Cold Drink Cups Guide: Smoothies, Iced Coffee & Milkshakes

Cold drinks have become a serious part of the menu for cafes, juice bars, and food businesses across the UK. Iced coffee, smoothies, milkshakes, and fresh juice are all drinks that customers expect to look good, travel well, and not leak on the way home. The drink itself only does half the job. The cup does the rest.

This guide covers the cup and lid setup you need for cold drinks, what to look for, and a few quick recipe ideas to make the most of them.

Why Cup Choice Matters for Cold Drinks

A cold drink served in the wrong cup creates problems before the customer has even taken a sip. Here are a few things to consider when choosing the right cups:

• Presentation: a smoothie or iced coffee looks better in a clear cup. Customers can see the layers, the colour, the fruit. That visual appeal is part of what sells the drink, especially when it ends up photographed and shared online.
• Leak-proofing: a cup with a lid that doesn't fit properly will leak in transit. That's a wasted drink and a customer who won't order it again.
• Practicality: straw holes, sip-thru openings, and domed lids all serve different drink types. The wrong lid on the wrong drink causes mess or simply doesn't work.
• Sustainability: more customers are actively looking for a recyclable smoothie cup or recyclable packaging more generally, and increasingly choosing where to buy based on it.

Getting this right isn't complicated. It just takes the right combination of cup and lid for each drink type, and a little thought about what's actually going inside.

For smaller cold drinks, sides, or sampler portions, the Gourmet Clear Plastic Squat Cups come in 5oz/150ml and 9oz/200ml sizes. These are useful for shots, dips, or smaller juice and smoothie portions.

Every cup in the Gourmet range is fully compatible with every lid in the range, so however you mix and match sizes and lid types across your menu, the fit is always secure.

Smoothie Cup Lids

A cup is only half the job. When it comes to smoothie cups with lids, the lid you choose needs to match the drink itself, whether a straw is involved, and how the customer is going to carry it.  Cooksmill stocks several lid styles, all of which fit any size of cup in the Gourmet range.

Recyclable Smoothie Cup and Lid Options

Sustainability is increasingly a deciding factor for customers choosing where to buy a cold drink. The good news is that every cup in the Gourmet range is already a recyclable smoothie cup, made from clear plastic that can go through standard recycling streams.

For the lid, the Gourmet Recyclable rPET Strawless Lids take things a step further. Made from rPET (recycled PET plastic), these are designed to fit the full cup range, with a secure fit and a strawless design. Pairing a recyclable cup with a recyclable lid gives you a fully recyclable setup,  a straightforward way to reduce plastic waste without compromising on presentation or security.

If straws are still part of your offering, browse the full range of straws for biodegradable options that pair well with a more sustainable cup setup.

Iced Coffee Cups

Iced coffee has become one of the most consistently ordered cold drinks year-round, not just in summer. The right iced coffee cups need to handle ice, cold liquid, and condensation without softening or leaking onto the customer's hand.

Coffee cup lids for iced drinks should use a straw-hole lid such as the CL95X, which keeps the drink secure during transport while giving easy straw access. For an iced latte topped with cream or foam, a domed lid gives the extra headroom needed without squashing the topping.

Milkshake Cups

Milkshakes need a sturdier setup than a standard cold drink. A thicker liquid, often topped with cream, sauce, or sprinkles, is usually consumed with a wider straw.

A 16oz or 20oz cup works well as a milkshake cup, giving enough volume for a generous serving plus toppings. The domed lid with a hole is particularly suited to milkshakes, since it accommodates whipped cream or other toppings without the lid being forced or the topping getting squashed flat.

Juice Cups

Fresh juice is usually served without toppings, which gives more flexibility on cup and lid choice. A standard smoothie cup or squat cup works well depending on portion size, and a sip-thru lid is often the simplest option for juice consumed quickly without a straw.

For juice on the move, a straw-hole lid keeps things tidier, particularly for pulpier juices where customers may want to drink through a wide straw rather than directly from the cup.

A Few More Quick Cold Drink Ideas

If you want to round out your cold drinks menu, here are a few simple combinations that work well in the cup sizes above:

• Iced mocha (16oz): Espresso, chocolate syrup, cold milk, and ice. Top with cream if desired and use a lid with a straw hole.
• Tropical smoothie (20oz): Blend mango, pineapple, and coconut water. Serve in a 20oz cup for a generous portion.
• Orange and mint cooler (9oz squat cup): Fresh orange juice over crushed ice with a sprig of mint. A good smaller, lighter option for a side drink or sampler.

None of these need specialist equipment beyond a blender or juicer, making them quick and easy options for your menu.

Choosing the Right Setup for Your Drinks Menu

This isn't a fixed rule. It's a starting point based on what tends to work best for each drink type. It can be easily adjusted based on your own portion sizes and customer preferences. Since every cup and lid in the range is interchangeable, you can experiment without committing to a rigid cup-and-lid pairing for each drink.

FAQ (Quick Takeaways)

Question: What size cup should I use for a smoothie?
Answer: A 16oz cup suits most standard smoothie servings, a 12oz cup works for a smaller or single-fruit smoothie, and a 20oz cup is better for larger or layered smoothies.

Question: What lid works best for iced coffee?
Answer: A flat lid with a straw hole, such as the CL95X, keeps iced coffee secure in transit while giving easy straw access. A domed lid is better if the drink is topped with cream or foam.

Question: Are Cooksmill's smoothie cups recyclable?
Answer: Yes. Every cup in the Gourmet range is made from clear, recyclable plastic, and pairing it with the rPET strawless lid gives a fully recyclable cup and lid setup.

Question: What lid is best for milkshakes?
Answer: A domed lid with a hole is best for milkshakes, since it gives room for whipped cream or toppings without squashing them flat, and works well with a wide straw.

Question: Can the same lid be used across different cup sizes?
Answer: Yes. Every cup in the Gourmet range is compatible with every lid in the range, so sizes and lid types can be mixed and matched across a menu with a secure fit.

Stock Up on Cold Drink Cups at Cooksmill

Cold drinks are no longer a side note on the menu. They're a category in their own right, and the cup is often the first thing a customer notices before they've even tasted what's inside. A clear cup, a properly fitting lid, and a setup that doesn't leak all add up to a better experience and a drink that's more likely to be ordered again.

Whether you're running a juice bar, a cafe with a growing cold drinks menu, a smoothie counter, or a takeaway adding milkshakes to the offering, Cooksmill stocks the full range of cups and lids covered in this guide. Browse our full cold beverage disposables range at Cooksmill, or visit us in store in Salford or Bradford.