Choice Isn't Yours To Make

I've never been a coffee drinker, but for a perfect illustration of left-leaning threats toward personal choice, this is text book.

Given America's love of coffee and super-sized portions, it was inevitable that Starbucks should tie the two together in its latest offering: the massive new "Trenta" cup size, holding 31 US fluid ounces – that's 917ml, or more than one and a half imperial pints – of beverage.

The company says it is responding to customer demand for larger sizes, which it has been testing for almost a year.

Customers want larger sizes, the business responds. Just how it's supposed to work. A non-opinion piece then, yes?

Well, it should be, but this is the Graun.

In a nod to health fears, Starbucks says that only conventional iced coffee, iced tea and iced tea lemonade in both caffeinated and decaffeinated varieties will be sold in the new bladder-bursting cup size, and claims that "sweetened" versions will contain only 230 calories.

So the health-obsessed will refrain from crawling zombie-like over the choices of others in this instance then, surely.

It's what people want and isn't in any way problematic.

But if America works up a thirst for the Trenta, it's a good bet that a fishtank full of Frappuchino won't be far behind.

Fuck me sideways! It hasn't happened yet but Starbucks are being criticised for it already?

How much caffeine an individual should consume is another matter, [...]

A matter, in fact, which has nothing whatsoever to do with anyone but the person drinking it.

How much they "should consume"? Who on God's earth gave you the right to even comment? Especially since ...

A Starbucks iced coffee of that size would probably contain nearly 400mg of caffeine, not enough to put a Trenta drinker into the heavy user category of 500 to 600mg of caffeine a day.

So, again, a non-story.

There are no plans for Starbucks to sell the jacuzzi-sized coffee cup to its British customers. Yet.

Shame, since even though I hate the stuff, I would be at the glass door begging to buy one in solidarity after reading that pile of steaming horseshit.

At least it was thought-provoking of sorts, though. It begs the question why a British newspaper should be bothered about an American chain serving large cups of low calorie coffee which don't reach high usage caffeine levels.

Perhaps they just hate big business?