Don't drink iced tea with a straw !

It’s only because ice floats in water that we can add ice to a drink in room temperature and instantaneously get a chilled effect. The ice melts and you taste the cold water. Well you might think it’s obvious. And you are right. It is. But just pause and think for a bit. Except for water, all other solid materials have higher density than their liquid counterparts!

Now think what happens when you drink iced tea with a straw. You are drinking the concentrated and not-so-chilled part of the drink first. And it tastes watery at the end.

Somebody will point out that it is the property of cold things to come down and hot things to go up. And they are partially correct. That is how earth is cooled. But that is due to hotter things having lower density like hot air.

If you have made it this far, you must be wondering what's the point behind all this? I was only marveling at how coffee shops serve iced drinks with a straw. At the beginning you are thirsty, so you drink a mouthful. Only after your initial thirst is quenched that you slow down. As and when you slow down, the ice gets time to melt and dilutes your drink. After a while you don’t like the watery taste and order a second round!

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