I brought a Mason jar into Starbucks and my wife wanted to crawl under a rock.

A couple weeks back, I ordered a large iced coffee. Almost 7-some dollars for the privilege.

When they handed it to me, the cup felt about as heavy as a feather.

I look down and it's a damn glacier in there. Ice cubes stacked to the rim with a little splash of coffee somewhere underneath.

So I drink it in about four sips and I'm sitting there thinking…what in the hell did I just pay for?

So the next day I brought my own Mason jar.

My wife thought I'd lost my mind. She said, "Buck, please don't make a scene." I told her I wasn't making a scene. I was conducting a scientific experiment.

I ordered the same large iced coffee. Then I dumped the whole thing into my Mason jar so I could see what I was actually getting once you take the ice out of the equation.

That "large" coffee filled my jar about halfway. The rest was air and ice they were charging me coffee prices for.

Now here's the thing. This isn't just Starbucks. Half these coffee shops do the same trick. They pack the cup with ice so it LOOKS full, you pay full price, and you're really getting a child's portion of actual coffee.

Ice is water. Water is free. They've figured out how to sell you a nickel's worth of frozen tap water dressed up like a premium beverage.

So I've decided I'm done playing their game.

From now on, I order it with NO ice. Get every drop of coffee I'm paying for. Then I take it home and put it over my own ice, in my own glass, in my own kitchen, where the ice doesn't cost me four dollars a cube.

My wife says I'm being dramatic. Maybe so. But my Mason jar doesn't lie.

Here's my question: am I onto something here, or am I just a cranky old man with a Mason jar? Do you get cheated by the ice too?

Let me know. Enjoy your Sunday!

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