Business Starbucks reveals change to its ice — and fans are heated: ‘Hate that’ - Horrid nuggies!

Source: https://nypost.com/2023/05/17/starbucks-reveals-change-to-its-ice-fans-are-heated-hate-that/
Archive: https://archive.is/AtZzb

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Starbucks reveals change to its ice — and fans are heated: 'Hate that'​

Nugget ice is noticeably smaller and denser than cubes, kind of like crushed ice — think of the iced drinks at Sonic.
By Jane Herz

Oh, hail no.

The Post can confirm that the popular coffee chain Starbucks is switching up its ice — making the change from the classic cube to the nugget in select locations.

“As we continue to innovate and make investments in the Starbucks Experience for our partners (baristas) and customers, we are introducing new machines that make nugget ice to select stores this year,” a Starbucks spokesperson told The Post in a statement Wednesday.

The statement continued, “Like many of our recent investments, this machine allows partners to focus on delivering the Starbucks Experience while hand-crafting the same delicious, high-quality iced beverages our customers have come to expect from Starbucks.”

Nugget ice is noticeably smaller and denser than cubes, kind of like crushed ice — think of the iced drinks at Sonic.

The ice rumor gained steam a few days ago, when a Reddit thread started by an alleged Starbucks employee went viral.



The anonymous worker posted a picture of the pebble ice in all its glory, claiming it was “1 of 3 cafe stores testing the new ice.”

The scoop sparked a seriously hot debate about which ice was better — nugget or cube.

“The recipes aren’t built for this type of ice, which will melt a lot faster and dilute the coffee and sweetness,” one Redditor lamented. “The texture of the frappuccinos will also probably be a lot different.”

Another agreed, typing, “Nooo, I think the ice you guys have now is so perfect. So perfect I ask for extra extra ice because the coffee is easier to drink. This type of ice, in my opinion, is better for sodas or just plain ice water. (In my opinion).”

“I hate that type of ice,” someone else raged. “It melts [too] fast and they are not clear ice. If I want doggy ice I will get it from my fridge at home.”

“I’m scared….I order extra ice in my latte,” one person admitted. “I love the ratio I get currently. So afraid of change…lol.”

Others are giving the change a warm reception.

“If Starbucks goes to nugget ice — TAKE ALL OF MY MONEY ALL OF THE TIME,” someone proclaimed.

Another joked, “I think we all collectively orgasmed.”

“This ice is gonna be amazing, it’s basically hospital ice, and we all know hospitals have the best ice,” a Starbucks enthusiast noted.

The rumor also made its way around TikTok, with similar debates ensuing in comments sections.

But fret not, Starbucks lovers — The Post has learned the chain conducted tests that reportedly showed the new ice does not melt faster than the existing ice.

And the volume of ice per beverage will not be changing.

The new ice will be rolled out over years, as one of the company’s sustainability goals is to cut its water footprint in half by 2030. The new ice machines are said to use less water.

 

[Dysnomia]

How retarded must you be if you get upset about the ice in your overpriced shit-coffee has changed shape slightly?
Jesus, people are just getting stupider year by year.

Also I want to know what they mean with denser. Water is basically uncompressable in both liquid and ice form. How do you make it denser?

Starbucks patrons are coffee autists but not coffee connoisseurs. When Starbucks changed their holiday cups everyone went ballistic even though it's a cup you are gonna toss in the trash in ten minutes so who the fuck cares what's printed on it.

So changing the ice is their equivalent of giving Sonic blue arms. But instead of macing wage slaves and breaking displays they'll just cry on social media about how their coffee is now ruined. A prime example of first world problems.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

How retarded must you be if you get upset about the ice in your overpriced shit-coffee has changed shape slightly?
Jesus, people are just getting stupider year by year.

Also I want to know what they mean with denser. Water is basically uncompressable in both liquid and ice form. How do you make it denser?

Theoretically, you can get denser ice using a bunch of different methods. I know serious cocktail bars get specialized machines just to make large, dense, clear hunks of ice. The picture in the article looks like pebble ice, which is a small and kinda crumbly ice mostly used in tiki drinks to lengthen shit due to how much overproof rum is in most of the proper recipes.

Coffee is a newer autistic obsession of mine compared to spirits, but if I were to guess this is an attempt to pad out their product. Hell, the extra dilution might help mask the fact that Starbucks roasts their beans so dark that they're basically carbon.

 

[Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown]

I never knew hospitals have ice. But then again, I don't do HRT and have unprotected sex with drug addicts so I haven't spent enough time in a hospital to even think about the quality of their ice. I guess you learn something new everyday.

Hospital wards, particularly surgical ones, traditionally had ice chips to quench thirst in patients whom were placed on fluid restrictions awaiting surgery.

I would associate it more with crushed ice and not "nuggets" though.

I've also never heard anyone throw around the accusation that it was "the best ice".

