Crying Over Chilled Milk

I was walking through a university’s dining hall one day when I decided I would love a tall, chilled glass of chocolate milk to go along with my burger and french fries. Without a second thought, I put some ice cubes into my cup, filled it with delicious chocolate milk, and walked over to the table where my friends were sitting. Once I took my seat, my friends immediately exploded at me for putting ice cubes in my chocolate milk, rambling off something about how it watered down the drink and made it disgusting.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t ice cubes do that in every drink? Ice cubes would still dilute drinks like soda, lemonade, juice, and every other drink ice cubes have been added. So why is it such a bother that I put mine in milk?

My other friend brought up the point that milk is already kept within a refrigerator, so why would it ever need ice cubes? The ultimate goal of the ice cubes would remain the same: to keep your drink at a perfectly cooled temperature while you’re drinking it. I prefer to have cold milk over room temperature milk, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Just like how no one likes to drink lukewarm soda, I don’t like lukewarm milk.

The best reason I heard was that the ice cubes would dilute the drink. This theory does have some leverage to it. But, if you’re drinking a glass of milk, wouldn’t you drink it fast enough that the ice cubes wouldn’t completely melt by the time you were finished with it? I only put a couple of ice cubes in my drinks, so the amount of dilution that the ice cubes would do to a severely concentrated glass of milk wouldn’t be all that noticeable. Yes, milk does not go well with water because it is a dairy based product, but how much water can an ice cube actually produce?

I brought these points up to my friends to see if they would change their minds, but the only response I could get out of them was a “It’s still gross, just because it is”. That seemed like a pretty cop out answer to me.

Perhaps people don’t put ice cubes in their drink because of the simple “peer pressure” idea. They’ve never seen it done before, so they have never thought to try it before and are immediately turned off by the idea. Well, I urge you to go out there and try it. Put ice cubes in your milk. If it ends up being disgusting just pour the glass of milk out. No harm, no foul. But, if your drink happens to stay at a wonderfully chilled temperature while retaining its refreshing taste, then why not keep the trend going?