QUESTION

I have always been led to believe and have experienced MANY times the notion that "Leitungswasser ist zum Kochen und zum Waschen, aber NICHT zum Trinken da" (Tap water is for cooking and washing, but not for drinking). Ice cubes were never a part of any beverage served in restaurants and homes. Now our German exchange student tells my students he doesn't know of ANYONE who DOESN'T use ice in their drinks. I realize more Germans are again drinking their tap water, BUT with carbonation. So what about the ice cubes? I'd really appreciate anyone's experience with this, from the USA or Germany.

RESPONSES

1. A BBC report on the dangers of iced drinks - unhealthy waiters, bartenders, horrible hygiene.

2. We just had an adult visitor from Germany in October.Went to Burger King, ordered a beverage...it came WITH ice....she didn't drink it because it was too cold. Is this perhaps a generational difference? Please advise!

3. In my experience, there seems to be a European aversion to wind (read draughts) and ice in drinks. I remember on my wife's first trip to Germany we finished in Munich. It was very warm one day and we stopped by McDonalds to get some ice (Eis). Their first response was wanting to know if we wanted vanilla or chocolate. We explained we wanted the frozen water kind. They could not believe that that was what we wanted and just stood there looking at us dumbfounded. Eventually, we got what we wanted, but they just kind of slapped the cup down in front of us. Almost in disgust. My wife got hers first. She went outside to wait for me and as I came out I noticed one of the locals was talking to her. She told me that the woman was chewing her out for eating ice. It was bad for her and she shouldn't be doing it. She thanked her and went on eating her ice.

   I have also bought a pop at McDonalds. When the clerk set the glass in front of me at the counter I could just see the last of the few ice chips in it disappear.

   I noticed our GAPP students did OK with all the ice in drinks here in the US - that is, most didn't request it, but would drink it like that. But the adults didn't really care for it.

4. A joke Americans tell in Yugoslavia is: Q: Why don't they put ice in the drinks in Yugoslavia? A: They lost the recipe. B.Z. http://sps.k12.mo.us/khs/german/gerlinks.htm -- Now over 1000 links!!!

5. This summer all the colas from Burger King and McDonald's (in Germany) had ice cubes in them -- approximately 2 and they both melted by the time the drink got to the table. I was also given cold drinks when visiting Germans, with only 1 or 2 ice cubes. Germans might be using ice, but the quantity is different. As far as I can tell, most Germans still don't like their colas as cold as the average American.

6. In my experience, McDonald's was one of the few places where I COULD get ice-cold drinks (mit Eiswuerfeln) in Germany. I remember the AATG conference in Baden-Baden a few years back -- HOT! McDonald's was my rescue there. But most summers are so cool, it doesn't matter. - Hyde

7. I had a similar experience with a German exchange student last year. He said German teenagers drink lots of milk. This was news to me. Any comments?

8. Water and Ice: until today ice cubes are a rare in German drinks (going back overseas twice a year... I can follow up on this each time I go). Ice is bad for your teeth, bad for your stomach... etc. There is even a medical article that I read some time ago that ice cold drinks with a lot of ice or even just very cold from the fridge will accelerate the build-up of kidney stones. This also was the info my dad (German in Germany) recived from his doctor in the 60s! He had one kidney stone and the doctor told him never to drink his beer ice cold (or other beverages). As a matter of fact, this doctor told his patients to drink a beer a day at room temperature to avoid these stones! (my dad never suffered again!!) My husband, on the other hand, loving his ice cold beverages and ice in his drinks... goes through the annual routine of passing kidney stones! No one drinks tab water because it is not considered for drinking. We have Sprudel or Mineralwasser.. a lot healthier anyway! Therefore, Germans are very reluctant to have ice cubes in their drinks, too. All this applies also to other European countries as for example Italy. We have a cultural exchange with a school in northern Italy. Whenever they come here they are appaled by all the ice that would go into a cup or glass. They see this--like my parents-- as getting cheated (not enough liquid). When we take these exchange stufents out to eat for example at the free lunches at Burger King or McDOnalds, I order immediately all drinks "without ice". In addition, people will tell you that the best thing against thirst is a hot tea or at least a warm glass of tea like the Arabs do. True to a cerain extend... if I drink something ice cold when I am hot.. it only causes to sweat heavier and I am stil thirsty. Do I drink something room temperature.. I do not sweat and the thirst goes away. Having lived here since 1982... I still do prefer my drinks without ice and I would order them likewise in restaurants that way. My children would tend to do the same thing since they realize you get more if there is no ice in the cup! I have to admit, though, that most younger families and individuals would chill their beverages maybe for a while in the fridge rather than consuming it at room temperature.

