Awhile back I made an important announcement about the scheduled release by Starbucks of a super-sized iced beverage option called The Trenta. Trenta being Italian for 30, the new beverage size would be a whopping 31 oz. Initially piloted in select cities, the nationwide Trenta release date was slated to be May 3. A few weeks later, Kat of Tenaciously Yours fame sent me an email wondering if I would be up for a little simultaneous blog posting fun in which we outlined our first Trenta experiences.
Being the serious chai latte addict that I am, of course I jumped on Kat’s Bandwagon. Since our favorite Country Cleaver Wanna Be, Megan, lives in the Starbucks homeland of Seattle, naturally we asked her to ride along. Thus, the Operation Trenta movement was born.
May 7, 2011 became known as Trenta Day on our calendars.
Yep, we’re wild ones.
Being that May 7 was also a Saturday, our Trenta Day neatly coincided with what Hubby & I affectionally call “Sports Saturday.” As in, we spend the majority of our Saturdays in the spring/summer shuttling kiddos from one sporting event or practice to another. All. Day. Long. Sometimes we divide & conquer, and sometimes, as was the case yesterday, circumstance dictates that one of us does it alone.
As luck would have it, yesterday was my turn to fly solo with all 4 boys. Did I mention that Sports Saturdays require a delicate balancing of schedules? Fortunately, it was a “lighter” day so we weren’t double-booked for anything.
So, I dutifully made my way 30 miles in the opposite direction of our first game, to our only nearest Starbucks so that I could pick up my Trenta. It was a little chilly, so I was apprehensive about slurping down 31 oz. of iced chai first thing in the morning. But since I’m not afraid to take one for the team, I pressed on. The day was going just as planned.
Except when I got to Starbucks I was informed that the Trenta nationwide release date was only for warmer climates. Huh. That’s not so nationwide, after all. Bummer. Guess the whole Trenta-Mania Movement has gone belly-up before it ever began.
Thankfully, my favorite barista Vee was there to save the day. Once I explained my mission, she helpfully offered up 2 (16 oz.) Grande chai lattes in place of one Trenta iced chai. Because 16 oz. + 16 oz. = 32 oz or roughly a 31 oz. Trenta.
Sometimes it’s the simplest of maths that eludes me.
So I cheerfully left my only favorite Starbucks with my Trenta equivalent hot chai latte. Being that it wasn’t quite 40 degress (F) outside, I was pleased with the development.
Totally random trivia alert: I really love all of the foamy milk froth on top. Mmmmmmm….
I must admit that I kind of anticipated this happening, as the 45th parallel is hardly the epicenter of national trends. Good thing I brought my racy red travel mug, just in case. In the spirit of minutiae, I should probably also mention that the first 16 oz. of my Trenta journey went down way too easily during the 30 mile drive to the soccer field. When we arrived at the field, I had to re-fill my traveller with the second 16 oz.
Over-caffeination, here I come!
Until this happened. The whole thing dumped before I got 6 paces onto the field. Bummer.
Lucky for me that it’s nearly impossible to be melancholy when watching a gaggle of 5-6 year olds play soccer. Have you ever seen the spectacle? All the kids of both teams swarm around the ball, and frequently need to be reminded which direction that they should be running. Its both hilarious and adorable.
(And yes, I know that I cut off their heads in the photo–that was intentional, since only 1 of them was my kid. I didn’t want to post pics of other peoples kids without permission.)
So since I was only halfway through the full Trenta experience, and because I averaged about 6 hours of sleep the night before, I needed to complete my mission. I needed more caffeine. Obviously, there was only one thing to do: drive 30 miles back to Starbucks to get another one go home and brew my own Starbucks-issued chai latte. (What I wouldn’t do for a equipment to froth my own milk on top.)
Being that I had a little time in between running to practices, I walked mug-in-hand to a neighbors garage sale. There are no words to describe the cuteness of this outfit that I snagged for the Baby. The horse jumper was perfect for the Kentucky Derby later that day.
My neighbor happened to have a disassembled baby swing for sale, and mentioned that she probably could have sold it already, but she didn’t know how to put it together. Son #1 didn’t miss a beat before actioning the screw driver attachment on his pocket knife and putting the swing together. Sweet boy.
By then it was time to load ’em up and head ’em out. When we arrived at the next practice, my Trenta-equivalent was gone. But I must say that all the caffeine kept me going for the rest of the day.
The verdict? Operation Trenta = Success
I probably wouldn’t have consumed a veritable trough of a caffeinated beverage if I didn’t know that my Sisters in Solidarity weren’t doing the same. I am a cup-a-day kind of gal, but I have been known to go-for-two in times of extreme sleep deprivation. (Read: the child rearing years.) But all in all, the extra jolt of caffeine wasn’t so bad.
I don’t know if it was the hectic schedule of our day, the previous night’s sleep deprivation, or the fact that it took me several hours to consume it, but drinking 32 oz. of caffeine didn’t seem to have any lasting effects. No shakes. No jitters. I was able to spend the day logging nearly 100 miles on my van taxiing kids to events, and entertained whichever 3 boys weren’t on a sports field while their brother played, without feeling exhausted or needing a nap. I went to bed at what seems to be my normal time *ahem* of midnight. I slept like a rock that evening, so the extra caffeine infusion didn’t keep me awake. Thank goodness.
However, I did wake up with a wicked caffeine hangover the next day. Or maybe that was exhaustion of daily life? I’m going to blame it on the caffeine, since clearly, there is nothing wrong with my lifestyle. 😉
Want to know how Megan and Kat fared on their Operation Trenta day? You know you want to. Heck–you read about mine, so you owe it to yourself to read about theirs!
Megan’s Trenta-fueled day is outlined here.
Kat’s wacky Trenta hijinks are here.
For those of you in need of a ridiculously huge iced beverage with the highest caffeine content of any other Starbucks beverage, the Trenta should truly be released nationwide by June.
Comments