Look, I enjoy a nice cold drink as much as the next guy, but only to a certain cost. That cost is something less than putting ice cubes in my drink. It just isn't worth all the toil and unpleasantness. However, there are some solutions that lessen the pain.
Problem number one: this isn't a huge issue, but when you place ice into a drink, you violate the integrity of the drink by watering it down. I wanted to drink lemonade, not 95% lemonade with water in it. This is probably the reason people don't put ice in their milk or orange juice. Wake up people, it's no different from throwing ice into Coke or the poorly named "iced tea" (which, obviously, I prefer without ice).
Problem number two: creating ice. Again, not a big deal, but a minor annoyance if you don't own one of those fancy dancy refrigerators that makes its own ice. Having to fill up ice cube trays every twelfth cube, balance the tray perfectly back to the fridge from the sink, and set it on a perfectly level surface in your freezer is a bit toilsome.
The big problem: ice floats. This causes enormous issues: the first of which is that the cubes bang against your lip and front teeth every time you try to take a sip of that delicious beverage. This is painful to those of us with sensitive teeth (I think, I don't really know, it's been so long since I've actually had a drink like this). Not only that, but the cubes get in the way of you gulping down that liquid delight and you end up sucking in about four milliliters after trying to drink for the past 85 seconds.
Simple solutions: I don't mind getting ice in my drink while I'm at a restaurant because they give you the magical ice-problem destroyer: the straw. It won't solve problem one, and problem two is on the restaurant management, but it definitely eradicates the big ice problem.
Also, I love iced coffee. This is probably because I have managed to burn myself on every hot cup of coffee from which I've ever had the displeasure of drinking. Also, most iced coffee comes with that fantastic invention mentioned above.
Final point: we need a good way to invent cold, non-floating ice capsules that do not water down drinks. C'mon scientists, you owe us this one.
haha i have actually been to a restaurant that was really fancy and had ice that doesnt melt. It was cool and if we could figure out a way to do that, that would solve one of your problems. They are cold and don't float.
ReplyDeletechill your glasses - you don't keep that much in your fridge anyway...
ReplyDeleteYeah dude, you need to get some frosted mugs.
ReplyDeleteMore problems with ice cubes: they cling to the bottom of the glass near the end, until you tilt your glass to a critical angle for that last bit of drink and they come crashing down on your face. They're made with tap water, so they're not only watering down the drink, but doing so with gross horrible-tasting water. They take up a lot of room in the glass, depriving you of a lot of drink volume.
I don't really mind crushed ice though.
Luckily, I'm not often assaulted by ice in the face, but it is a legitimate concern any time I do have an iced drink.
DeleteYou could get those plastic refreezable ice cubes and use a straw? Easy to freeze, no gross tap water flavor, and no watering down! :)
ReplyDeleteThat would be a good plan. The only problem is that I've never known a normal person to own a straw and use it, but then again, I'm not a normal person anyway.
DeleteAnother solutions for the floating diluting issues, whiskey stones. They are literally "ice cubes" made of granite. Old men that enjoy top shelf scotch are the primary target customers for whiskey stones.
ReplyDeleteSo when they say "scotch on the rocks" they really mean it?
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