Edit: someone posted a great explanation about the history of floats in Japan and USA. USA float is actually much older than I realized from the 1800s and never had ice. The JP floats was made in early 1900s, totally separate from the American concoction and always used ice. TIL. Very interesting. And my story still holds true. As I’m still amussed by the silly interaction… And to be fare it was a 50s style American Dinner. Serving an American style Coke float (it literally said that on the menu). Not a japanese float. It’s this was never a Japan vs American thing. The hate and negativity from many of you isn’t necessary. It’s just a bakka gaijin story. I gave the guy a glowing massive review on Google and this was my second visit there in a week. I wasn’t busting his balls. I simply asked for no ice. Don’t really understand how that makes me “toxic” or “a dick” or “an American” or “exhausting”.
I am still having trouble grasping that this actaully happened to me and truly wondering how wide spread this is.
I don’t know if you all are aware but in Japan if you order a soda float, or coke float, or ice cream float, whatever you want to call it, they put soda, ice cream, and… ICE.
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WHY?!
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I was travelling through Hiroshima and decided to stop an an American/Americano dinner and thought, fuck it, I want to get a float and I am just gonna tell him no fucking ice and if he says no then so be it I will get something else.
So I said “氷抜き下さい” and mass confusion ensued. But not like you nor I expected.
He then asked if I wanted the ice on the side. No. Then asked if I wanted the ice cream on the side?! NO!!! I just said no ice, please. He then proceeds to bring the coke in a float glass and the ice cream in a bowl. I am not kidding. My wife butts in at this point and says, its okay if you put the icecream in the soda, he simply doesn’t want ice. She explained that outside of Japan, and in the USA they only use soda and icecream and no ice. He goes “oh really, I didn’t know that”. But this is the wild part. He then says…. “are you okay with the ice cream sinking.” My wife and I are both confused at this point. Sink? What are you talking about? So after more discussion, this guy who been running a restaurant for god knows how many years, and making floats, honest to god thought that ice cream sinks in soda and to make it… FLOAT, it needs to sit on a bed of ice. Low and behold… he put the icecream in the soda and guess what. To his surprise, it didn’t sink… in fact… it floated!!!
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by the_nin_collector
34 comments
The ice cream won’t sink to the bottom of the glass but it’ll sort of half submerge itself around the surface since it would essentially have the same density as the soda. This will cause it to melt and make a foamy mess, especially if you try to eat the ice cream.
It’s fine if you just want to eat a float but things like floats and parfaits were always about presentation so they’d add the ice to prop up the ice cream
You were really that upset about this?
TIL people put ice cream in soda
This post is wild.
But then the ice sticks to the ice cream and you can’t really eat it.
This reminds me of the time I asked for a float with no ice in Sukiya, and the worker had to go ask the manager, then came back to ask if I was really sure that I wanted it with no ice. 😂
meanwhile, there’s yet another thread climbing the ranks about why people down vote so often in this reddit…
ICE (and my health) is the reason I stopped ordering Root Beer floats here. That and cabbage in my TACOs.
People are giving you a hard time, but you’re dead on. I ordered a float here once, and the ice ruins it. You get no Soda, then it’s just a lump of ice cream on top of all this ice. It’s fucking dumb. I always thought they were penny pinching and attempting to save money on giving you less Soda.
The word “float” in the name is important.
First I thought you were an idiot, but when thinking of it, it sounds much better without ice (never had it without ice, but now I want to try!).
Now I’m just imagining this nice Japanese guy thinking Americans use Ben & Jerry’s to cool their drinks instead of ice cubes.
No ice in floats where I come from. I once went to a coffee shop in Tokyo, 2 guys and 2 girls, the waitress came to take the order, the first person ordered a coffee set, drink and cake, 2nd person ordered a coffee set too, drink and cake, 3rd person did the same, it’s my turn, I asked for a coffee set, cake and coffee… And a lemon soda.
The waitress proceeds to confirm the order, her brain freezes mid confirmation.
-Excuse me, you want 3 coffee sets and a lemon soda?
-No 4 coffee sets and a lemon soda
The waitress proceeds to verify the amount of people sitting at the table, she reads the order again, her brain still frozen.
-You want 4 coffee sets, but a lemon soda instead of coffee? We don’t do that.
-No, we want 4 coffee sets and a lemon soda.
-But you are 4 people
-Yes indeed, and we want 4 coffee sets and a lemon soda.
