Rachmaninoff, stern onstage and sweet-toothed in private, adored one thing above all: a cherry malted milk float. For World Ice-Cream Day, TWoA dives into the dessert that softened a musical giant—and why this fizzy American treat meant more to him than anyone knew.

“If I can’t drink my bowl of coffee three times daily…” Bach’s Coffee Cantata begins as a lighthearted story about a girl and her devotion to caffeine—but beneath it runs a quiet feminist rebellion taking shape in 1730s Leipzig.