This Is Why Americans Love Ice in Their Drinks and the British Don’t (2024)

FAQs

This Is Why Americans Love Ice in Their Drinks and the British Don’t? ›

It's difficult for Americans to imagine, but people in the U.K. just never considered it to be important, especially with cooler temperatures. Even as heatwaves rise in the U.K., they aren't used to dealing with higher temperatures and, therefore, don't consider coping with heat as vital as people in the U.S. do.

Drinks were iced up in the summer to keep them cool. Traditional European co*cktails were often served hot to ward off the winter chill. Americans started adding ice to ward off the summer heat. The result was an American populace that became completely addicted to ice.

One is that Europeans don't generally like to buck tradition, especially when it comes to food, and many of their food traditions predate the commercial ice trade by centuries." She adds, "Another is that they view ice as diluting the beverage or taking up too much valuable glass space.

Ice in drinks is not a thing outside of the United States. Unlike in American restaurants, where waters and sodas are typically served in glasses full of ice, such a practice is considered strange in much of the rest of the world. When the water outside is frozen there is no need for icy drinks.

First, they cool the drink. Pretty simple. We like cool drinks because they feel refreshing (especially in the South). They allow you to take a drink that isn't cold and cool it quickly so you can start drinking it faster (the primary use for ice when I was growing up), and/or they keep it colder longer.

Even as freezers and refrigerators became commonplace in homes and having ice on hand became easier, most people just weren't used to having drinks with ice. It's difficult for Americans to imagine, but people in the U.K. just never considered it to be important, especially with cooler temperatures.

Using ice to cool drinks dates back to the ancient Egyptians, Athenians, and Mesopotamians who put ice or snow into their wine or water. The Roman emperor Nero placed ice around his wine glass to cool it, preferring not to taint his wine. During the Turkish Empire, people put ice into fruit drinks.

The vehement denial of iced beverages here all stems from Italians' deep-seated phobia of colpo d'aria and congestione (abdominal cramping). To contract either would be a fate worse than death, and drinking iced beverages is too great a risk to take.

The Chinese believe that all food and drinks should be taken at normal body temperature, or 100 degrees or greater, because cold foods weaken the Spleen and Stomach.

Here in Germany, most people don't have their drinks with ice in them unless it's a co*cktail at a bar that specifically calls for it, and if you're looking to make it to keep it at home, you may be in for a surprise. Culturally, people in Germany don't drink as many ice-cold drinks as we are used to doing in America.

Do Australians put ice in their drinks? ›

Like dinner at 5pm and rissoles, putting ice in wine is a common, clandestine Aussie custom, one that recognises the cask-white-straight from-the-fridge-swillers who remember when olive oil was sold at pharmacies, celebrated the Cheerio sausage, and elected not to pronounce the 'h' in chardonnay.

A glass of water in any UK establishment arrives without ice at all.” It's true that skimping on ice is a classic British drinking quirk—so much so that, when the first ice-centric co*cktail bars arrived on British shores in the 19^th century, they were hastily dubbed “American bars.”

Ice appears white when it contains trapped air bubbles and minerals. Some of the more common impurities found in water are minerals like calcium and magnesium, as well as sediment. As these things freeze, gases are released, creating air bubbles and causing ice to shrink on occasion.

Not in Italy. It is a sort of crime here, no one would ever ruin a good wine by putting ice in it. Max is very clear about it and after years of living in Tuscany, home of the best worldwide famous wines like Chianti Classico, I couldn't agree more.

It's an interesting history, because back in the 19th century, iced beverages were considered a rich person's drink, and now iced beverages are relatively common. The main reason Americans like iced beverages so much, and the rest of the world does not, is that America has a plethora of ice as a resource.

As you know well, ice is frozen water, and over time, especially on a hot day, ice will melt in your glass. Once extra water is added to your wine, it will change the drinking experience of your glass. Additional water can lighten a full-body red or dilute a perky and sweet wine, making it one of the ultimate faux pas.

co*cktail ice is an essential ingredient that many overlook. Not only does it keep your drink at a chilled temperature, but it also impacts the overall quality of the co*cktail.

Cold water is preferred to warm water as a thirst quencher and cold products such as ice cream may also be perceived as pleasant because oral cooling satiates thirst.

Hotels, specifically, embraced industrial-sized ice machines and bins introduced in the 1890s, empowering organizations to cater to various ice needs — from preserving food to providing refreshing drinks and offering guests easy access to the amenity.

Our brains perceive cold drinks as less flavorful than hot ones. That's because the cold temperature suppresses our tastebuds, and we simply do not taste as much. If your water has any impurities, you likely won't taste them as much when the water is cold. This makes the water seem like it tastes better when it's cold!