The great ice scam

Here’s my Vanilla Iced Matcha Latte. I purchased it today from Cafe Nero for £4.50.

What do you notice?

That’s right, it’s full of big blocky ice cubes. There’s about 15 of them filling half the cup that could have more of the drink I’ve paid for.

It’s a clever tactic, though. While they save on milk and vanilla syrup, it’s matcha that’s by far the most expensive ingredient, so understandably they want to stretch it as much as possible.

Of course, they would tell you it’s about cooling the drink and enhancing the flavour. You don’t need 15 blimmin’ jumbo-sized ice cubes to do that, though.

In fact, I estimate these ice cubes represent about 180–250 ml of water. That’s quite a lot when you think about it.

If I were to ask for the drink without ice, I wouldn’t get anymore of the useful stuff, would I?

It just feels like a bit of a rip-off to be perfectly honest with you.