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How do you shake it up?


  • Total voters
    13

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
Today is National Milkshake Day so I thought I'd see how you all like to consume milkshakes.

And another question in addition to the poll - what's your favorite milkshake flavor / flavors? I mostly just go with the classic chocolate but will get strawberry from time to time.
 

Exposition Owl

more posts about buildings and food
(he/him/his)
The ice cream shop where I usually get my milkshakes these days uses straws that are flared out at the bottom like a spoon, so it's sort of the best of both worlds. Some flavors of theirs that make good milkshakes include chocolate Earl Grey, chocolate rose, blueberry mascarpone ...
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
A major pandemic loss for me was the stout milkshakes a local brewery used to make. I tried to recreate it at home and didn't get it right, should try again sometime.

I only have milkshakes twice a year or so and we usually make them ourselves if we do to create fun flavours. So I'm interpreting "straight from the tap" as "drinking out of the blender" here.

Also I'm still so grateful lactaid works so well for me, as while I'm kind of inconsistently lactose intolerant ice cream and milkshakes will always give me trouble without pills.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I love milkshakes in the summer. There are few things that refresh me more than a banana milkshake. Just the density of milk makes them great. One time, I added a bit of nutella, and got a nice chocolate banana shake.

I don't like straws much, and prefer to drink them out of a glass. Using a spoon sometimes is nice too, though.
 
How would you describe the difference?
Ok so my understanding is milkshakes generally boil down to blending ice cream into milk. I like both of these things, but the combo of these two often end up very heavy and thick.

Freezes are the blending of ice cream into carbonated soda. That combo usually ends up much more light and airy and they are far easier to slurp down with a straw. It's like the difference in trying to drink a smoothie with a straw versus drinking pudding with a straw. Plus, mixing soda flavors opens up a whole world of fun flavor combos.

My default is using root beer as a base, but just about any soda gives fantastic results. Lemon/lime flavored sodas like 7up/Sprite are a close second, and colas or Dr Pepper-ish drinks are also really good in this form.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
I only have milkshakes twice a year or so and we usually make them ourselves if we do to create fun flavours. So I'm interpreting "straight from the tap" as "drinking out of the blender" here.
I was jokingly referring to the following by that option but your interpretation works too.

Many fast food outlets do not make shakes from the individual ingredients; rather, they use automatic milkshake machines which freeze and serve a pre-made milkshake mixture consisting of milk, a sweetened flavoring agent, and a thickening agent. These are similar to soft-serve ice cream machines, but keep the shake at a drinkable consistency.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
Ok so my understanding is milkshakes generally boil down to blending ice cream into milk. I like both of these things, but the combo of these two often end up very heavy and thick.
Did you ever try it with fruit, instead of ice cream? I always just use fruit, which lets you choose how thick the shake will become. Like, with two bananas, it is too thick for me, but one is pretty much perfect. Just as an example, with other fruits like strawberries, it should be even less thick, I would think.
 
Ah, OK. So, like a float, but blended?
That's exactly what they are.

Did you ever try it with fruit, instead of ice cream? I always just use fruit, which lets you choose how thick the shake will become. Like, with two bananas, it is too thick for me, but one is pretty much perfect. Just as an example, with other fruits like strawberries, it should be even less thick, I would think.
Yeah, but I mean, you're just describing a smoothie at that point, lol. I get those all the time.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I just had a milkshake from a burger shack with customizable/mixable ingredients. So I got the peanut butter shake and added apple-cinnamon. Or vice-versa? Well.

It was really good, and it had a couple things that made me appreciate it all the more: A small smear of actual peanut butter on the lip of the cup, and chunks of apple in the bottom. It was legit! A real shake with real ingredients! It was also really good.

BUT it also made a liar out of me because while I drank most of it with a straw, like I do with all my milkshakes, I did have to get a spoon for the apple chunks because they kept clogging up my straw and some were too big to go through the straw at all.

I had another really good mixed-flavor shake at a burger shack a while ago: Peanut butter and raspberry. It was SO GOOooooD
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Milkshake places should use boba tea straws.

One I haven't made in a while is a Thin Mint shake, just a bunch of Thin Mints that have been in the freezer, some vanilla ice cream and some milk to thin it out.

