At work is a Coke machine. By the coin slot is a lil LED screen that says ICE COLD then COCA COLA then TEMP 59F
Does 59F count as ICE COLD?
I doubt there’s any legal standard - it’s just a meaningless marketing phrase.
The temp readings I’ve seen on soda machines are measuring the outside air, not the inside. The idea, I think, is that reminding people when it’s hot encourages them to buy more soda.
But I don’t think ice cold has any legal meaning either. 32 is the freezing point for water, but most refrigerated beverages are at 40 or so and still called ice cold.
Agreed. The ballpark cry of “Get yer ICE COLD beer here!” translates to “We can’t rule out the possibility that this beer is slightly below ambient temperature.”
There’s no way it’s 59F in that room. Maybe 79F.
59K, on the other hand, would be ice-of-hell cold.
Ice cold soda refers to the temperature you’d experience if you poured the soda from a can into a glass full of ice. That would give you soda about half way between the room temperature of soda and ice.
This is called puffery, legally. It’s like claiming you sell “the world’s greatest hamburger.” You aren’t required to prove it.
I don’t know about that… It’s not possible to objectively measure the greatness of a hamburger, but it is possible to objectively measure how cold ice is.
But when they say ice cold do they mean the soda is as cold as ice or as cold as soda that has ice cubes in the drink? How many ice cubes?
They couldn’t sell pop that was **really **ice cold cus… It would be frozen! (or half frozen whatever…) Who wants to lick a frozen coke?
I think non-diet sodas freeze a few degrees below 32F, so you could have a Coke which was cold as ice, but still a liquid. It would probably be a little distressing to drink, though.
I had a half keg of beer out in my unheated garage all winter. It seemed to freeze at around 20 degrees. I was going to use it to refute a local convenience store’s claim of having the “coldest beer in town!”.
Soda isn’t pure water, so it’s freezing point is lowered, like salt water.
If you don’t melt all of the ice as you pour your soda in, it should be darn near 32F. The Heat of Fusion should be enough to suck any excess heat out of the soda. If it isn’t enough, then more ice will melt. A 50/50 mix of water and ice at equilibrium is at the freezing point, not halfway between freezing and room temperature.
I would say it’s the temperature once it reaches equilibrium sitting in a cooler full of ice. Which is colder than what you get pouring into a warm soda into a glass of ice, but not below freezing.
I like my Nuka Cola ice cold 
The real question is, which ice-cold? Can’t water be solid under high pressure at high temperatures?
At equilibrium, in a cooler full of ice and water, the temperature is exactly 32F. If you have ice in the container, then it is at 32F assuming equilibrium. If you pour water into a glass of ice and mix it up well, then that water is at 32F assuming there is still ice in the glass.
Distressing? Root beer in particular is at its best when its just cold enough to form a little slush in the top of the can.
Frozen beer, on the other hand, is dangerous. The alcohol doesn’t freeze, so the remaining liquid is pretty darn strong.
Personally, I <3 soda that is soooooo cold that it’s slushy on top. When you’re pouring it from the can/bottle into the cup, it comes out slower. That’s noms.
But ice cold should at least make me reminiscent of it being iced. 59F is not icy.
According to Outkast, ice cold is cooler than being cool.