We could literally write an entire book about portion distortion, a phenomenon in this country taken by storm but we figured it wouldn't be worth playing those cards, nor do we have any intentions in discussing the food guide pyramid introduced by the USDA in 1992. When we designed the menu for Voluto Coffee in 2008, we knew that we wanted to introduce Pittsburgh to a more traditional espresso menu with smaller sizes right from the start and chose to completely omit the 20oz drink, a move that we stand behind to this day very firmly. Barb and I never even consume more than 12oz, but of course that's us and we are running a business where customers dictate some of our offerings. Larger portions ( whether it be food or drink) didn't become acceptable until the late 1980's if I recall correctly. "Super Sizing" was introduced more as a marketing tactic which would pour more money in the pockets of big CEO's and the like at a mere increased cost. The Extra Large Popcorn and Super Size Fries weren't created with the consumer's best interest at heart, nor is the 32oz TRENTA now available in Starbucks. Come to think of it, it is now hard to believe that Starbucks originally had a "short" (8oz) size on their menu, it was unfortunately taken off their menu in 1999 and the Venti ( 20oz) was then born. What happened to the original glass bottle of Pepsi Cola that was 6.5oz?
Our society has accepted this super sizing of the beverage & food industry to be the norm and we strongly believe that it has gone a little too far. Nonetheless, we didn't omit the 20oz drink to join in against the battle of obesity in this country. We want to make sure that you enjoy the best, and that the coffee is at the fore front of each beverage that is hand crafted by each one of us. If it the exquisite and intricate flavors & aromas of coffee you are after, than we should all be so happy that small independents like us ( & others in Pittsburgh, and around the country) dare to be different and stand apart from corporation nation. Support us and be loyal to us because of the utmost importance we place on the quality of our beverages, because we believe bigger isn't better. We'd rather you support us for those above reasons, rather than the selection of our cup sizes. Of course you can get a latte that's bigger than ours, and perhaps cheaper ( that's a whole other conversation) but is it better? Do you feel fully & utterly satisfied while nursing it the last drop over xx amount of time? Is worth a mere 4oz difference, is it that significant? IS IT?
Besides, when analyzing over the last year the smaller versus bigger sizes at our establishment, 58% of our hot beverages are 12oz. We honestly do not have that many customers demanding & asking for larger drinks and we've even had some of our customers downsize to the more traditional ones, which in our book, is worth more the extra profit to be had of a 20oz mocha.

Teas are sometimes overlooked in many coffee establishments and often not represented very well, leaving the palate dry and bitter. This is quite sad, because not only does tea have many health benefits, but each tea has unique flavors and characteristics. Tea is unfortunately another product that's been tainted by big industries, and what you find in the supermarkets is often time a powder like substance or something that looks like left-overs of what real tea leaves should look like. If you think you're drinking tea when you buy Lipton, think again. There are different types of tea, but all come from one species of plant called Camellia sinensis. The difference between all is quite similar to coffee, in such that it is based on the tree varietal, the region it's grown and the way it's processed. White teas are the least processed out of all, and also contain the least caffeine and some say they also contain the most anti-oxidants (cancer fighting cells), after being picked, the leaves are air dried. Green teas are pan fried or steamed after being picked, sealing the flavors inside. Oolong Teas are usually rolled, which is a process of rolling to bruise the leaf to release some of the oils. Black teas on the other hand are the most processed. The leaves are left to wilt, than rolled to release the oils, but unlike Oolongs, they are left to oxidize much longer, and then are heated, this gives the black teas their bold-like flavor. Much like coffee, tea is seasonal, and the process of picking the leaf and the afterward processing is time consuming. 49th Parallel has done a fine job in sourcing some of the best teas available out there, and they've just recently added some new teas to their offering, but they've also taken a few away. Our tea menu is going to change slightly over the next few weeks to reflect some of these new offerings. We will now only carry one herbal (Apricot/Cinnamon), since the African Summer and Blood Orange will no longer be available from our roaster,however, we will now have an Organic White Silver Needle, which has a very low caffeine content. We will also add a Reserve List Milk Oolong, An Organic Lu An Melon Seed ( Green) and an Organic Buddha's Eyebrow (Green). With these new additions, the tea prices are going to change. When we first opened, we priced our tea menu like many other coffee houses, all one price for a 16oz teapot. We averaged out the tea prices and found the median. Not knowing which teas were going to be popular, it made sense at the time...After being opened for almost a year, we've learned ALOT and we've gathered that the pricier teas are the most popular, and it no longer makes sense to offer them at an averaged price. An Herbal shouldn't be the same price as a reserve oolong and so we've made the decision to price each tea accordingly, and honestly, it didin't make sense from the beginning. All will still be served the same way, in a 16oz teapot on a platter, and our re-steep policy will remain the same. Some of you will notice a small decrease in your favorite tea and some of you will have a small increase. We think it's more sustainable, and we will be representing the Teas accordingly. We certainly hope that all of you will understand the rationale behind our move. We also will no longer allow any teas to be iced. We charge $2.75 for Iced Tea, and if we're going to be pricing each tea individually, a Jasmine Pearl Iced for example would cost almost 6 dollars ( we use double the amount of loose leaf for iced). Until spring, we may purchase some loose black tea that would be suitable to be iced to order and that would fit in the $2.75 price range. As usual, in spring and summer, we will continue to feature an iced tea that we steep and press ahead of time. In our quest to offer Pittsburgh the best coffee and tea, we hope that you will continue to support us.