Ah, OK. So, like a float, but blended?
That's exactly what they are.

Huh, I've never heard of this before now but yeah, I searched and looks like Dairy Queen has them. I think I've been to a DQ maybe three times in my life so not surprised I've never heard of it but sounds tasty.

Did you ever try it with fruit, instead of ice cream? I always just use fruit, which lets you choose how thick the shake will become. Like, with two bananas, it is too thick for me, but one is pretty much perfect. Just as an example, with other fruits like strawberries, it should be even less thick, I would think.
Yeah, but I mean, you're just describing a smoothie at that point, lol. I get those all the time.
Yeah, if you're removing the ice cream it's definitely a smoothie now.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I guess that misunderstanding of what a milkshake is comes from language differences. When I was a kid, my mum sometimes made me a Bananenmilch ("Banane" and "Milch" are, as expected, "Banana" and "Milk") so I guess what you guys know as a smoothie. When we got milkshakes here (remember, Austria, where we speak mainly German, but we imported quite a few English words - which leads to weird people whining about how our language is dying, but that's not for a positive thread like this), called "Milkshake", I assumed it was just a fancy name for a "Bananenmilch" or "Schokomilch" (chocolate milk). Until now, I always assumed using ice cream was some sort of lazy way, instead of using a real fruit.

I also didn't know that smoothies can include milk. I always thought they used water. Never really liked them much, the ones I tried where too thick, and it always felt like there were still small fruit pieces in there (maybe our blender was just good, but my banana milk was always without fruit pieces, the way I like it). Or, rather, I don't buy them, but simply make them myself. No need to add any sugar to that stuff, fruit and milk is sweet enough as it is.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
I guess that misunderstanding of what a milkshake is comes from language differences. When I was a kid, my mum sometimes made me a Bananenmilch ("Banane" and "Milch" are, as expected, "Banana" and "Milk") so I guess what you guys know as a smoothie. When we got milkshakes here (remember, Austria, where we speak mainly German, but we imported quite a few English words - which leads to weird people whining about how our language is dying, but that's not for a positive thread like this), called "Milkshake", I assumed it was just a fancy name for a "Bananenmilch" or "Schokomilch" (chocolate milk). Until now, I always assumed using ice cream was some sort of lazy way, instead of using a real fruit.

I also didn't know that smoothies can include milk. I always thought they used water. Never really liked them much, the ones I tried where too thick, and it always felt like there were still small fruit pieces in there (maybe our blender was just good, but my banana milk was always without fruit pieces, the way I like it). Or, rather, I don't buy them, but simply make them myself. No need to add any sugar to that stuff, fruit and milk is sweet enough as it is.
That is super interesting, I was wondering if there might have been language thing.

A milkshake is a dessert/treat/completely unhealthy, fruit is not required at all. In a restaurant they have to come from a machine like the pictures below. That silver cup? Iconic. Really good places serve the milkshake in a glass with whipped cream on top and also give you the silver cup which has the excess that didn't fit in your glass. It's glorious. Also technically an actual milkshake machine homogenizes everything while smoothies are made by blending but that's way beyond what most people would care about and I'm just having fun thinking about shear forces and homogenizers at this point.

mktplace-s-a817794b-13ab-4529-abe6-3703fd5e88cc


These days a "smoothie" is generally regarded a healthier alternative and often a meal replacement. There's the questionably healthy things like Jamba Juice which while they don't have ice cream have massive amounts of sugar and can use milk. If you go even more into the health direction you'll see "smoothie diets" with tons of vegetables (mostly kale), etc. Very often vegan too so plant milk instead of dairy. These are usually meal replacements or marketed as post workout recovery things. These are also people who talk about nonsense like juice cleanses and flushing toxins from your body so while recipes can be good

kale-smoothie-recipe-vert-650x860.jpg.webp


Last moment of derailment, I absolutely love this mint-spinach smoothie from the Johnny Wander comic back in the day. It uses juice concentrate and ginger ale so it's a sugar bomb but so dang refreshing.
 
