This Is What Your Fave Iced Coffee Looks Like... Without Ice

(SPOT.ph) There are rare times when you want iced coffee without ice or less ice. It's either it's because it's too cold where you're staying, or it's more likely because the ice melts at a rapid pace (only in the Philippines!) and you don't like sipping on watered-down coffee. If you've never ordered ice-less iced coffee before, then you might be surprised by just how much (or little) coffee is in an order. 

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That's pretty much what happened after a tweet blew up about how shocked a Twitter user was after receiving his ice-less iced coffee from Pickup Coffee. This sparked a discourse on the coffee-to-ice ratio, where some shared their own similar experiences while others defended the side of coffee shops and baristas.

To avoid any other further life-changing moments that can derail your relationship with coffee, we ordered ice-less iced coffee from popular go-to coffee brands just to give you an idea of what it could look like. We purchased the largest cup size available for a coffee + milk combination (latte), without ice, from Starbucks, Dunkin', Pickup Coffee, McDonald's, and Tim Hortons. Note that what we're comparing here the ratio of liquid content to cup size for each brand.

Here's what your favorite iced coffee could look like when you order it without ice:

Dunkin'

What we ordered: Iced Coffee, Extra Large/22oz (P100)

Dunkin' uses brewed coffee that's sweetened and with milk. Most branches (that we've personally been to) usually brew the coffee in batches for faster service and faster coffee fixing. We ordered an extra large "no ice" Iced Coffee and roughly 1/10 is left empty for the ice.

Starbucks

What we ordered: Cafe Latte, Venti/24oz (P185)

We ordered a Venti Cafe Latte (chilled) and 1/8 of the cup is allotted for the ice.  This comes as a pleasant surprise because ordering an iced coffee from Starbucks often feels like there's more ice than coffee.

McDonald's

What we ordered: Iced Coffee Original, Large/22oz (P73)

Similar to Dunkin' and Starbucks, an ice-less large cup of McDonald's doesn't leave that much room for ice. There's roughly a 1:12 ratio of ice is to coffee, which is quite a big difference. 

Tim Hortons

What we ordered: Iced Coffee, Large (P140)

Tim Hortons has a more realistic ratio of ice to coffee: one part ice, two parts coffee. It's the amount of ice that's enough to chill the drink until the very last sip, but without it turning it into a sad, watered-down drink.

Pickup Coffee

What we ordered: Iced Latte, upsized (P80)

An "upsize" cup of Pickup Coffee's Iced Latte leaves more than half the cup empty, roughly 5/8 of the cup is for the ice. Comparing it with the four other coffee beverages we ordered, Pickup Coffee has the biggest difference between coffee volume and cup size. 

Is your iced coffee espresso-based or brewed coffee-based?

Based on the five coffee drinks we ordered, they all use different methods of making their coffee. This matters, in the context of concocting iced coffee, because espresso and brewed coffee taste differently—the former is full-bodied while the latter is lighter.

According to Jonathan Choi (previously of Magnum Opus, and currently of Exchange Alley Coffee House), strong coffee like espresso can "take much more ice and dilution than brewed coffee." It's for this reason, he explains, that espresso is "such a good base for things like iced lattes. Brewed coffee normally needs a bit of an intensity boost to stand up to ice."

Why you shouldn't feel "scammed" about iced coffee with lots of ice:

The initial reaction and thought one has when ordering ice-less iced coffee for the first time is often shock, and maybe anger, or both. These emotions are often accompanied by the inner thought that you're being scammed or, heck, gaslit—because you feel like you're paying for ice.

The thing is, ice in iced coffee is normal—it's a normal padding ingredient. The downside is, there is no hard rule when it comes to the coffee-ice ratio. So coffee shops may choose to pad, pad, pad, and pad, that they sacrifice the taste of their coffee.

But we don't want to dictate what you should and shouldn't feel about the coffee you paid for, so here are some words to make you feel better about your iced coffee, as told by Choi: "Ice only chills and dilutes your coffee? [This is] not true — it [ice] adds texture too! One of my favorite ways to make a cold one is to shake whatever coffee (strong brew, espresso, or even cold brew), like a cocktail, and strain it, sans ice, into a chilled glass. The result is a creamy, no-ice 'iced coffee'!"

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