9. I thank 10 years living in Germany for freeing me from the need for ice cubes.

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10. Hallo!

    First of all, I am a 23 year old native german, but since I was young I travelled a lot all over europe, and I also spent about a year in australia.

    Talking about the ice first:

    It is true, that people in germany take less ice. In places like McDonalds it is just, that people go there and order a softdrink, because they want to drink this particular softdrink. Where is the point in buying a coke an even paying quite a lot of money for it (compared to buying a bottle in a shop) when what you get consists to 30 to 40 percent of frozen water. In my opinion this habit of the fastfood industrie of serving drinks with so much ice (as it is in australia as well) is just to make more profit. Because 30% ice in the drinks means, that you have nearly 30% more profit from your drinks.

    On the other hand ice makes the drinks taste watery, and at least I don't like that very much, and probably other people don't like more than a couple of ice cubes in their drinks for that reason either. One very important issue about that is aswell, that ice numbens your tasting sense, and your can hardly tell what you are drinking. That is why any experienced whiskey drinker would never drink scotch "on the rocks". So if I buy a softdrink, I want to enjoy it, or I could just drink water. But o.k. when talking about fastfood restaurants like McDonalds it's probably a bit ironic talking about taste anyway.

    But on the other hand I have to mention, that fastfood restaurants in germany a starting putting more ice into the softdrinks as well - and I am sure it's for the profit reason. But that is especially rediculous, as we don't have so many hot days throughout the year. I can remenber getting a coke with ice in a McDonalds restaurant in Koeln, that consisted of something like 50 % ice. But the thing is, that this was in february, and it was minus 10 degrees outside. Putting ice into a drink with these weather conditions is really not sensible. That all does not mean, that germans drink their drinks at room temperature or warm. Restaurants chill the drinks very well, and the two or three icecubes are only to keep it cool while sitting on the table.

    But I agree, that in general germans probably don't like their drinks too cold. Whe don't have to long and hot periods throughout the year. Even though it gets hot in summer (last year in may and june we had between 30 and up to 38 degrees celsius for 8 weeks without an interruption) we usually allways have a couple of rainy days inbetween that cools everything a bit down again.

    Even young kids are taught the fact, that a cold drink doesn't help your with your thirst, nor when you are hot. In really hot days the best you can drink is fruit-tea at room-temperature or a thing we call "schorle" a half and half mix of slightly chilled water and some fruit-juice, what on the one hand is supposed to add a little bit of taste to a drink, and on the other hand it gives your body back vitamins in minerals it looses when sweating (a study by the way proofed, that this works exactly as good as energy-drinks like gatorade and stuff). Hot drinks like tea and coffee even help you stop sweating, and the best against thirst is water with a small amount of vinegar. This immidiatly kills your thirst better than anything else, and refreshes really great, eventhough it might not taste as good as a softdrink.

