No ice please, we're British

restaurants put so much ice in drinks because that way they save money on drinks (stretching them out as it were). in most cases, you can ask for a drink with no ice and they will oblige.

Believe it or not, we Americans don't like that much ice in our drinks either. Putting ice in the cups of soda is the restaurant's way of cheating the customers to put it bluntly. If they put ice in the cup, it makes it look like there's more drink in the cup than there actually is. In the future, tell the restaurants from the beginning that you want "light ice" and they'll reduce the amount of ice they put in the cup. I, for one, do not like a lot of ice in my drinks... like you said, it waters the drink down.

Hay old chap, I too am British, but I am an American now. My family came over here when I was 5 from Cornwall, England. Growing up in America, I guess you get use to lots of ICE in your drinks because I can't get enough of it! I just love it in my drinks so I guess you can say I am an American! A couple of years ago we went back to visit Cornwall and I wasn't use to how strong the drinks seemed (without) ice and they got warm too quickly so when I asked for TONS of ice in my drinks, I was happy even though they gave me odd looks! I guess I got use to watered down drinks also! I will say though, I just loved Cornwall! I loved the cobblestone streets, the noisey seagulls, the big fishing boats, the fish&chips, the scones, the meat pies and everything about Cornwall. I may be an American, but I think my heart still belongs to England!

That is a common practice our place we do like what the American's do. Softdrinks come with plenty of ice cubes in it. Well for us it is understandable because our climate is very hot and humid that is why putting lots of ice is a relief for us during those days that weather is unbearable. We like our beverages to be cold as possible. Even coffee in our case there are coffee shops that offer iced coffee.

I am a person who likes ICE in the glass. I hate to go into a restaurant and order tea and get a glass of hot tea (probably just made and not chilled) with maybe a couple spoons full of crushed ice. Crushed iced does not cool a hot drink. If I want a hot drink, I'll order it. Otherwise, give me ice, please! In most fast restaurants now, you put your own ice in your cups, so you can put more or less; it's up to you. And you get all the refills you want in most American restaurants. I've never had a problem getting a refill. Even cokes are refilled in most restaurants. My grandchildren order that most of the time with their meals at a big restaurant. I think it's just an individual thing whether you like ice or not.

That sounds really strange to me I don't really understand drinking a drink wit no ice or for that matter drinking tea without sugar. I guess it's all in how you grow up and what your personal preferences are. I myself love to have a glass full of ice with my soda I just like to have my drink very very cold. I also agree that it doesn't have anything to do with the climate but I am not one for warm drinks. I may drink a hot chocolate once in awhile but its definitely not an every week thing.

Hi Liqorice, I have noticed this too and whenever I order a drink anywhere I will always ask for no ice as I don't want it watered down which it is once the ice melts. The only drink I will have a couple of cubes is is a Baileys at Christmastime. Huggles. Ellie :D

Im british and I love loads of ice in my soft drinks! I like my soft drinks literally ice cold its the only way to drink it in my own humble opinion anyway!

I remember one time me and my husband were between flights coming home from Great Britain(he is british by birth). We were at the Toronto airport, and we were both thirsty. I was in agony because my ear had popped when the plane landed, so I could only hear out of one ear. He comes back with a small cup of Coca-Cola. And it was warm. Bleech! I said, "Where's the ice?" and he said, "They didn't have any." I thought that was really strange. I've never had to drink pop without any ice before, except at home, but that's because it's cold from the fridge, so I don't mind. Another strange incident in this airport was how some of the french canadians treated the british tourists. Once when I got a cup of coffee from a kiosk there was a older british woman in front of me getting herself some tea. She made the mistake of asking the woman behind the counter for some clotted cream. The woman snarled, pointing to the tray on the counter, "This is all we have!" To my horror, there was a container of milk that was warm to the touch-who knows how long it'd been sitting out? The british tourist murmured, "No thanks," and paid for her tea. When she moved away, the woman behind the counter said to me, "These damned british, where do they get off asking for something different?" I just stared at her, hurried up and poured my coffee, and got away from there.

When I worked at McDonald's as a teen, we were told to fill the ice to a certain point on the cup. There were no refills then to obviously this was a way to make more money off the drink. Maybe restaurants have trained us in this way. Other than that incident, I can't think of any other reason.

They do this for marketing and sales. They tempt you in with a large drink for a little bit of money, but after the ice goes in, you get less than if you got a small with no ice. They sell you a large cup, alot of free ice, and use very little syrup/drink. It's all about money, etc. Also, I prefer my drinks very cold.

I agree with you. I always order my drinks with little or no ice. Usually I don't get the "look" unless I order it with just a little ice please. I agree with most here. It is a way of robbing you of half the drink. And the refils? Well who needs a refil when you are given a half of gallon to start with!

It depends on what I am drinking. Iced tea, naturally has "ice" in its title. I like a lot of ice in my tea and usually drink it faster than the ice has time to melt and dilute the flavor. Sodas, however, I usually have with very little to no ice. Roughly a quarter of the glass is ice, depending on the size of the glass and ice cubes, respectively, and the rest is soda.

Hi there, I am British and I agree with you! They do put too much ice in the US!!! Two or three ice-cubes is enough but its true, half the cup is just ice, and yeah, it doesn't taste that great after about 2 minutes!!

ugh..born and bred american here (lol) and i HATE all the ice they put in drinks at restaurants and other places! it hurts, it makes the whole drink taste like soda flavored water. personally i think they do it for the money. more ice (cheap filler) means less soda they have to actually put in the cup..which means they save money on the syrup stuff. so..we ARE being cheated out of product. i bet if you took one of those big cup sizes at the movie theaters (the worst culprit) took out all the ice..you'd be lucky to have 1/4 of the cup with actual soda in it. if you ended up with 1/2..id keel over from shock!

its to save money.. the more ice they put the less the drink cost them to sell you!! a lot of places fast food wise its a RULE to fill it almost completely up with ice!! i always order mine with NO ICE because i dont like it getting watered down since im a slow drinker and i get more drink that way

nice to know the cultural differences of Americans and british on drinking their drinks. i am not one of these race. but i do love ice but not too much ice though. it still depends on my taste. sometimes i just don't want to have too sweet drink so i put lots of ice to dilute on my drink to create a less taste in my drink.

iam an american and somtimes i dont put ice in my drinks because of 2 reasons on eit wateres down the drink and 2 you cant get enough drink what imean at fast food resturants they put so much ice in your glass that you are mostly paying for ice and not the drink that you ordered. i know this because i worked in a fast food chain for 5 years and the things that are required are unbelieveable i understand they are there to make money but i would have alot of customers who didnt want ice in their drinks and some of them told me that this was the reason for no ice and others had sensitive teeth.

Sometimes they do it to save on the beverage. If ice is taking up 1/3 of the cup, that means less liquid was used. I use ice on occasion, mainly if I know that I will not be getting a refil for quite awhile, thus the ice making a strange flavoured water is desired.

i m crazy for ice i like it to have it with my drinck,i do not know how people stop them to have ice,and i like it especilly in winter,most of people have it in summer but i like it in winter ,summer too