One of the fascinating things about the U.S. is the variety of cultures that change from region to region but within the cultures terminology changes, especially with beverages.
On the east coast a regular coffee means coffee with cream and sugar. On the west coast it means black.
Many tourists from out of the country are surprised to find that every soda and water is served with ice and beer is served "ice cold" (meaning chilled in ice but never with ice).
Soda, pop, soda-pop, soft drink, and cola all mean the same thing (Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, 7up, etc.) but depending on where you are traveling the person serving you may not be familiar with some of the listed terms. To make things more confusing, in the Deep South and a few other regions "Coke" is a general term for any soft drink.
When ordering tea you need to specify whether you would like a hot tea or an iced tea. The southern states offer sweet iced tea on the menus so you need to specify sweet or unsweetened iced tea. It is unlikely you will find sweet tea anywhere else in the country, except for maybe southern themed restaurants.
To avoid having to send back your drink order your beverage with as many details as possible: Coffee with milk, Sprite no ice, iced tea with lemon.
Have you heard of any other beverage terms? If so, please share.