-you want 3 coffee sets, a lemon soda and a cake?
-No, we are 4 people, and one of us want a coffee set, and also wants a lemon soda . 4 coffee sets, but I also want a lemon soda. He wants a coffee set, she wants a coffee set, she also wants a coffee set, I want a coffee set too, but I also want a lemon soda, 4 people, 5 drinks.
Still confused, the waitress goes and brings out the order.
Omg I’m going to be painting a picture of another soda float in the near future. I’m going to use this tidbit in my caption, haha.
I find that not having ice helps the ice cream and coke acclimate (for lack of a better word) with each other. My first float in Japan was at A&W, where they give you a huge mug. Stuck the straw in and boom, coke eruption! Thankfully the mug was still on the tray so it was contained, but I did get the ‘dumb gaijin’ look from the staff when I returned the tray!
Its just about familiarity, or getting it right. Obviously there will be adaptations. I can see the ice thing from both perspectives, but I find ice dilutes flavour usually. I’m not American, but made coke floats at home growing up.
I visit and have even lived in the country my family are from originally countless times. I have yet to find anywhere that knows how to make a milkshake. It’s a milky runny mess, and it’s hard to explain the enormous disappointment I feel. Even when I pay for more ice cream to add to it; forget about having a malt ice cream!
I hate how the ice cream just melts into the ice and then you lose almost half of it since it’s weirdly stuck on it.
I wonder who started it with the ice here?
It’s very popular here in the Philippines at McDonald’s here with the Coke Float
McDonald’s in the Philippines, and iirc Singapore too, serve coke floats with lots of ice. It’s good, can enjoy the ice cream longer, and by the time it gets mixed with the cola it doesn’t make it overly sweet. Float without ice just feels weird for me, like half of the experience lost.
God I miss the old a&w root beer floats in the frosted glass mugs… Childhood memories unlocked…
Makes sense, and probably that is the reason that guy who served you believes, but I think it is more often just to save costs.
I have only had one float and it was 90% ice with a dollop of ice cream (just a little bigger than the free spoon tasting at 31) and some melon soda to fill up the empty space. 700 yen. For ice.
I agree floats are messed up here. But I’ve got to say, if this story happened the way you describe it this would rank top 3 in dumbest staff I’ve ever run across. A no ice order is very simple and one I’ve pulled off in McDonald’s so you should be able to do anywhere. If they’re confused, a simple explanation that you enjoy the reaction of the ice cream and soda without ice in the way should have sufficed.
Even if they were confused about how much soda to give you in thay situation, pour it normal, scoop out the ice, drop the ice cream and move on with your life. That would be insanely bad customer service.
But at the same time I do find that believable. Once at a restaurant my friend wanted a whisky coke. They said they don’t do a whisky coke. My friend said, you do cocktails. You have whiskey. You have coke. Nope. We don’t do whisky coke. Ok, I’d like a whiskey, a coke, and one glass. And he made his own whiskey coke there at the table to their shocked faces.
ngl, the title of this post made me think the story was about OP getting his mind blown about the true purpose of ice in floats, but alas there was no such revelation.
you know I’ve never thought about it but that makes a lot of sense
I found the same thing… And to be honest, if you are going to sit the ice-cream on ice, then you may as well have the ice cream separate.
I brought this post up with my wife (japanese), and she said “But, if there’s no ice it will cause it froth up!”.. so ultimately, I just think they understand the whole point of a float
Similar experience asking for whiskey coke.
Its usually not on the menu so I just end up ordering a coke and a whiskey separately, then throw the whisky in.
Good post. Thanks. I am with you on this. All that ice makes everything horribly watery in no time.
Best post I’ve read in days. No, I’m not being sarcastic. If reddit admins hadn’t screwed their site so bad last year, I’d have given gold for this.
Honestly I’m happy to read this post. 15 years here and never liked ice in my floats, so I just made them myself. Personally I think they add ice so they can be stingy with the soda. A long time ago I asked soda no ice, of course the glass came “half empty”.
I thought they did it to save money and fill it up with ice. I like this thread as it also annoys me and I don’t buy floats in Japan because the ice cream gets all in the ice and you can’t eat half of it.
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Everybody giving OP a hard time for their story, I just want to rag them for saying “low and behold” instead of “lo and behold.”
This is honestly a hilarious story 😂. Thank you for sharing.
Do NOT put ICE in in an ice cream float!