I love my Shimano Ultegra short reach brifters. My hands are not that small (size medium glove), but overall, I am a small person. I have never been able to ride in the drops until I found the perfect combo of the short reach brifters and a short and shallow dropped bar. I never want to change... learning a new shifting pattern would mess up my brain.
The aluminum Orbea I had on my bike tour last May reminded me how much I like my carbon (and steel) bikes. Although the bike had the exact same geometry as my road bike, I felt jumbled every time I road over a teeny crack. And I was back to not being able to reach the brakes from the drops.