Malts and milkshakes are some of the ultimate summertime treats, recalling
innocent days of play and long hours of sunlight. A jaunt to the local ice cream
shop to get a milkshake was a festive event. But the first milkshakes on the
scene in the 1880s were bad boys—highly alcoholic, sort of like a whiskey-laden
eggnog. The advent of the electric blender in the 1930s hastened the evolution
from powerful tipple to the innocuous ice cream drink that we adore today. If
you haven’t had one in awhile, get on it: simple pleasures grease the wheels of
daily existence, and Minnesotans are supposed to be experts at living the heck
out of our short summers. You’ll get a hit of protein, calcium and best of all,
vitamin H—as in happy. There are many to enjoy around here, so sally forth and
slurp; just go slow and watch out for brain freeze.
Affogato
At this cheerful peddler of “crepes, coffee and custard,” a simple
combination of coffee and custard makes the divine affogato—meaning “drowned” in
Italian—sort of a deconstructed milkshake of hot, strong espresso poured over
vanilla custard. The espresso comes from exotic Arabica beans, deeply roasted
and brewed fresh, an eye opener as well as a taste sensation. Frozen custard,
unlike ice cream, contains eggs, adding an extra-rich mouth feel and a pale
buttercup hue. The affogato is served in a pretty tall glass; take a moment to
appreciate the layers of light and dark. Whipped cream optional. $2.55. 572
Commons Drive; 651.730.7284.
Chocolate Shake
Lazy summer afternoons and long days encourage milkshake outings and there’s
nothing like the old faithful, Dairy Queen, a beloved bastion of nostalgia. This
is Norman Rockwell territory, a carefree place for seasonal delights. Only a
classic will do here; go for the chocolate shake. Now dubbed “hand-spun drinks,”
this shake keeps it simple: chocolate syrup, whole milk and DQ’s distinctive
vanilla soft-serve ice cream. It wears a swirly mound of whipped topping
punctuated by a glow-in-the-dark maraschino cherry. Woodbury’s family-run
franchise is one of the busiest in the nation; in 2013 this outpost sold more
ice cream than any other DQ in the country. Good job, citizens! Medium, $3.19.
7450 Currell Blvd.; 651.731.6878.
Caramel Malt
Keys Café, our homegrown network of comfort foods and monster plates, is an
ideal place to get a milkshake. It’s done the old-fashioned way, mixed on demand
with an old-school milkshake machine. Malt is made from germinated cereal grains—you know it when
you taste it—and a scoop of malted milk powder adds a unique nutty tang. The
combination of caramel and malt is genius: the sweet caramel compliments the
earthiness of the malt. Have a seat and savor; you’ll need a spoon and a straw.
Served with the metal mix cup with an inch or two of the extra malt. We love
that. $4.50. 1750 Weir Drive; 651.731.5397.
Peanut Butter's Moo Shake
How can anyone resist a place with a name like that? Don’t worry, the cute
stops there: this is serious stuff and you’ll appreciate a fat straw, aka
pipeline. The list of ice cream flavors overwhelms; forge ahead bravely. They
range from everything you can think of—butter pecan, vanilla bean—to things
you’d never imagine, like banana pudding and red velvet cake. And as for
mix-ins, fuhgeddabout it. The possibilities are endless. We got one of Maggie
Moo’s own shake inventions, the peanut butter s’moo, a liquid reimagining of the
s’more, the favorite chocolate and marshmallow smoosh of campers young and old.
Here, chocolate ice cream is blended with crushed peanut butter cups and topped
with a marshmallow crème, which in turn is covered with whipped cream. Regular,
$5.52. 9000 Hudson Road; 651.739.9333.
Shake
When we were kids, a stop at McDonald’s was reserved as a special treat on
road trips. And those road trips were usually in the summer, when we would
clamor for milkshakes. Many of us have cut our teeth with a McDonald’s
milkshake. Our two local franchises are owned by Woodbury residents Pat Duval
and his son, Jim Duval; support Woodbury business with a shake stop here. You
can always count on it to taste familiar, comforting and good. Vanilla is our
favorite: straightforward and sweet, like childhood. $2.79. 1759 Weir Drive,
651.739.2828; 433 Commerce Drive, 651.731.7749.
Mixed Berry Shake
Potbelly Sandwich Works is a place known for its uber-yummy concoctions of
sandwiches, served warm right off that conveyor-built oven. But did you know
that at Potbelly, you can wet your whistle and sate your sweet tooth with a
shake, malt or a smoothie? What’s the difference between the three? One of them
is supposed to be health food; we definitely don’t want that one. The
spectacular milkshakes here are hand-dipped and blended with fresh fruit. The
mixed berry flavor is a beautiful rosy color and a lip-smacking combination of
strawberry, raspberry and blueberry. A little flower-shaped cookie rides on the
straw, perfectly cute and crunchy. $3.20. 7230 Valley Creek Plaza; 651.735.1308.
Pineapple Banana Shake
New Woodbury Café is our true local diner, serving up fantastic breakfast
choices at this cozy Tamarack Hills restaurant. Diner establishments are known
purveyors of ice cream drinks, and this one makes as mean a milkshake as you’d
expect. Choose your combination from a list of ingredients: We leapt at the
chance for a pineapple shake, a unique flavor on our tour de shakes. We threw
bananas in there too—the sunny duo meld into something velvety and tropical at
once. $4.50. 803 Bielenberg Drive; 651.209.8081.
