Why do cold drinks make people cough?

Question

Whenever I drink something that's very cold, I start coughing almost immediately. This also happens when eating cold popsicles. What is causing the cough?

Answer 1

 It has more to do with being an extreme that your body isn't expecting than merely cold. I cough sometimes too when I drink really hot stuff (stuff that burns my tongue and the roof of my mouth, that I should have waited to cool down). 

If your already sick (which has nothing to do with the temperature cold, studies show), it also doesn't help with mucous or inflamed tonsils. Thickening of the mucous or disturbing of the inflamed tonsils may cause coughing (to dislodge mucous and materials from the tonsils).