# Tiny (diameter) coffee straws **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318 "2006-04-19T16:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/21 "2006-04-20T03:06:55Z")
The other use for those: In mixed drinks, i use them to fish the strawberries out of the bottom so I can eat them. Why waste strawberries? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/22 "2006-04-20T12:34:01Z")
You have _hollow_ coffee stirrers over there in that wild ‘n’ wacky country of yours? Weird. I’ve never seen them in Britain. _goes to do a Google Image search_ Are [these](http://www.servu-online.com/groupshotimages/StrawCoffeeStirrer.gif) the things? Never seen 'em like that. Over here we have wooden ones like [this](http://www.restockit.com/ProductImages/rg-images-7-22-04/1065.JPG), or, in McDonald’s and such places, plastic things with a teeny spoon on the end like [this kind of thing](http://www.promotiontopia.com/promotional-images/coffee-stirrer.jpg). Straws is just stoopid 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/23 "2006-04-20T12:56:36Z")
Back in the day, McDonalds had little tiny spoons for coffee stirs. Until the whole world started using them as coke spoons (so legend has it, anyway). Then they shifted to the current “double straw” thingie. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/24 "2006-04-20T13:29:06Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Back in the day, McDonalds had little tiny spoons for coffee stirs. Until the whole world started using them as coke spoons (so legend has it, anyway). Then they shifted to the current “double straw” thingie. Because straws are _completely useless_ in the ingestion of cocaine… ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/25 "2006-04-20T14:04:55Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > They’d be even more flimsy if they used the same amount of plastic and made a solid stick out of it instead. No, they wouldn’t. The hollow tubular stirrer is more rigid than a solid stirrer of the same weight. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/26 "2006-04-20T14:06:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > No, they wouldn’t. The hollow tubular stirrer is more rigid than a solid stirrer of the same weight. Which is what you said upon rereading. I’m celebrating “Be an Idiot Day” today. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/27 "2006-04-20T14:38:12Z")
I’ve never liked those straw-sticks. I almost always see the “double-straw” (which are really just little straws pressed along the circumfrence to create two little openings on either side of the crease) They _are_ flimsy. I’ll usually grab like five or six to stir with. But then I tend to stir somewhat vigorously, and using one or two just causes the sticks to bend like reeds. I like the wooden ones though. I only usually need one – two if they’re really narrow. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/28 "2006-04-20T14:44:50Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Because straws are _completely useless_ in the ingestion of cocaine… Well, they certainly lack the distinctive egg-shaped powder print on your nose that a spoon offers. It’s almost an accessory! ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/29 "2006-04-20T14:46:45Z")
What the heck are you guys doing with your coffee if those little stirrers are inadequate for mixing in cream or sugar? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318/30 "2006-04-20T22:09:34Z")
**Colophon** , it’s hard to make out the details on your first picture, but those could be the ones. The things we’re talking about are like two little straws side-by-side, so the cross section is a figure 8. The diameter of each tube is in the neighborhood of a half-millimeter or a millimeter (I don’t have one handy here to compare), and they’re a little longer than the depth of a cup of coffee (varies, but usually around 10 cm). We do also sometimes use the wooden type, or little plastic spoons (or sometimes even full-sized plastic spoons), but the double-straw type is the most common, presumably because it’s cheapest. Personally, I find that they’re rigid enough, but they’re too narrow to move any significant amount of liquid, making them less than effective at stirring (especially for stirring a large amount of powder into a liquid, such as instant cocoa). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-diameter-coffee-straws/353318.md?page=1)