Why american people use too much ice on their beverages?

Question

I saw too much people filling the cup of coke or any soda with ice cubes to the top, even when the machine fills the cup with already cooled liquid, I mean, the machine serve beverage already almost frozen and the people use to put ice there anyway, my question is WHY? i cannot understand that behavior.I saw that proceeding in the movie theater and Macdonald's and everywhere I look.

Answer 1

Well, some "American People" might like the taste of the beverage better because the ice numbs their tastebuds and gives the drink a different taste, the taste not as strong.

Answer 2

I think it is because ice is cheaper than soda. Restaurants train their employees to fill the cup up with ice, usually a really really big cup, so that we get the childish impression that we are getting more for our money. We then were conditioned to accept it as normal, and feel cheap if we ask them to not to put so much in. I also think it has to do with Americans' lack of general knowledge in physics, in that they fail to realize that soda or any other soft drink cannot be cooled to below the freezing point, no matter how much ice is put in....otherwise it would freeze.... duhhhhh..... One more idea is that we use a lot of ice, because we can. Our grandparents or great grandparents regarded ice as a luxurious modern convenience. Also many Americans like to suck on ice or chew it, after they have finished their drink. We are definitely an orally fixated people, look at how much we over eat.

Answer 3

At restaurants, theatres, etc, they fill it up with ice because it is cheaper than filling it up all of the way with soda. We are the land of the cheap! I personally don't drink sodas or juice. If I drink anything (other than water), it's an iced latte or something to that affect. I do fill up my cup ALL the way with ice when I drink water because I like it as cold as I can get it... plus, I eat the ice along with it (vitamin dificiency, I know). Otherwise, it's all or nothing for me.... filled to the brim with ice, add some water to melt that down, add more ice, and fill all the way or no ice at all and have it lukewarm or room temperature. Everyone is different. Why do Canadians put mayo and gravy on their fries? I'll never understand that. It's just a culture thing. Just like how Brits put milk and honey in their hot tea and how Japanese people eat rice with everything. It's just culture.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I don't do that personally when I am filling my own cup because the ice waters down the beverage. But when the cup is filled for the person at a restaurant or theater this is done so that they sell more of the beverage because the cup is filled with ice and they of course get less of that beverage.

Answer 5

What an interesting question. I used to be so against ice. Whenever I'd go to a fast food restaurant I'd ask for little or no ice because I'd drink the soda so quickly and I'd still be thirsty. But recently my husband bought a big bag of ice for $1, something we never do because I believe Ice should be free and why buy it when you can grow it in your own freezer. I took a whole bunch of ice practically filling the glass and poured on top of it. Wow it so tasted good. Its so cold and refreshing. Try it. You might become a convert then.

Answer 6

Well my theory is this having had much experiance with many other cultures is two fold I asked my friend Luis why so many spanish people ask for little ice in their drinks here and he said in mexico and other latin american countries health laws are not asstrict and from working in restaurants the main cause of "food poisoning" there is from ice as well as we generrally have cleaner water, another reason is that supply chain infrastructure is not as good there so its more rarely all you can drink like here so restaraunt owners try to add extra ice to save their product and custormes try to get their moneys worth by asking for little ice. back to the united states a lot of these places have an all you can drink policy so its less of a concern and the ice machines are monitored by health inspectors as well as we americans tend to drink a lot of soda which is very sugary i personally feel more hydrated if i add a lot of ice cutting some of the sugar a bit

I hope this helps and much of this is my deductions which may be flawed and are based on me asking the opposite question

Answer 7

So that the drink stays cold, even if you are drinking it for a long period (like during a 2 hour movie). The machines are supposed to be calibrated to give the right amount of syrup and carbonated water, to the amount of ice put in a cup. If they put less ice in, in theory it will taste funny.

Answer 8

Are you serious??? Hun the reason is that ice is cheaper than soda. If the theater fills the cup with ice and just a little soda, they make more money.

Answer 9

It's a matter of personal taste. I don't put ice in my soda because I get more to drink without the ice. Your climate in Europe is different. It's colder than America which can get up to 120 degrees out in the deserts. So ice out there is really nice.
That's why.

Answer 10

Because you get used to it when that's the way it is served in restaurants and pub.
Ice = money. the more ice you use the less product.

However I like my pop cut with water by about 50% otherwise it's too sweet.