Why does ice crack when a drink is poured on it? I think most people have experienced this, but while pouring a beverage over ice I noticed the ice cracked.


Before


After

My initial thought was that because the beverage has an antifreeze property to it, that some sort of thermal shock might occur due to the rapid local cooling from dissolving the ice, but I know that this also occurs when other beverages such as various flavored carbonated sugar water products are poured on ice which do not depress freezing as much. So then What would cause the ice to crack?
I believe the ice cracked due to residual strains from freezing. Since ice freezes from the outside inward and it expands as it freezes, that as the inner water freezes, it imparts a tensile force on the surrounding ice (like the opposite effect of tempering glass).  As the warm liquid removes ice, the cross sectional area under tension decreases while the tensile force remains the same, causing an increase in stress. Once the stress reaches a certain point, the ice fails to counter the tension mechanically, causing the cracks.