People are mad that Starbucks is changing its ice, but which fast food chain actually has the best frozen water? I went on a quest to find out.
Clay Walker
- In May, Starbucks announced it would be changing to nugget ice, evoking mixed reactions.
- Given this controversy, I ranked ice from five popular food chains.
Last month, Starbucks announced it would be changing its ice from chips to nuggets.
In a statement to Insider, the coffee chain explained that the new ice machines will allow baristas "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."
Despite Starbucks saying the ice conversion would take years to fully roll out, coffee lovers have had mixed reactions to the news.
One main concern, according to Reddit commenters, is that their coffee concoctions will dilute faster with the smaller ice pieces. However, Starbucks assures that the scoop size has not changed, so there will be the same amount of ice in each drink.
But why do people care so much about ice anyway? Well, apart from its intended function to keep things cold, many enjoy eating ice, with some social media commenters saying they can't wait to snack on the little pebbles.
Given all this ice discourse, I decided to see what all the fuss was about, and ordered water at five different food chains so that I could rank their ice myself, from worst to best.
Here's what I found.
5. Ironically, Starbucks' current ice comes in last because of how fast it melted.
Perhaps Starbucks is onto something by changing their ice, because I found it to be the worst of the five.
The ice itself was pretty standard — a medium-sized, square-shaped chip — however, it melted remarkably fast. That's not unusual for Starbucks' iced drinks, because often hot espresso is poured over the ice, which melts it partially, but this was just water, so I didn't expect it to dissipate that fast.
I tried to join in on the ice-eating craze, but this ice was far too thick to bite through comfortably.
4. Wendy's ice also melted faster than I expected.
Wendy's ice was very reminiscent of Starbucks ice in thickness and shape. It was also similar in that it didn't stick around for very long.
Again, no chance of biting through this ice without zapping my sensitive teeth.
So while their ice isn't the best, their chocolate frosty will always deliver.
3. McDonald's ice lasted longer than Starbucks or Wendy's, cementing its spot in the middle of the pack.
The McDonald's ice was unremarkable.
It's your standard cube-shaped ice, but you do get a lot of it. My cup was 90% ice and 10% water.
It melted in a reasonable amount of time — unlike Starbucks or Wendy's.
I did not even attempt to munch on this ice as I was scarred from trying to gnaw through the other two.
But, if McDonald's ice tickles your fancy, you can buy it in bulk from your local restaurant. According to the New York Post, you can score a bag for under $2.
2. Burger King's ice was thick and lasted a long time.
Burger King ice was the thickest out of the five, so I imagine that contributed to it lasting pretty long. It also had the largest pieces out of all the restaurants I sampled.
In other ice-related Burger King news, last summer, Burger King Japan released a Whopper that had a layer of shaved ice on the patty. According to Mashed, this menu item could've been in response to the popularity of kakigori, a popular Japanese shaved ice dessert.
1. Sonic's nugget ice lasted the longest and was actually edible — making it the best by far.
There's just something about that Sonic nugget ice.
Not only did it last the longest, despite being the smallest, but it was actually edible. The ice is small enough to pop into your mouth and break without issue. However, if you have sensitive teeth like me, it's not entirely pleasant, but I can see the appeal.
Eating Sonic ice is so popular that there's even an ASMR subgenre where creators crunchily eat the ice into the microphone. The chain also featured just its ice in a 2020 ad.
What this experiment taught me is that there is a hierarchy among restaurant ice.
If you're looking for longevity, choose Sonic or Burger King, and avoid Wendy's or Starbucks, whose ice melts under pressure.
Also, based on how long the Sonic ice lasted, it appears Starbucks might be making a smart move by joining the nugget-ice craze.
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