture to the streets everywhere since Howard Schultz took a trip to Milan in 1983. Schultz's journey inspired the Italian-derived names for each of Starbucks' drink sizes and has been causing coffee drinkers to recall the words "small," "medium," and "large" at other coffee shops ever since.

Consumers have decades of practice ordering coffee in Italian but need to be more familiar with two Starbucks cup sizes. Starbucks' short (eight ounces) and demi (three ounces) cups are exclusively for hot drinks, and each petite cup has a specific purpose.

The short size is used for small cups of coffee and single-shot hot coffee drinks. Short and tall espresso drinks usually contain a single shot—the flat white is an exception, with two shots in the most petite two sizes. A shot is ideal for those seeking a more traditional coffee-to-milk ratio without all the caffeine of a double shot.

Demi cups are used for two things: espresso shots—the three-ounce cup can hold up to a quad for the daring—and the even more adorable, unsanctioned Puppuccino. Name something cuter than dogs licking whipped cream out of a tiny Starbucks cup—go ahead.

Starbucks’ Hidden Trenta Size Delivers 30 Ounces of Iced Drinks for Extreme Coffee Lovers

While tall (12 fluid ounces), grande (16 fluid ounces), and venti (20 fluid ounces for hot drinks or 24 for cold drinks) are the most commonly used sizes, these three aren't the only options Starbucks has to offer. For those days when a coffee IV seems necessary, there's the hefty Trenta: 30 fluid ounces of Starbucks' iced coffee, iced tea, and other cold drinks.

The trenta size keeps a low profile. Starbucks doesn't advertise this behemoth beverage, possibly because drinks this large can be pretty pricey or because only certain beverages are available in a Trenta size. This means one can't get a Pumpkin Spice Latte that's bigger than a bottle of wine (about 750 mL or around 25 ounces), but adding pumps of a favorite syrup to a 30-ounce cold brew is possible.

Since Starbucks doesn't offer a trenta size for hot drinks, it's advisable to stick to something refreshing instead of a caffeine surge. Grabbing a cool and creamy Pink Drink or Mango Dragonfruit Refresher on a sweltering day ensures no caffeine shakes in sight.