Like A Frightened Horse On A Frozen Lake

Many small ice cubes are better than one big ice cube if your goal is for the water to be really cold (and if you don't mind that the ice melts faster). More total surface area on the ice-> faster transfer of heat. Big chunks of ice melt slower but also cool the drink slower.

In the US when you order ice water at a restaurant... well first of all of course it'll be a much larger cup. Then that cup will be filled almost to the top with ice cubes, like 50% of the volume of the cup will be ice. Those ice cubes will be pretty small, with a lot of little crushed pieces, just because that's what you get from the kind of ice machines that most US restaurants have. This makes for a glass of water that is hovering right around the freezing point right away.

Some people in the US even complain that restaurants put too much ice in drinks, because if you order a glass of Coke it's technically about half a glass of Coke and half a glass of frozen water, and soda drinkers sometimes feel like that's unfair. But if you like cold water, it's great.

Here's a photo of an actual glass of water in an American restaurant. This is probably a 20 or 24 fluid ounce cup.

June 2026

The creeping buttercup (lat. Ranunculus repens) on the river bank🌼🌊

Be not afraid! For this Witch Hat Monday I bring you the most blursed creature of all, Biblically Accurate Brushbuddy 👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️