Best Cups and Lids for Summer Drinks: Cold Brew, Smoothies, and Boba

Cold drink menus in UK cafes and takeaways look very different in June than they do in January, and the packaging needs to keep up. An iced latte in a paper hot cup, a smoothie in a cup that's too narrow for its straw, a boba drink in a container that hides the pearls: these are the things customers notice, and they affect whether the drink looks worth what it costs.

This guide goes into depth on smoothie cups with lids, boba cups and straws that work best for each summer drink category, along with a quick reference table to match your menu to the right setup.

Why Summer Drinks Need Their Own Packaging Setup

Clear rPET is the material of choice for almost every cold drink category in UK hospitality right now, and the reason is visual as much as practical. A layered iced latte with a defined espresso gradient, a bright smoothie cup showing the colour of the fruit, a boba cup with visible pearls sitting at the bottom: none of these look the way they should in an opaque cup.

rPET cups are also accepted in kerbside recycling across most of the UK when clean, so they're a practical choice on the sustainability side too, not just a visual one. If you're still working out which cup sizes to stock for cold drinks alongside your hot range, our guide to choosing the right cup size for your menu covers how the two categories differ and what to stock for each.

Cold Brew and Iced Coffee

Cold brew and iced coffee are the highest-volume cold drink category for most UK coffee shops in summer. The packaging is straightforward: a clear cup that shows the drink, a flat lid with a straw slot, and a straw that doesn't collapse in a cold, dense liquid.

For most menus, 16oz rPET cups are the right starting point for iced lattes and cold brew, with 20oz worth adding for large-format drinks or extra ice. The clarity at this size shows layered drinks at their best, which matters more for an iced coffee than a smoothie where the drink is already blended.

On straws: a standard 8mm smoothie straw handles cold brew and iced lattes well and is a better fit than a 6mm straw, which can feel restrictive when customers are drinking through ice. Paper straws are now standard across most UK operators following the single-use plastics regulations, so make sure your straw spec matches the drink.

Smoothie Cups and Milkshakes

When operators search for smoothie cups with lids, the question is usually which lid format and which cup or lid size, rather than which material, since clear rPET is almost universal for this category. The drinks are thicker, often heavier, and need a straw that can handle fruit pulp without bending mid-drink, so the cup and lid combination matters more here than it does for a thinner iced coffee.

A 20oz rPET cup plastic with lid is the most common setup for smoothies in UK cafes, and dome lids are the right call since they give enough clearance for fruit garnishes, seeds or granola toppings without squashing them. For milkshake cups the same logic applies: 20oz, dome lid, and a 10mm jumbo straw that handles thick, viscous drinks without collapsing.

If your smoothie menu includes protein shakes or functional drinks with dense ingredients, it's also worth checking your cup's rigidity at full fill weight, since a lighter rPET cup can flex noticeably when a customer picks up a full 20oz by the top.

Boba and Bubble Tea

Boba cups have more specific requirements than any other cold drink category. The pearls need to be visible, which means clear rPET, and the cup needs to be wide enough to allow the pearls to move freely, while the straw needs to be wide enough to draw them up without clogging. The whole setup, boba cups and straws together, has to work as a system rather than as individual items ordered separately.

The standard setup is a clear 16oz or 20oz rPET cup, a dome lid and a 12mm paper boba straw. Dome lids are non-negotiable here since flat lids make it almost impossible to insert a bubble tea straw at the angle customers naturally hold the cup, and a lid that doesn't seal properly around a wide straw is a recipe for spills. Always make sure your dome lid and cup are from a compatible range.

Boba straws come in paper and PLA versions. Paper is more widely available and aligns with single-use plastics regulations, while PLA straws offer a compostable alternative for operators with access to industrial composting. For an honest breakdown of what compostable actually means in the UK context, our Bagasse vs rPET vs Paper guide covers the infrastructure reality.

Frappes and Dessert Drinks

Frappes and anything with visible toppings are where dome lids do their most important work, since a flat lid crushes whipped cream and removes the visual appeal that justifies the price point. The cup size for this category tends to run large since the drink itself is often a smaller portion within a larger vessel of ice and cream, so 20oz is the most common size.

For dessert-style drinks where customers need to eat as well as drink, black spoon straws are worth stocking alongside your standard straw range as they handle the combination of drinking and scooping without the customer needing a separate spoon.

Quick Reference: Summer Drink to Cup, Lid and Straw

Use this as a starting point when building or reviewing your summer setup:

Getting the Full Setup Right Before Summer Peaks

The most common problem with cold drink packaging in summer isn't running out of cups, it's running out of the right lid or straw at the wrong moment, since those are ordered as an afterthought rather than as a core part of the setup. A dome lid shortage on a busy Saturday morning when the frappe queue is out the door is an entirely avoidable problem.

The smoothie and iced drink cup collection covers cups and lids across all sizes. For a broader look at cold drink cup types and how to choose between them for your full menu year-round, our Best Cups for Iced Coffee and Cold Drinks guide covers the detail.