I think we can all pretty much agree that the best ice for all things soda is that little nugget ice — think Sonic or Chick-fil-A Ice.
Well, Starbucks is rumored to be changing its ice — currently small cubes — and people have thoughts.
Yep, Starbucks has allegedly decided to jump on the nugget-ice train, but I’m not sure that’s such a good idea in the case of coffee-based drinks.
New special ice (we are 1 of 3 cafe stores testing the new ice). What do you guys think? It looks like the ice at sonic.
Cupcake_Great
Side Note: I confirmed the news with a couple local Starbucks employees, although they didn’t know exactly when the change was going to take place.
Starbucks has also given us a statement saying:
“As we continue to innovate and make investments in the Starbucks Experience for our partners (baristas) and customers, we are introducing new machines that make nugget ice to select stores this year. Customers who have tried the nugget ice in our hand-crafted iced beverages during testing had a resoundingly positive response. Like many of our recent investments, this machine allows partners 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.”
Starbucks Statement to Totally The Bomb
Nugget ice is definitely goals when it comes to most beverages on the daily. It makes your drink hella cold, and you can’t beat that crunch!
But, it also melts really fast.
When you pair that with hot coffee or espresso it can make for a really watered-down beverage.
The good news is, according to our sources, Starbucks conducted several tests and can confirm that nugget ice does not melt faster than Starbucks current ice. Wahoo!
For those wondering when their Starbucks locations will have it, our sources say that this is a multi-year rollout, meaning many stores will not get the machine for this ice, this year.
Maybe — like my opinion even matters, LOL!! — they could use the pellet ice for Refreshers and Tea, but stick with the normal cubed ice for coffee-based drinks and Frappuccinos.
Also, the cool thing is, the ice machines for the pellet ice, use less water to make ice, contributing to Starbucks’ sustainability goal to cut our water footprint in half by 2030.
What do you think? Are you so excited about this Starbucks change to nugget ice?
