Milkshake: Anytime, Anyday
“I would like a chocolate milkshake please.”
“I’m hungry, let’s get a milkshake.”
Milkshakes have been in the market for a long time, and they are absolutely wonderful drinks to go with any meal! You can have a milkshake on the go, a healthy milkshake for breakfast, a delicious one for lunch and even a sweet milkshake for dessert.
The Orginal vs The Milkshakes Now
The well-known term “milkshake” first appeared in print back in 1885. It was then referred to an adult drink containing eggs and a shot of whiskey! Milkshakes were an alcoholic whiskey drink that was described as a “…sturdy, healthful eggnog type of drink, with eggs, whiskey, etc., served as a tonic as well as a treat”.
However, when the early 1900s came, the original milkshake was no longer what it seems. It had come to mean a drink made with milk and assorted syrup flavourings such as chocolate, strawberry or vanilla.
Chicago, 1922, Walgreens employee Ivar “Pop” Coulson had added vanilla ice cream to their usual malted milk drink, thereby inventing the first malted milkshake. It spread like wildfire, making it one of the most popular beverages at soda fountains.
By the 1930s, milkshakes just got the sweet tooth of everyone and ice cream was added to the main ingredients.
With flavourings available, chocolate milkshakes are the most popular amongst customers, and that is why the 12th of September is the National Chocolate Milkshake Day!
Evolution
Evolution has contributed to the progression of many different industries and milkshakes are no different. Before electric blenders are available widely throughout the markets, milkshakes are literally, SHAKEN by hand! That is where the name originates too.
Hamilton Beach first invented the drink mixer in 1911, and it became a common part in soda fountains. Milkshakes had risen with much popularity with the invention of the electric blender in 1922 by Steven Poplawski. It did not take much time before every restaurant was adding a milkshake to their menu. Fast-food chain Dairy Queen had led the way in their category in 1949 by introducing milkshakes to their menu.
Did you know that even the straw was invented and patented by Joseph Friedman in 1937 when he recognised the difficulty of drinking a milkshake with a glass? One thing led to another, and now straws are very important in our daily lives. Hence, the slurping action became a trademark of milkshakes.
With the straws and blenders, freon-cooled refrigerators were then invented in the 1930s, thus, turning the possibility of automatically making and dispensing ice creams safely and reliably to a reality. Earl Prince then invented the Multimixer in 1936, which was able to amazingly dispense five milkshakes simultaneously and automatically. With that, the milkshakes boomed, and it was one of the most popular drinks of that era! The milkshakes made with ice cream in it was described in several newspapers as “frosted” in the late 1930s.
Milkshakes entered their heyday by the 1950s where there are milkshakes literally everywhere! From diners to lunch counters, from soda fountains to burger joints, this blooming sight of the milkshakes had made what diners are today, from vintage vinyl booths to checkerboard linoleum tiles to jukeboxes to neon signs. A milkshake mixing machine of some sort was often featured, and these sweet tooths were served in tall glasses.
With milkshakes widespread, it is not surprising that different states of America had different names for their shakes. Some had “frappes”, “cabinets”, “frosted”, “velvets” and even “concrete”. A specific milkshake was made so thick that it could be turned upside down without dripping! Just like concrete!
Milkshake machine salesman, Ray Kroc had bought the exclusive rights to a milkshake maker from inventor Earl Prince in the 1950s. With that, automated milkshake machines are placed in major fast-food chains to speed up production.
When people had started to be health cautious in 2000, school lunch programs had developed reduced-sugar and low-fat milkshakes that were half the sugar and only 10% of fat in it as compared to commercial fast-food milkshakes. Dentistry even had its fair share in milkshakes, where it was being used as part of the “spa dentistry” trend that aims to help dental patients relax.
Today
Currently, milkshakes can be found anywhere, and they are widely sold in fast-food restaurants and diners. While milkshakes have been a long time drink to the public, there seems to be a recent swell in popularity as there are a wide range pf milkshake flavours offered. You can have the original chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mint, mango etc.
Chocolatey Taste!
With so many milkshakes in the market, it is really a dilemma to choose which milkshake. Though the chocolate seems to be tastier, there are a whole lot of chocolate choices too!
You can have the milk chocolate or dark chocolate or with a shot of espresso or Oreo chocolate or Nutella and so much more! Nevertheless, it is always chocolate for the win!
Celebrate the Naional Chocolate Milkshake Day by making your own chocolate milkshake! All you need is a blender, ice, milk, ice cream and some chocolate syrup. How simple is that?
If you really are a kitchen dummy, here is what you should do:
- Place in the ice, milk, ice cream and chocolate syrup into the blender and press the blend button. Whizz everything until smooth.
- You can choose to add on some chocolate spread (Nutella). Microwave a spoon of the chocolate spread and add it to the blender.
- After everything is blended, pour into a cup or glass.
- Add on some toppings if you want! E.g. chopped almonds, hazelnuts, cherries, love letters or sprinkles.
There you have it! A smooth chocolate milkshake prepared so simply with household ingredients you can get from a nearby supermart. Let us try out this National Chocolate Milkshake Day with some choco milkshake! You can even omit the blender, get some crushed ice instead and start shaking like the old days.
Have a tongue-licking National Chocolate Milkshake Day! Get your chocolate milkshake at foodpanda!