 

[Cuckoman]

Theoretically, you can get denser ice using a bunch of different methods. I know serious cocktail bars get specialized machines just to make large, dense, clear hunks of ice. The picture in the article looks like pebble ice, which is a small and kinda crumbly ice mostly used in tiki drinks to lengthen shit due to how much overproof rum is in most of the proper recipes.

Coffee is a newer autistic obsession of mine compared to spirits, but if I were to guess this is an attempt to pad out their product. Hell, the extra dilution might help mask the fact that Starbucks roasts their beans so dark that they're basically carbon.

If the ice is not clear, but cloudy, then there are tiny air bubbles in the ice and thus the new ice is a tiny amount LESS dense than before.

I can only think of two ways to make clear ice denser, none of which would work for a open container or in commercial scale:
1, under immense pressure, think surface of Jupiter, you can compress water and ICE to make it more dense.
2, create the ice from heavy water. I think water that is made out of tritium would be ~10-20% denser than water made from hydrogen.

None of those two approaches to make the ice denser seems workable or economical on commercial quantities. (Also, the cell membranes on humans are finely tuned to a specific molecule weight of water and may malfunction if water molecules are suddenly ~20% heavier than they are expected to be)


To create completely clear ICE you do not need special machines. You can easily make it yourself in the freezer. You just need to take care that when the water freezes the small amount of air(and other things) that is dissolved in the water can escape and not be trapped as microscopic bubbles in the ice. The only reason people dont usually create "clear ice" in the fridge is that it involves a few more steps than "just fill the form with water and let it freeze". But, it is easy to do yourself if you want to spend the extra effort. There are probably a million youtube videos on how to create completely clear ice in your freezer.

 

[Diana Moon Glampers]

Sonic ice is less, not more, dense. Pregnant women with pregnancy-induced anemia get ice cravings and mom groups have women who talk about ordering big cups of just the ice because the added air in the ice makes it less solid and easier to crunch.

As more people switch to "plant based" diets and end up with iron deficiencies, nugget ice is probably going to soar in popularity. Since Starbucks caters to the increasingly vegan bughives, this is probably a very canny business move on their part.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

To create completely clear ICE you do not need special machines. You can easily make it yourself in the freezer. You just need to take care that when the water freezes the small amount of air(and other things) that is dissolved in the water can escape and not be trapped as microscopic bubbles in the ice. The only reason people dont usually create "clear ice" in the fridge is that it involves a few more steps than "just fill the form with water and let it freeze". But, it is easy to do yourself if you want to spend the extra effort. There are probably a million youtube videos on how to create completely clear ice in your freezer

I just fill an insulated cooler with water and discard the bottom half of the block. It's the part that has all the dissolved gases and most mineral impurities due to how directional freezing works.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Sonic and Buc-ee's have soft nugget-style ice and it's practically an advertising campaign for them.

While I can't say I approve of Starbucks moving to this option, it was always a bit irritating when the last bits of the drink clung to the too-hard-to-chew, too-awkward-to-suck ice cubes.

 

[Haramburger]

I hear a lot of "did one unit of service in the military to pay for college, have a successful career in the private sector now" stories, but not a lot of "Starbies paid for both my college AND transition, and I'm living my Best Life™ as an executive at..." stories. Why is that?

 

[Starved Artist]

Seriously. People are really this stupid?

Ice nuggets take more space in the cup than regular ice and ironically, it melts 2x faster. It allows them to give you less drink while you get more water. The less they spend on your overpriced drink, the more they make.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Hospital wards, particularly surgical ones, traditionally had ice chips to quench thirst in patients whom were placed on fluid restrictions awaiting surgery.

I would associate it more with crushed ice and not "nuggets" though.

I've also never heard anyone throw around the accusation that it was "the best ice".

Null had said that the same week Chris got arrested (I think it was the day after they pulled out of him the hotel) he got REALLY sick and kept vomiting until it was nothing but bile, and said that he had to suck on ice cubes for hydration because if he drank anything he'd just throw up again.

 

[AnOminous]

Starbucks should add strychnine to their coffee.

Starcucks should add estrogen to their coffee.

Come to think of it they probably already do.

2, create the ice from heavy water. I think water that is made out of tritium would be ~10-20% denser than water made from hydrogen.

And of course radioactive. You could probably swim in it but if you drank it, enjoy your cancer.

 

[Glowing In The Streets]

bug people are weied getting mad about cubes turning into nuggies
if the shape was bestagons, I would agree

 

[Billy Bob Dick]

I hate corpospeak so much. Like what is this even saying? It means nothing.

All monkey-suit wearing corpofaggots talk like this under pain of death, that's how the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco happened

 

[JustSomeDong]

An iced coffee is something I enjoy on occasion but not from goybucks, that shit is nasty.

I'll hit one when it's the easiest option for a quick caffeine hit, but I won't be happy about it. Iced double black-eye, no cream, no sugar, light on the ice, and if I find a trace of whipped cream I'm comin for you, danger-haired barista.