Ask an Expat: Ice in drinks
japra | Mar 18, 2010 | Comments 22
In the comments from last week’s Ask an Expat, Julia left me this question: I think it’s interesting that you want less from the U.S. I don’t know what I’d miss the most if I left. Maybe ice since I hear that you can never get ice in your drink in Europe. Is that true?
LOL, Julia! This question really made me giggle because three years ago, I could totally relate to your dismay. The short answer? I would say, in general, most drinks are served without ice or with very few ice cubes (2-4 cubes). However, drinks here are always served well chilled, so don’t worry–you won’t be drinking warm soda when you visit Europe ;-)
When we moved to London in 2007, I did miss ice cubes. It was odd to drink soda and not have it watered down with melting ice. In fact, and this is going to sound really disgusting, I actually added a little cold water to my diet cokes when we first moved over here because I just wasn’t used to drinking it “straight up”. That only lasted a short time because I stopped drinking sodas cold turkey almost immediately when I found out diet cokes cost more than twice as much as they did back home! I was actually glad to break that habit.
And water from the tap? It comes out cold! And you know what? It actually tastes pretty good too. We drank bottled water ALL the time in the States. If you’ve ever had unfiltered tap water in Houston, you know what I’m talking about when I say that stuff is best served with a LOT of ice to help with the smell and taste.
Anyway, to help illustrate this post, I went through my archives for a very small sampling of drink pics to make sure I had my facts straight when I answered this question. Here is a random, unscientific survey of drinks we’ve enjoyed on our travels through Europe. Remember, the drinks are refreshingly cold when they’re served to you. It seems we only really got ice when it was hot–really just a handful of days here. LOL!
Paris in early August, no ice here
here
or here.
Munich in late June? Nope.
Not here
or here either.
Brussels in late July in an outdoor cafe? Yes, two or three cubes. Those Fantas were cold to start. It was a really hot day, by “no air conditioning” standards. BTW, notice how the sodas don’t look overly artificially coloured? They tasted like they had real juice in them too.
Hot summer day in The Hague. FOUR ice cubes at this wine bar. We went to a restaurant afterwards, and it was so freaking hot inside. We were the only customers–everyone else was in Scheveningen enjoying the beach!
A Diabolo Menthe (non-alcoholic drink made with mint syrup and 7-UP) poured over a few cubes of ice. Roxi ordered this on a cold and rainy day in Chamonix, France.
A restaurant in Barcelona, late February? No ice.
Outdoors in a Barcelona cafe, same trip. Coke served with two large ice cubes and a lemon. That lemon slice must be the thing to do there because every coke we ordered had a lemon slice in the glass.
London in February? A couple of cubes.
Hot drinks in the French Alps.
I tried to find ice/no ice pics from our time in Prague (late October) and Rome (early March, pre-JaPRA days) but only found hot drinks! Also, I wasn’t quite so diligent about taking food pics back then ;-)
Thanks for your question, Julia, that was a fun one!
Oh, maybe I should add, while we are on the subject of drinks, there are no free drink refills over here, unlike in the States. You will pay for every single glass of soda or cup of coffee (hey, it’s really good coffee made to order!) just as you would if you were to order a mixed drink, wine, or beer. The only exception I have seen was in Pizza Hut in England. If you wanted a soda refill, you had to ask for one, but they did give it to you for free.
***
As usual, if anyone has ever wondered anything about living/travelling in Europe, please do leave a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer next week!
PS If you’re a fan of Rick Steves, you might enjoy this video: Updating Guidebooks the Rick Steves Way.
Filed Under: Ask an Expat • Blog • Expat Life • Featured • Food
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
Great Post! I love all of your drink pics. All of the fancy waters and flavored drinks really do look appealing. I guess I could adjust :)
Thanks so much for all of the research!
LOL! You know, the biggest adjustment for me was no half-and-half. The first day we arrived in London, we went to Starbucks and all they had was milk and skimmed milk for the coffee! On the plus side, they served it in real mugs :-) Now I always drink my coffee with milk. Isn’t it funny how much one can adapt? I am sure you had to adjust when you first moved to Fla!
This was such a fun post to read . . .I have ran into the same issue in the North East.
BSR, I did wonder if things were like that up in the NE. We stayed in New Hampshire for a couple of weeks one summer and the water out of the tap was so cold and tasted so good!
BTW, have you ever tried ordering Iced Tea up north? I’d love to learn the history of unsweetened v sweetened iced tea.
Interesting post. I don’t like ice in my drinks. I live in the North West of England and drink tap water – it’s very soft and tastes nices too!
Akelamalu, when we go back to the States, we almost never put ice in our water anymore. People there think we are crazy! But that’s just how we do things *now*. I agree that the water is nice in England. It’s good in the Netherlands too.
By the way, it get’s pretty hot in Houston–about six months of the year it is over 32 C and 100% humidity. During July and August, it gets over 37 C. It’s pretty miserable!
Tell me they won’t put icecubes in my beer if I visit the USA?
LOL, mijk! No, no ice cubes in your beer ;-)
Nandos also offers free refills!
Oh, yes, that is right! Mmmmm. Nandos.
Wow those drinks look so refreshing!
You know, when I first saw the blog and started to read this post, I thought it was going to be about how you “shouldn’t” ask for ice-cubes; for hygiene reasons.
But- that also because I’m here in China; and, well- you never know where they got the water from, to make those ice cubes, if you know what I mean.
Duncan, I don’t think I want to know about ice cubes in China… I once got very sick drinking coke with ice in Mexico! I wonder how long it takes to get, er, acclimated to the local water?
It took me about 5 months for my stomach to adjust to Beijing- a rough 5 months I would say, haha. (Hopefully not TMI – too much info) but it was definitely good ‘training’ to learn how to use those squatter toilets too! lol!
FIVE months?! Oh. my. goodness.
An interesting cultural studies disseration topic: ice or no?
And what would we do without Rick Steves?! Love that video.
LOL, Kathy, you’re funny. Who would have thought ice *was* a cultural issue?!
I really liked that Rick Steves video too. We don’t use his hotel recommendations, but we definitely use his walking tours and must see lists.
We’re spending 2 months in Europe beginning mid-may. (our 1st time too) We’ll be camping a lot because we’re frugal and we love the outdoors. I’m wondering just how much it really rains in northern Europe and Britain. How much (dry) camping is possible? Thanks!
Hi Alinda, that sounds like fun! I’ll answer your question in more detail on Thursday. In the meantime, perhaps you’ll want to make sure you have your rain gear packed? ;-)
I always forget what questions I have! So, I’ll have to email you when I get to Paris!
This is very interesting. I’m an ice cube fan. It will be hard not to have them.
If I have room in the bag, I’ll pack some.
LOL! You don’t need ice cubes in your Champagne, Chérie! Isn’t that what you’ll be sipping in France?
Great post. I’m an ice freak, so I head for the American fast food chains at the mall. Ice is not as popular in Canada either.
Maybe the ice thing is related to the weather? The farther north one goes, the fewer cubes?