For most office break rooms, pebble ice is the best choice: it's soft, chewable, and the kind of ice people go out of their way for. Bullet ice is a solid alternative if your team wants something a little firmer, and traditional cubes make the most sense where ice needs to last a long time, like a crew's cooler on a hot job site.
The right answer depends less on the ice than on how your team uses it. Here's how the three compare.
What is pebble ice?
Pebble ice comes out in small, soft, irregular pieces. It's easy to chew, it packs tightly in a cup, and it soaks up a little of whatever drink it's in. Anyone who has spent time in Utah's drive-through soda shops knows the appeal.
Good for: soda, iced tea, water bottles and anyone who chews their ice.
Keep in mind: because the pieces are small and soft, pebble ice melts faster than a solid cube. In a drink you finish over lunch, that doesn't matter. In a jug that has to last a whole shift outside, it does.
What is bullet ice?
Bullet ice is made in small, rounded pieces. It's firmer than pebble ice but still much easier on your teeth than a standard cube. It cools a drink quickly and holds up a bit longer than pebble ice.
Good for: teams that want something chewable but less slushy, and break rooms where people fill a tumbler in the morning and sip from it for a while.
Keep in mind: it's a middle ground. People who love pebble ice usually still prefer pebble ice.
What about regular ice cubes?
Classic cubes are the hard, solid ice most people grew up with. They're the slowest to melt, which is their main advantage.
Good for: filling a big jug or cooler that needs to stay cold for hours, like a warehouse or shop crew heading into a hot summer afternoon.
Keep in mind: they're hard to chew, and in a break room they can feel like an afterthought compared with pebble ice.
Which ice do office workers actually prefer?
In our experience, pebble ice is the office favorite. It's the ice people comment on. When an office puts in a machine that makes it, the ice machine tends to become the most-used thing in the break room. People fill a cup on the way in, again after lunch, and sometimes on the way home.
That's why most of our water and ice combo units make pebble ice. Some make bullet ice instead, for teams that prefer it.
What should you think about besides the ice itself?
The shape of the ice is the fun part of the decision. A few other things matter more over the life of the machine.
How much ice your team goes through. A combo unit that pours cold water, hot water and ice from one machine is a great fit for an office of about 10 to 20 people. Bigger teams, or places that go through a lot of ice, usually want a dedicated commercial ice machine. We sort out the right size at the site visit. For more on that, see how many water coolers or ice machines an office needs.
Dispenser or bin. A dispenser pours ice straight into the cup with no scoop to share and no open bin to keep clean. That's what we install in break rooms.
The water going in. Ice is frozen water, so it tastes like the water it's made from. Every ice machine and combo unit we install runs your building's water through reverse osmosis first, which takes out the chlorine taste and most of the minerals. That matters in Utah, where hard water leaves scale inside ice machines. More on that in why Utah's hard water is brutal on commercial ice machines.
Who looks after it. Any ice machine needs regular cleaning and maintenance to keep making good ice. We schedule preventative maintenance and change the filters then, so nobody in your office has to remember it. If the machine stops working, service calls are free. We fix it or swap it, and most service calls are completed the same day.
So which should you choose?
- Most offices: pebble ice from a combo unit or ice machine.
- Teams that like firmer ice: bullet ice.
- Crews filling big jugs for hot shifts: ask about the options at your site visit, because melt time matters more than chewability there.
Not sure what your team would like? Try it. We'll install a machine free for a week, and 98% of businesses that try one keep it. Get a free quote and we'll reach out within 1 business day, or call 801-609-4321.