It all seems so simple at first glance–just a few scoops of ice cream, a splash of milk, a dollop of chocolate, perhaps all whipped up in a blender. Yet beyond the basics of the milkshake there is a quagmire of personal preference.
Some, you see, enjoy the old fashioned malted version. Others add fruits or syrups. There are fans of soft-serve over the traditional hand scooped. Many restaurants tout the almost La Brea-esque thickness of their shakes, while others draw crowds for drinks that fail to even support a flimsy straw.
Gustavo Rodriguez of Renee”s Cafe knows this all too well. Though the Lakeport institution lists 15 flavors–from chocolate and vanilla to oddities such as boysenberry or root beer–he often finds himself blending four, five, even ten different options together. But he also knows why the shake remains such a popular treat.
“They”re good,” he said.
During the summer months Rodriguez may turn out 30 to 40 shakes in a half an hour. Renee”s goes through five cases of milk, each containing nine half gallon cartons, on a typical warm weather day.
Renee”s emphasizes an honest, old school style–thick enough to prop a straw, thin enough to sip through one. A coffee shake, for example, contains a squeeze of concentrated syrup and a measure of coffee, poured hot from the restaurant”s pots. Somehow it retains its heft, even while resisting the need for a spoon.
It”s a tricky tightrope, which Renee”s navigates well.
“The way we make them is just ice cream and flavor,” Rodriguez explained.
Jack Sokol, who stopped into Renee”s on Wednesday morning, prefers malts to the more prosaic (and popular) shake. The difference is small, but significant, as the addition of malt powder yields an earthy depth to the drink.
“Nothing beats a malt,” Sokol said. “That”s what I come here for. I love them, what can I say?”
Although the milkshake traces its origins back to eggnog and syllabub, a cream drink curdled by red wine, the malt became a teen favorite during the middle of the last century as diners, drive-ins (and yes, some dives) popped up along the main drags of American towns. In the 1960s, McDonald”s and other chains pioneers the pre-mixed and soft-serve form, hastening the demise of the lunch counter staffed by trained soda jerks.
Over the past two decades, however, rich and creamy traditional shakes have made a comeback, thanks in part to creative minds willing to swirl in peanut butter or enhance the character of the drink with pieces of real fruit. In the heyday of the malt shop and sock hop, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry dominated the menu boards. Now mint chocolate chip is the most popular option at Renee”s.
As the shake experienced a renaissance, Americans also rediscovered other fountain classics, such as the malt and the soda.
“We make everything,” Rodriguez said, pointing to an array of ingredients.
Indeed, Renee”s prepares sodas, freezes, swirls and plain old thick vanilla shakes with equal enthusiasm.
“There is no difficulty,” Rodriguez responded when asked if the steps involved for one style was more troubling than another. “Unless,” he continued, “someone asks for something we don”t have.”
That hardly seems likely.
Contact Dave Faries at 900-2016