Yeah, if you're removing the ice cream it's definitely a smoothie now.
There's the questionably healthy things like Jamba Juice which while they don't have ice cream have massive amounts of sugar and can use milk.
I get myself a lot of Jamba. It's terrible but it's a guilty pleasure. And if you look at a lot of their menu, they totally put ice cream (or sherbets) in with a ton of their menu items as filler/thickener/flavor lol.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
A few months ago a dessert place opened up a few blocks from my apartment. They do gelato, pies, pastries, all made in-house. On their opening day my girlfriend and I discovered they make one of the best apple pies either of us had ever eaten, and truly outstanding vanilla gelato.

A couple of weeks ago, they started making milkshakes with their gelato.

They make one with a slice of the pie in the milkshake.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
I get myself a lot of Jamba. It's terrible but it's a guilty pleasure. And if you look at a lot of their menu, they totally put ice cream (or sherbets) in with a ton of their menu items as filler/thickener/flavor lol.
Oh, I'm saying that a milkshake must have ice cream. Smoothies can be with or without ice cream but I feel a milkshake has to have it. If you're replacing ice cream with a banana I say it's a smoothie.

Of course it doesn't really matter but for some reason I'm having a ton of fun with this thought experiment. Also I need to remember what the hell sherbet is, I remember liking rainbow sherbet (which I keep wanting to spell as sherbert for some reason) a ton as a kid but haven't had it in years.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
Also I need to remember what the hell sherbet is, I remember liking rainbow sherbet (which I keep wanting to spell as sherbert for some reason) a ton as a kid but haven't had it in years.
I also had lots of rainbow sherbet /sherbert (and other flavors) as a kid but not so much as an adult.

Sherbet/sherbert
is a frozen dessert made from sugar-sweetened water, a dairy product such as cream or milk, and a flavoring – typically fruit juice, fruit purée, wine, liqueur and occasionally non-fruit flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, or spice like peppermint. It is similar to, but distinct from sorbet, with the addition of dairy typically being the key differentiator.

But as always seems to be the case that word means different things in different countries.
 

Exposition Owl

more posts about buildings and food
(he/him/his)
They make one with a slice of the pie in the milkshake.
Mr Bartley’s in Harvard Square does something similar, but I don’t think they make their own ice cream.

Anyway, linc, I’m going to need to know the name of this place near you. For science.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Mr Bartley’s in Harvard Square does something similar, but I don’t think they make their own ice cream.

Anyway, linc, I’m going to need to know the name of this place near you. For science.
I've been to Mr. Bartley's! My friends and I used to go back in college. Don't think I've ever had a shake there though.

But yeah, next time you're in Brooklyn, get yourself over to Sweet Lea and order the Cool Grandma shake. I don't know why they chose that name, but give me some advance notice and I might join you!
 

Exposition Owl

more posts about buildings and food
(he/him/his)
I've been to Mr. Bartley's! My friends and I used to go back in college. Don't think I've ever had a shake there though.

But yeah, next time you're in Brooklyn, get yourself over to Sweet Lea and order the Cool Grandma shake. I don't know why they chose that name, but give me some advance notice and I might join you!

Yeah, the shakes at Mr. Bartley’s are good, but they’re so huge and rich that they’re kind of a lot to take on after you’ve already had a burger, and when I was just looking for ice cream in Harvard Square I usually went to JP Licks.

Anyway, though, it looks like Sweet Lea is right around the corner from where one of my best friends from college lives, so I’m sure I’ll be by there sooner or later. Maybe we can meet up!
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Anyway, though, it looks like Sweet Lea is right around the corner from where one of my best friends from college lives, so I’m sure I’ll be by there sooner or later. Maybe we can meet up!
Let me know next time you're gonna be in the neighborhood!
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
A few months ago a dessert place opened up a few blocks from my apartment. They do gelato, pies, pastries, all made in-house. On their opening day my girlfriend and I discovered they make one of the best apple pies either of us had ever eaten, and truly outstanding vanilla gelato.

A couple of weeks ago, they started making milkshakes with their gelato.

They make one with a slice of the pie in the milkshake.
If you're ever in the Pacific Northwest, go to the chain restaurants Shari's. Pie shakes are a staple of their menu.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
But yeah, next time you're in Brooklyn, get yourself over to Sweet Lea and order the Cool Grandma shake. I don't know why they chose that name, but give me some advance notice and I might join you!

Hmm, is there convenient transit between there and the airports? Because I might be able to stop by on my way to Grand Central to catch a train up to work every few months... 😅
 
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