[星巴克] Short、Tall、Grande和Venti?

3/28剛好是星巴克買一杯送一杯的週年慶, 一直很好奇星巴克對大小杯的說法, 很詭異的特別..

為何星巴克(Starbucks)大杯叫Grande，不叫large？

早期的星巴克咖啡店瀰漫著烘焙咖啡豆的香味，而且它們的咖啡豆品質優於Dunkin' Donuts甜甜圈店的咖啡豆。它們販售花俏的法式濾壓壺，櫥櫃裡展示著杏仁可頌(almond croissants)、義式脆烤餅(biscotti)、小紅莓蛋奶酥(raspberry custard pastries)等誘人的點心。
Dunkin' Donuts甜甜圈店賣的咖啡分大(large)、中(medium)、小(small)杯，在星巴克，不同份量的咖啡稱做Short、Tall、Grande和Venti，用的是Caffe Americano（美式咖啡）、Caffe Misto（密斯朵）、Macchiato（瑪奇朵）、Frappuccino（星冰樂）等高級名稱。
星巴克竭盡所能，凡事都要創造不同的顧客體驗，讓感受的差異大到顧客不會用Dunkin' Donuts甜甜圈店的價格作為定錨點(anchor)，反而接納星巴克為我們準備的新定錨點。這是星巴克成功的主要秘訣。（《誰說人是理性的！Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions》頁60）

連對大小杯的稱謂也可以進行市場區隔, 老闆真的是心機頗深啊!

再多查了一些, 發現台灣把Tall定義成中杯不是很正確, 應該說星巴克把這些字都放大了, 當你說Tall時, 那種感覺比你說short(小杯)心情好多了, 更何況也沒有小杯這種東西, 真的是很有趣的顧客心理戰.

The official Starbucks size naming scheme mixes pretentious use of Italian, and lies. The correlation goes roughly like this:

• "Tall", which in the context of a drink seems synonymous with "large",
• "Grande", which of course is Italian for "big", and
• "Venti", which means "twenty," which is the number of ounces.

Originally, in their "home town" of Seattle, they offered Short and Tall, but as tastes for their excellent coffee grew, they introduced Grande, and then Venti, and removed the original Short from the menu. I think Short is still available from under the counter, and used for things like to-go espresso.

In other words, the lowest advertised size denomination at Starbucks is referred to by a terminology that implies "large". They've shifted the scale completely up! There isn't even "medium" any longer! Surely the apocalypse is nigh...