> It doesn't explain why some things don't taste better through a straw like ice tea or beer. I wonder if it's partly cultural - in Guilin, China there's a pla

> It doesn't explain why some things don't taste better through a straw like ice tea or beer. I wonder if it's partly cultural - in Guilin, China there's a place called Jack Coffee that sells coffee in a covered plastic cup that you drink through a straw. At first I was turned off by the idea, but after a few days I came to enjoy it. I'm in Vietnam now, and my first night I met an old friend. He ordered a beer, put two ice cubes in the glass, and poured the beer over the ice. I said, "Beer on ice...?" He said, "Hmm?" Me: "You've got ice in the glass. And you pour the beer on the ice." He says, "Oh, yeah, I didn't get it at first, but now I'm converted." So I wonder how much it's cultural - also, it seems like a lot of things that aren't drank from a straw like tea, coffee, wine are generally more high status/high fashion type signifier than something like milk or soda.