I think, when it comes to MickeyD's and other similar fast food joints, the drinks measure is a standard one (as advertised on their menu board), and the cups are just bigger to accommodate the ice ...... obviously much, much bigger in the US.

However, I'm sure there must be non-chain 'restaurants' that abuse the drink to ice ratio, on an already high profit item, anyway.

My US experience is relatively limited, but in the smaller restaurants I went in, they kept filling up or replacing glasses of soft drink (and those lovely scone things), so I can't see it just being profit behind the loads of ice thing.

You don't put ice into the wine, you don't put ice into fresh juice or you will not taste anything. But it is hard to drink soda drinks full of sugar if they are not very cold. And with spirits (or cocktails) it depends what kind of taste/smell do you want to suppress or enhance.
Icy or not water is just the consequence of drinking habits. In general I would say, cold drinks have less taste, so you have to put a lot of ice into shitty artificial ones.

No it's not. It's just a conditioned response that you expect the sweetness to be dulled by the iciness, and if you're used to that then getting the full blast of flavour can be a shock.

Then again, perhaps it might actually help people to realise just how much sugar they were consuming if they could actually taste it.

Hey- anything that's been through so many kidneys must be clean! (to paraphrase Pratchett).

Hooray! At last I found the Friday thread

I'll have a pint of English Bitter (preferably a Doombar) and please take the chill off it.

Don't forget to chew some ice cubes with it. Na zdravje

Having ranted all day about how I miss ice in everything, it's time for counterpoint. There's a lovely Irish Pub in Basel and I like to pop in for a half pint of Cider when it is hot, like today (or cold, or really, any day) Today as always, they ask (maybe because I'm American...) if I want ice.

I love ice. But not in cider. That's just weird.

Actually a pint of perry in a pint glass full of ice is also lovely

Sounds like a drink for me! I've never tried it, but recall reading about it...

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...-fiona-beckett

I like ice in cider, and sometimes in beer as well. But not wine.

My wife, who is a life-long Swiss, has taken a liking to tonic on ice, hence the demand that I buy a new ice machine.

Her daughter, also a life-long Swiss, always asks for ice in her Prosecco.

Tom

I'm not Swiss ( nor American) and I hate ice in drinks. I always ask for it without and invariably there is ice in the glass ( even here in Switzerland) which I usually try to fish out and deposit in the nearest plant pot.
I don't drink fizzy drinks like coke and sprite etc so on the very rare occasions when we go to McDonalds I have water or orange juice which doesn't have ice anyway. I think they'd probably have apoplexy if I requested a coke or a Fanta without ice.

Which (of the two) Irish pub in Basel do you rate as lovely?

Tart.

Personally, I don't like ice in soft drinks because it kills the bubbles.
And I like bubbles.
Bubbles are nicer than ice.

Flanagan's is nice.

Yes, very cold, iced drinks can be bad for your stomach. Thetmperature difference can kill the "good" bacteria that participate in the digestion process. I honestly believe this happened to me a few times (with notable effects).
There! And I'm not not even Swiss But it is probably a matter of training your body.

But why don't the Mormons drink coffee?

There's TWO?

Haven't been on in a while but fwiw... Excellent post! Ice is an absolute necessity

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Oh yeah.... And ditto on the forum "tough love" method