This post is the kissing cousin to the tea menu featured a few weeks ago in this blog. At the same time that Starbucks experimented with whole leaf in their stores, they tested a larger sized iced beverage. It was called “double grande” and 32 ounces in size. The test size was intended for Tazo tea beverages, and not Frappuccinos. Unfortunately, I didn’t save any of the old 32 ounce to-go cups, and the only picture I could find is attached. The “double grande” size prominently says Tazo Tea on it. Adjacent to it is a typical Venti Starbucks cup, and then next to that is one of the very early cold reusable iced to-go tumblers.
What do you guys think of a “double grande” size? Great for cooling off in the summer, or reminds you of “super size” me too much?
Edit on March 3, 2010:
Much to my surprise, Starbucks again is testing a super large cold drink size. The new round of testing is called the “Trenta” and is a test product currently, through the end of the month, in Phoenix and Tampa.
I have a recent blog post featuring the “Trenta” cup here:
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It definitely gives me the super size feeling, though with tea that’s probably not a huge health risk. One of the baristas at PCC uses a large deli container for her iced coffee and sips at it all day! Saves lots of little cups from ending up in the trash. Maybe that’s where Sbux got the idea for “double grande”.
Well if the cup is 32 oz., then you might actually be getting 18-20 oz. of drink. I had read somewhere on starbucks gossip that someone measured how many ounces of drink you get when you order an iced drink, and tested it out myself a few weeks ago. If you order a grande iced drink, you’re actually only getting around 10-12 (I forget exactly, but it was significantly less than 16) ounces of drink. Basically if you order an iced grande latte, you are getting the liquid equivalent of a double tall latte. This is why I put minimal ice in drinks that I make for myself.
On the other hand, a double grande would just give people more to complain about when it comes to Starbucks: why is it so friggin’ expensive, why are the size names so confusing, etc.
Wow, Melody you turn up some gems. I didn’t know Starbucks was toying with this idea. And you even have a picture of the cup to prove it. LOL.
Actually I think it a great idea for Iced Tea or Coffee. Especially for a long road trip. I would love to see the DoubleGrande! Do you have anymore info on this? Great Post BTW…
In Texas, we love our sweet tea. We get jugs of it and finish it by the end of the day. I kinda like it, but think the “Double Grande” name sounds… lame. 🙂
Double grande DEFINITELY reminds of me Supersize Me. I suppose for TEA, this may be alright. But for anything else… it’s slightly preposterous, if you ask me.
I recently went to Japan, earlier this year. The vending machines there, ALL carried small-sized coffee cans & juice cans. At first, I thought, “Uh, I may need to get 2 or 3 of these. This isn’t going to suffice!” But once I drank 1 can (roughly 8 oz.), I was actually quite satisfied! Throughout the rest of my stay there, I purchased 1 can of coffee or juice periodically. Even @ Starbucks there, I ordered a ‘tall’ size caramel macchiatto & it suited me perfectly. Once I returned to the US, it made me realize that I only THOUGHT I needed the bigger sizes in drinks/food because it was offered!
Now I’m ALL about ordering the tall size drinks @ Starbucks; it’s less expensive & it does the trick that I once thought only a Grande or a Venti can satisfy. (Actually, I recently purchased a clear iced for-here cup, which only comes in the Grande size-so Grande!) But for hot drinks, I can live w/ a tall size & not feel like I’m missing out at all!
Do I have any baristas/customers in Phoenix reading this? I hear that Starbucks is testing a larger cold drink size again. The new test is for a “trenta” size – either 30 or 31 ounces.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I could easily drink a 32 ounce Passion Tea Lemonade!
I haven’t seen this in any Tucson, AZ stores but we’re about 2 hours away from Phoenix. I’ll look the next time I’m there though…since it’s not often I get cold drinks I don’t look at the cold cups very much.
I think the name does make it sound like McDonalds…and I’m leery at this leading to huge fraps-which are already amazingly bad for you. Why not get back to the coffee instead of test marketing all this other fluffy stuff? I mean, I love the iced teas, but they are not what starbucks is supposed to be all about. Just my opinion.s
I could see this getting confusing if it were available for coffee beverages.
I can just imagine a customer coming in and ordering an iced ‘double grande’ latte, with my reply being, ‘the size, ‘double grande’ or a latte with two shots, coz they already come with two?’……
Kinda confusing in my opinion.
I’m a barista in Phoenix, Arizona and they’re test marketing the trenta (31 oz, although in Italian it means thirty… then again, the iced venti cup is 24 ounces, not twenty, so… meh) size at a store in our area. I haven’t seen it yet but a friend of mine purchased one and said it cost her around $3.70? Seems a bit pricey to me, to be honest… with tax here the venti size comes to $2.45 and that seems a lot for an iced tea… what do you guys think?
Hi Jennifer! Thanks for finding your way to my site. The previous “double grande” test (photograph for this blog post) was for a 32 ounce drink. Not sure what difference one ounce makes.
Anyway, the idea of a 31 ounce Passion Tea Lemonade doesn’t seem weird to me at all – I know I could drink that in the summer. It’s just that would be too huge of a size for any kind of Frappuccino!
I’m trying very hard to get my hands on a “Trenta” cup to feature in a blog entry. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Sorry this picture sucks. I took it with my camera phone. But this is a 31 oz. “trenta.” This is my second of the day and I can’t stop saying the name. Green tea lemonade-aholic. It is next to a 12 oz. bottle of Miller Lite.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/girlexposed/image001.jpg
I am from Phoenix and at the Starbucks I go to, they are selling the trenta size for iced drinks. I agree that a trenta green tea would be nice on a hot summer day!
Hi Lauren! Is the “trenta” size selling pretty well? Can I get one for an iced chai too? 🙂 I’ve been trying very hard to get my hands on one of the Trenta cups so that I can do my own blog entry on it. A few people have uploaded pics of the cup here and there, but I was waiting for my very own Trenta cup before officially writing about it. But the bottom line is that Seattle is a little far away from Phoenix!
I think “Trenta” is actually a better name than the “Double Grande” cup featured in this blog entry. The double grande was 32 ounces, but I think it’s too confusing sounding of a name.