Costa Express machines: are they really ripping customers off?

Costa doesn’t fill the cups to the brim because of the risk that someone could burn themselves

A video made by a builder appearing to show that a large caffé latte fits into a regular cup has sparked confusion over whether he is really being ripped off.

In a video that was posted on Facebook but has since been removed, a British man said that he bought a large caffé latte from one of Costa’s self-service machines for £2.50, instead of the £2.20 for a regular.

He then demonstrates that the large coffee, which is around 1cm from the brim of the large cup, can seemingly fit into the regular cup without spilling any liquid.

“There you go, country of England, the regular and the large are indeed exactly the same size. Whoops Costa, oh dear,” he says.

The Independent repeated the experiment at a Costa Express machine in Paddington.

We ordered a large white coffee for £2.50 in a large 16 ounce cup, poured it into a 12 ounce regular cup, and found that there were several ounces of liquid left over.

But when we repeated the same experiment with a large caffé latte, also for £2.50, the coffee and the froth fit into a regular 12 ounce cup.

Costa said £2.20 buys the customer 11 ounces of caffé latte in a regular 12 ounce cup.

A large caffé latte, costing 30p more at £2.50, should be14 ounces of liquid in a 16 ounce cup, a spokeswoman said.

Costa doesn’t fill the cups to the brim because of the risk that someone could burn themselves.

But our video shows that a large caffé latte isn’t always 14 ounces of liquid, or it would not fit into the 12 ounce cup.

A spokeswoman from Costa told the Independent: "Costa can assure customers that when purchasing a large Costa Express drink you are receiving an extra shot of coffee and additional drink, compared to a regular size.

“We never fill any size drink to the top of the cup in order to prevent our customers or baristas getting burnt."