I visited the USA a few times during the 1970′s and 80′s and was always staggered by the huge size of soft drink (soda) and beverage containers. It seemed that whenever I fancied some refreshment I was not offered the British choice of … “small” … “medium” .. or .. “large”, but the American … “large” … “extra large” .. or .. “JUMBO” ! Although this was a bit of a con when it came to sodas as each paper cup was half full of crushed ice, but what wasn’t a “con” was the free refill of decent coffee you received when eating at an American diner.
Of course that was long before ‘Starbucks’ decided to drown the world in fancy milkshakes masquerading as coffee and invent a new language. You know … all that … “latte” … “macchiato … “frappuccino” bollocks. I suppose they thought that if we were trying to translate the menu we wouldn’t notice the rip-off prices.
Now in the USA ‘Starbucks’ are introducing a new size receptacle … the ‘Trenta’ … which will contain a whopping 916ml. … that’s almost a litre ! … 600 calories of milky muck ! … OK, I know that at the moment ‘Starbucks’ say they will only sell iced coffee etc. in this size (that old half a cup of crushed ice trick again), but how long do you think it will be before Starbuck’s greed ’public demand’ ensures that all varieties are available in the ‘Trenta’ size ?
I suppose that like all the other American gut-busters it will soon reach our shores where it will be eagerly grabbed by the fat fingers of our fast-food fanatics.
“Trenta” translates into English as ‘thirty’ which is probably the number of pounds you will be putting on if you gulp down this ‘super-size’ measure whenever you fancy a caffeine boost.
Some reports say that the capacity of the average stomach is only 900ml. I wonder if that is true ? … I think I’ll test it once again … I’m off down the pub …
… for a pint or two ! 
