The Iced Coffee Culture

By Yibing Lui | Published March 13, 2023

A Chinese girl wearing two layers of “autumn jeans” and holding a thermos in her sleeve so as not to touch the cold metal layer escaped into the warm building when the wind blew. On the other side of the road, a tall athlete in shorts and stockings wandered the road with a cold Starbucks with foam above it. 

Cultural differences are shown vividly in many areas in real life. People’s behavior is so diverse, it sometimes looks like the exact opposite. For example, the choices of beverage temperatures for cultural groups are different. 

Some Chinese girls are surprised by iced beverages that exist in winter, which are influenced by their cultural background for a long time. And some Americans are more used to drinking cold water even outside in the winter.

With more and more students studying on campus, some cultural differences are more obvious than before. No matter how different people are, respect and harmony are the most important in interpersonal communication diversity.

Lots of American students carry the iced beverage to classes even in cold weather. People are more used to coffee with ice and rely on it to make them excited at the beginning of the day. They store some purified water in the fridge in their daily life and order some water with ice in restaurants. 

According to The New York Times, the founder of Starbucks said cold beverages helped them earn 75 percent off beverage sales this season. With increasingly difficult work tasks and the habit of customizing drinks, more and more people choose iced drinks more of the time. Energy and power are significant tools in work and schools. 

On the contrary, most Chinese students rely on hot water sometimes. Kettles keep them alive. “A bottle of hot water can cure 90 percent of uncomfortableness, just drink it!” the old saying said. 

Some people believe that hot water can warm your body and keep you more active in some bad weather and they used to drink warm water in summer. 

“My grandma will fly to America if she knows I drink this iced coffee brew now!” Slade Yang said while she shook her Starbucks. 

---