Why Are Americans So Obsessed with Ice Cubes?

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"My wife and I recently got an ice making machine. Shut up it's great." Americans: "He's beginning to believe."

You have to remember that most of the US is at the same latitudes as the Mediterranean without the benefit of a nearby sea. A substantial amount of the southern areas is at the same latitude as the North African coast. It's *hot*.

An additional historical/cultural factor: most folks got access to ice long before access to AC. My Granny’s Louisiana farm had no AC, so you can bet in the summer we were drinking constantly from what she called “nosepunchers” (glasses full to the brim with ice). So, to me, that will always be what’s refreshing.

"my wife and I recently got an ice making machine" said with a British accent makes you sound like a time traveler from the 1800's

Because here 80 fahrenheit is more like an overnight low, not a heatwave.

1. It’s hot in the summer 2. Cold drinks, especially sodas, taste better colder

Because when it’s over 95 degrees for half the year, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is better than coming inside to a huge glass of iced tea or soft drink or water. I live in Austin, Texas so we would probably die down here without our iced drinks. I travel a lot and one of my fondest memories was visiting Ireland and a waiter, discovering we were from the U.S. and craving iced tea, made us a (weak) pitcher of tea and brought out a pitcher of ice with it and we didn’t even have to ask for it. The tea may have been weak, but we fell in love with Ireland because they are the friendliest group of people in the world. The rest of Europe have always looked at us as though we had two heads… well, not the touristy places, but the more rural areas we tend to visit don’t get our obsession with ice. I absolutely love Europe though and can’t wait to go back - it’s been too long since our last visit.

what I was taught in some obscure university class 50 years ago was that iced drinks was a sign of wealth in the old south. One cannot, after all, make Mint Julips without quantities of crushed ice.

What a strange question... Sincerely, an American Southerner.

My late Dad wrote about his childhood memories of eagerly awaiting the Ice Truck delivery on hot summer days in the 1940s. All 13 children sat on the porch to watch for the truck, and they stayed on their best behavior so they might be rewarded when the deliveryman arrived. They were helpful and polite to him when he brought the block of ice for the icebox, and as he returned to his truck, he would offer the children chips of ice flaked off one of the blocks. That was a huge treat for the kids. I grew up spoiled with popsicles and other frozen treats every day in the summer, so it kind of sounded lame that Dad and his siblings got so excited over ice chips. But now that I'm old myself, I realize that I should take the time to appreciate what a treat an ice chip really is.

Having drank from a mountain spring, it's so clear that drinking water chilled is something special.

A common misconception is that Americans have more ‘stomach problems’ because of our affinity for cold drinks, when in reality it is our affinity for having food with actual FLAVOR that contributes to a good deal of our gastrointestinal issues.

My British relatives didn’t understand the fascination of ice until they realized it was ready made in our house. Couldn’t keep them away from it. 🤭

Water is one of the few drinks I actually like with ice, mostly because the ice doesn't water down the water...because it's already water.

Part of the reason we call refrigerators "ice boxes" is that there used to be literal ice boxes. They would have a compartment for a block of ice and another compartment for the food you were trying to keep fresh. The ice man would deliver ice to households so they could keep food fresh longer. These were made of wood and lined with metal, and they were common enough that a lot are still around. People buy them at antique stores and refinish them to use for decorative cabinets.

My mom is French, my dad is American. He's the only one in the house who puts ice in his drinks lol. When I worked in food service, I had European customers who specifically asked for room temperature soda.

It’s currently 101 degree Fahrenheit in Southern California. I definitely need my ice cube dispensing refrigerator lol

Nephew, I do hope that, like most Americans, you put your old refrigerator in the garage to keep fizzy drinks and lager cold for those occasions when you have guests over for an out of doors gathering in the garden.

An interesting perspective. As an American, I knew about the importance of ice-harvesting in our history, but I didn't know that we exported ice to Cuba and India, much less to Norway - that would have been like your own, "Carrying coals to Newcastle." Seriously, in the days before refrigeration, I would have thought that literally everyone did this, so long as your country had freshwater lakes and winters to freeze them. As far as our continuing "national obsession" with ice water; I'd like to paraphrase what an ancient Spartan said about black broth to the King of Pontus: "To relish this drink, one must first spend all Saturday morning cutting your lawn, your parents' lawn, your grandparents' lawn, and changing the oil in your car - all in 90 degree, (Fahrenheit,) 80% humidity weather." My Like is in the 10Ks