Sorry Europeans, but some drinks taste better with ice cubes. The key is to get the ratio right. As a first approximation, there are two main problems. First, the ratio of drink to ice cubes may be too high. In that case you start off by doing some drinking merely as an act of investment in the future quality of the drink. (Ideally I would prefer to pour some drink on the floor, though I am too civilized for that. Alternatively, this can be reason to dine with a companion, who will sop up your excess.) Another reason the ratio becomes too high is if the waiter comes by and pours excess drink into your glass, so that he may take away your can or bottle "too soon" for his own not quite legitimate purposes. This can be avoided by placing your bottle or can in an inconvenient, hard to reach place.
Country restaurants in Thailand sidestep these problems by sending around a staff member to replenish drinks with fresh ice cubes and restore the proper ratio; trust is essential.
Second, the ratio of ice cubes to drink may be too high. If you order two drinks you rarely find (for whatever reason) that both have too many ice cubes. You can put excess ice cubes from your water glass in your Coke but not vice versa. If you order both mineral and plain water two-way transfers are usually possible and thus the tastes of your two drinks end up insufficiently diversified.
My theory is that American restaurants fill glasses with more ice than is needed, which is the opposite end of the spectrum from standard European practice. Whether this is in reaction to the European tradition, I do not know. Personally, I request a smaller quantity of ice when ordering to reach a happier medium. I do wonder if Americans were surveyed whether they would say they are pleased with the amount of ice, or whether they would prefer more or less, but don’t find the effort to be specific worthwhile.
My brother worked as a part-time barman some time ago. One of the tricks of the trade he was told from the first day was to put as much ice as possible in the glasses: ice is frozen tap water, much cheaper than the drink.
Anon: I should imagine that connoisseurs of cognacs would disagree, but I maybe mistaken, since I am not one.
I’ve always wondered why waiters and waitresses put so much ice in coke glasses as well as water glasses. All they are doing is making their job harder by increasing the number of times they have to refill the glasses. Nothing is more annoying for me (and I assume whoever is serving my table) than going through 5 cokes in a meal because the glass is filled to the top with ice.
Ice cubes annoy me. When I am very thirsty they take up valuable space and also make it necessary to either use a straw or drink with some measure of awareness of them. When I am drinking slowly they have the very inconvenient habit of melting, meaning that I end up left with a quarter-glass of homeopathic iced tea. Neither case is desirable. I’d say I prefer a chilled glass, but really I prefer drinks that are not too cold anyway.
Ice to drink ratio is dependent on 3 variables: the temperature of the drink being cooled, the size of the ice cubes, and the drink glass size. As an example – freshly brewed tea is hot, but I need a drink. I have a large glass. If my wife has made ice (we use trays) the ice will be small, whole tray will be used, and the ice will melt almost completely away, and I’ll have no more left to cool it down further. If I filled the ice tray the cubes will likely be twice the size and I will use half as much initially. After melting I will still have some ice left to cool the drink to the desired temp, and a much more pleasing drink, provided I use the right amount of sweetener.
I also recommend using a straw. You can put the end in the drink right next to or in between the ice cubes and the drink will be colder. Its also easier to drink ice tea from a straw while in the car.
“in your Coke”: how dare you, sir?
This post is one more data point supporting the theory that we’ve reached infinite leisure time. The comments, too. It’s a good thing, just strange to ponder.
is this self parody? if it is it is the best blog post i have seen today.
)if it isn’t i am getting concerned for tyler.)
“You can put excess ice cubes from your water glass in your Coke but not vice versa.”
If the marginal deleterious effect on the taste of your water is relatively small compared with the benefits accrued from a marginal move toward optimal temperature, we should expect some Coke to water transfers from rational drinkers.
Ideally I would prefer to pour some drink on the floor, though I am too civilized for that.
The worm turns. That used to be the height of repsect when it was called a libation. I believe Ice-Cube still honors that ancient tradition
I didn’t realize vulgarity needed an excuse, Zamfir.
As a European, I have to object to this idea that tea ‘should have ice to begin with’.
We ice our coffee over here as well. The real excuse is that many parts of this country are incredibly hot/humid in the summer. A hot cup of tea or coffee when it’s 120F (48C) outside isn’t appetizing at all. Or if the humidity gets up to 95% in the middle of summer with 100F (38C) temperatures. Iced tea on the other hand is incredibly refreshing in these conditions.
The only upside I found to ridiculous German unwillingness to provide ice with anything was that, on a hot day in Bavaria, my (hopelessly optimistic) request for kaffee mit eis led me to discover that coffee with ice cream and whipped cream really isn’t all that bad. Not what I was looking for, but not all bad either.
“We ice our coffee over here as well. The real excuse is that many parts of this country are incredibly hot/humid in the summer.”
I personally do prefer hot tea even when the weather is hot, and drinking hot tea in warm climates seems more the norm in general than iced tea, after all India and China have their own 100F seasons. Historically at least, tea was very much a drink for warm, humid regions.
One of the good things about hot tea in hot weather is that it forces you to drink sip by sip, instead of gulping down a large quantity in one go, after which you are soon thirsty again. And really hot tea makes the weather feel a bit cooler in comparison.
Historically at least, tea was very much a drink for warm, humid regions.
I would say they drink hot tea because that’s what they are used to. It is far harder to cool things down, then heat things up when it’s hot outside. The heating also has the benefit of killing any bacteria/viruses in a sub-standard water system. The reason why beer became so popular in the US, is because beer is boiled at some point killing the bacteria. It was safer to drink then water at one point, but they didn’t really know why at the time. Cold drinks help bring your core body temperature down in heat, which not just make you feel cooler, they make you cooler.
I would just like to point out that, aside from a few high-end places in big cities, if you order a beer in the Philippines it is mandatory to serve it with an ice-filled glass. Sometimes “helpful” waiters won’t even ask before pouring the bottle into the glass for you. Ewww.
Cross-country comparisons in anything regarding taste buds are stupid. Preferences are endogenous after all.
Why would you want a watered down drink?
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