[nooneelse]

Ok, sure, it is great to consider the extra minutes added to the taste-window which a bigger ice block vs several smaller ones gives... But, really, what I've wondered about when I go to drink such tasty drinks is that the bigger target seems ignored. The ice wouldn't have to melt so fast if it wasn't having to counteract so much heat getting in unnecessarily. But drinks are mostly put in contact with container walls which are directly connected to the external wall in contact with the air, table/bar, and human hands. Heck, one could go all out and pick some material(s) with a lower thermal conductivity than glass. That might be worth some bother too, but I don't know that it is needed.

Why is it I have a Thermos (made of stainless steel, so not optimized for thermal conductivity at all) which can keep coffee mouth-burning hot all work day, but when I go to some fancy scotch tasting establishment they hand me a chunk of glass engineered more for looks than for the task at hand?