    Water from the tap:

    Older people allways used to say that you shouldn't drink water from the tap, as pipes used to be made from lead (trivia: that is where the english expression "plumber" comes from, "plumbum" is the latin word for lead.) So it was very easy to be slightly lead-poisend, as it happend to van Beethoven. But that is ages ago, and since the 50s or so pipes are made of iron or copper. But it still remained in peoples heads "You shouldn't drink water from the tap", eventhough there is no real reason anymore to do not so. In fact there are stricter rules and laws in germany about the hygenic quality of the tap-water than for bottled water. In general german people have a fable for sparkling drings, as non sparkling water often tastes really boring and doesn't kill thirst as well either. So for the last decades people used to buy sparkling water bottles.

    There you have to distinguish "mineral water" and "table water". Mineral water comes from a natural spring, is very clean and contains many essential minerals (but shouldn't be used for preparing baby food as some health-freak-parents sometimes do, as it contains to much natrium for babys). Table water like "Apolinaris" or "Bonaqua" is just carbonised water from the tap - filled in bottles. Nothing extra ordinary healthy about that - so why paying so much money. In the last couple of years these machines to carbonise your own water became very popular.

    As the drinking water from the tap has to fullfill so high quality standards people started drinking it, now that they could have it sparkling aswell. It even turns out more economic and ecologic (transport of gas-bottles instead of the water itself). But of course many people still stick to their mineral water, because it has a very unique taste (you can even distinguish the different springs by taste, eventhough you might think it's all just water) that is created by the minerals. Again something you would ruin with the use of ice, so you better chill it - between something like 6 and 9 degrees is just right. You don't even get icecubes with it in restaurants for that reason.

    An important thing about non-sparkling water in bottles is, that it is rather unhygenic, especially in plastic bottles, as you have quite a big ammount of germs and bacteria in it. The Carbon Hydrat in sparkling water suppresses the germs and bacteria from growing and multiplying.

    Hope that could sort of help finding an answer to this esoterical question. ;o)
    Cheers,
    Stefan

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11. "Leitungswasser" wird von vielen Deutschen nicht getrunken, weil es (a) nach Chlor schmeckt, (b) wegen der vielen alten Leitungen verbleit sein kann. Nach dem 2. Weltkrieg wurden die meisten Bauten wieder anstelle der Ruinen errichtet, weil die unterirdische Infrastruktur noch intakt war, oder leicht repariert werden konnte. "Stille Wasser" haben entweder keine oder sehr geringe Kohlensaeure, haben aber einen Eigengeschmack nach Mineralien. Waesser wie VOLVIC, EVIAN, etc. unterscheiden sich jedoch in nichts von Leitungswasser, wenn es kein oder sehr wenig Chlor enthaelt, bzw. statt mit Chlor mit Fluor behandelt worden ist. Dann kann man sehr leicht den Kunden taeuschen. Unser juengster Sohn machte sich immer einen Heidenspass daraus, uns VOLVIC einzuschuetten, das er heimlich vorher aus der Leitung gezapft hatte. WH

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12. MUNICH NEWSLETTER

    Branch A, No. 6, 18.IX.1996

    DRINKING WATER

    In Munich, there is a big campaign running about the quality of the city's drinking water. It is conidered to be one of the best in the world (it tastes very good, indeed), and it is even better than several expensive mineral waters. Here are the mineral contents of the Munich tap water -- you can compare it with your favorite mineral water if you want; I am sure it will stand many of those comparisons.

    I asked an expert: "g" after a certan mineral means that it is good for your health, "b" means that is it (more of less) harmful. So, this is our water (I hope I got all the English names for the chemicals right):

    Sodium (b) 3.6 mg/l Chloride (b) 5.9 mg/l Sulfate (b) 28.9 mg/l Nitrate (b) 8.1 mg/l Potassium (g) 1.0 mg/l Calcium (g) 81.2 mg/l Magnesium (g) 20.0 mg/l Flour (g) 0.1 mg/l Hydr.carbone (g) 298.0 mg/l

    Concluison: Whenever you come to Munich, drink the water (and/or beer, of course!).

    "Munich Newsletter" by Chris Bussler
    Homepage: http://www.mattina.com/bavaria/mnl.htm