Milkshake

Before we stepped into the 20th century, cold beverages were predominantly cocktails, and there were not many drinks that could be enjoyed across all ages. The rapid innovations in food technology in the United States gifted the people of the early 1900s with an overwhelming choice of powders and flavours to accentuate the age-old milk and create something exciting. One such creation that has withstood the test of time and essentially revolutionised the beverage industry worldwide is the Milkshake, or frosted shake as the Americans often call it.

This sweet cold beverage is made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavourings to attain a creamy, frothy texture, and is appetising and wholesome down to the last sip. The choice of flavouring can be anything from butter scotch to caramel sauce, from chocolate syrup to fruit extracts or even whole fruits. Today, Milkshakes come in innumerable flavours, and even vegan alternatives made from coconut milk, soy milk, or almond milk. The classic American Milkshake, owing to its wide popularity among youngsters, has become a cultural symbol of the innocence of youth and has been used metaphorically in the same sense in Hollywood cult classics like Manhattan and Lolita, and the iconic Archie comics.

Interestingly, the term Milkshake first appeared in print in 1885, and back then meant an eggnog whiskey cocktail. It was towards the end of the 19th century that the Americans started using the term to refer to a milk beverage made with flavoured syrups. In 1897, William Horlick invented the malted milk powder, which soon took over drugstore chains like the Walgreens as a popular infant food. Such was the innovative taste of the powder that soon people of all ages started drinking malted milk beverages, which became a regular serving at all soda fountains.

In 1922, a Walgreens employee by the name of Ivar ‘Pop’ Coulson made a new beverage by adding two scoops of vanilla ice cream to the already popular malted milk drink, which soon became the standard Milkshake recipe across the United States and the choice of preparation even today.

The mass availability of the Milkshake became possible in the 1930s, when Earl Prince invented the freon-cooled refrigerator and paved the way for automation of Milkshakes. Newspapers of the day were quick to assign the term ‘frosted’ to the drink, lending the Milkshake its alias ‘the frosted shake’.