Comments on: Why Don’t Other Countries Use Ice Cubes?

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:03:22 +0000

I enjoyed this article but I’m compelled to quibble with the implication that drinking cold liquids doesn’t cool you off. It’s overly simplistic to think of humans having a single overall body temperature. Just because we have a thermal regulatory system doesn’t mean that our temperature doesn’t vary significantly locally. It is a fact of thermodynamics that drinking cold liquids is a very effective way to cool us locally from our core outward. On a hot day, that means our thermal regulatory system doesn’t have to work as hard. On a very hot day, when our thermal regulatory system is taxed to the limit, having a big cold glass of Gatorade can be the difference between being comfortable and passing out.

By: Eddy

Eddy — Mon, 06 May 2013 00:01:49 +0000

Fast food restaurants put ice to give less of the beverage, and don’t like it when you ask for no to much ice or no ice at all.

By: hiltrihwes

hiltrihwes — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:09:02 +0000

i think it is because Americans have huge freezers and make ice at home, so they also order it when out. Europeans have tiny fridges with ice boxes the size of loaf of bread or smaller, a lot of them have no fridges. They don’t often eat frozen veggies either.

By: Brunny

Brunny — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:56:18 +0000

In Spain we’ve been used to serve drinks just “cold”, not chilly (from a fridge but not with ice) in regular situations (of course you need icecubes if you want your alcohol on the rocks!) because too much cold can make you have a “corte de digestión” (can be translated as digestion cut). It happens if your stomach is very busy warming drinks or digesting food and then you go in a cold environment or working hard.

The botijo is also important in that, because it keeps water cold without ice nor energy; the temperature of the botijo water is always refreshing but doesn’t give you a headache.

By: jeff in columbus

jeff in columbus — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:31:38 +0000

My most reasonable guess for why “it’s always been that way” is that the American/Canadian ice industries developed earlier and involved less long-distance transport (and, thus, had cheaper, fresher, and more widely available ice) than the industrial-scale ice harvesting in Europe. While fancy folks in London or Paris (and those that’d want to be like them) had to ship in their ice from Norway, genteel elites in New York or Philadelphia just had to get theirs from ponds upstate–and if you wanted a proper julep in Charleston or New Orleans, it’s entirely a sea journey from the ponds around Boston to their ports, rather than a sloow boat trip up the Siene.

By: Jan

Jan — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:55:21 +0000

I am from Germany and I like ice in my drink.Most restaurants also put ice in the cold drinks they offer. But I have never seen someone put ice in his/hers water, maybe because most people drink sparkling water here.

By: Derek

Derek — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:36:34 +0000

It’s a funny coincidence that I happen across this article right as I develop a taste for Coke versus Pepsi and other colas. The reason? To me Coke tastes much, much better when it is ice cold versus simply cold. Why? I have no idea.

This is coming from a guy who could eat cold pizza and warm beer without a care in the world. I always thought it odd or a little pretentious when I saw people complain about their food temperature in restaurants.

By: Philippe

Philippe — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:23:54 +0000

Actually, ice in water does rob you of water. Water is one of the few materials that expands when it freezes, thus a cup filled with ice has less water in it than one with liquid water.

As to your full can line of reasoning, the can is often warm so the ice will melt before cooling the drink, thus diluting your drink. Some would prefer a warm proper drink to a cool weak one.

By: Cook

Cook — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:14:59 +0000

A fun post, I guess, but also a bunch of “Whoo-Haa.” Lie Many from North Amerika, I too enjoy a COLD beverage when eating. I’ve enjoyed the usual, suspect second glances in Europe, especially during the late 60s and through the 70s. I suspect, but I cannot prove this: Until very recent years, ice was probably not used in Europe because it was made from unknown water sources and thus considered unclean. It has become their habit and they still don’t often use it. I quickly adapted and learned to accept a ‘cold’ bottle of water or carbonated beverage as-is. I still drink those items without ice today. The one exception, for my taste is the simple glass of good Scotch. I like it cool. Many Scots and other Europeans add a splash of water to their whisky, but I like the benefits of a little water and some cooling. In the end, I suspect that the unknown origin of the ice was a major contributor to the non-Amerikan practices. Unclean ice is not longer the potential issue that it once was, but those folks (like us) are slow to change their ways. If a soda or a bottle of sparkling/sill water is already chilled, I’ll gladly drink it as-is. The one argument that I won’t buy is the (French?) idea that drinking water, as opposed to wine, is just cheap. Some folks do not like wine, or for other reasons cannot drink it. Some form of liquid is necessary with any meal. Let’s move on…

By: Ken Sturmer

Ken Sturmer — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:26:36 +0000

In my family we never put ice in drinks. Whether that’s because we’re from a European background is debatable. I simply prefer my cold drinks without ice. As the article said, it dilutes the drink. I prefer tasting what I’m drinking. Not water!

By: Dennis Stork

Dennis Stork — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:01:51 +0000

I am a American born and raised, but dislike ice in my drinks. Wait staff can’t seem to remember not to put ice in my water. Most can remember for the first glass but rarely for the second. Thank God for the Serenity Prayer. “Accept the things I can not change.”

By: Gregg Jones

Gregg Jones — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:10:50 +0000

You know, North America is blessed with the biggest bounty of fresh water in the world. I mean water you can drink, bath in, etc. However, we are squandering this bounty. Fracking for gas exploration is destroying this resource. I can still drink from my faucet the water in my well. So many can’t say that today and are drinking bottled water (in some places is more expensive than gasoline).

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 17:36:29 +0000

The US doesn’t have a problem using energy to make ice, not so much in Europe and other places. In the US most refrigerator/freezers come with an ice maker. The ice maker is probably the most expensive thing to run on the unit.

Also, drinking iced drinks paralyzes the digestive system and might interfere with the digestion of food. That might be something that contributes to obesity in the US.

By: Budget Traveler

Budget Traveler — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 05:02:46 +0000

haha great idea for a post. I hate when my glass isn’t filled up with enough ice when I travel!

By: Will

Will — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:54:10 +0000

Disagree with water being drank less in Europe. I can’t remember a meal I had there that wasn’t served with a pitcher of water.