General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20268 min read

Milkshake

A milkshake is a cold, frothy beverage made by shaking or blending milk with flavoring and, in its modern form, usually ice cream¹. It originated in the United States as a soda fountain drink in the 1880s or earlier, and its recipe, texture, and even its name vary across regions². In most of the United States today it is a thick, sippable blend of milk and ice cream; in parts of New England the ice-cream version is called a frappe, and in Rhode Island a coffee-flavored one is a coffee cabinet³^•¹.

Key fact	Detail
Definition	A frothy drink made of cold milk, flavoring, and usually ice cream, shaken together or blended in a mixer¹
Word origin	An Americanism dating to 1885–90, from milk plus shake¹
Early meaning	The 1885 term described a "sturdy, healthy egg nog type of drink" made with whiskey; an 1890 dictionary defined it as sweetened flavored milk, carbonated water, and sometimes raw egg, shaken by machine⁴^•²
Ice cream adoption	Ice cream became a regular ingredient after freon-cooled refrigeration made it widely available; a 1937 Maryland newspaper advised adding "a dash of your favorite ice cream" for a frosted shake⁴
Regional names	Frappe, frosted, thick shake, cabinet, and velvet in different parts of the United States²
Global market	Packaged milkshakes were valued at USD 2,073.2 million in 2025 and projected to reach USD 4,231.1 million by 2036 at a 6.7% CAGR⁵

Early history

The exact origins are unknown, but evidence indicates the milkshake began as a soda fountain drink in the 1880s or earlier, with ingredients and flavors resembling traditional treats such as English syllabubs and eggnogs². Earlier milk drinks, served hot or cooked because of the lack of refrigeration, go back to the 16th century under names such as posset and syllabub⁴.

The earliest shakes were not desserts. The term as first used in 1885 described a drink made with whiskey and served as a tonic as well as a casual beverage⁴. In the 1880s a "milk shake" could still mean a spirituous drink; by the turn of the century the term had settled on cold milk shaken with flavoring syrup⁶. The first written reference to what is recognized today as a milkshake came in the Atlanta Constitution on May 17, 1886, which called it an Atlanta beverage costing about five cents⁴. At one time the words had distinct meanings: a milkshake was milk, ice, and a flavoring, while a shake added other ingredients such as cream or eggs, as in the New York Egg Cream Shake, made with just milk and eggs⁴.

Temperance-era culture shaped the drink's image. In the early 20th century, temperance-movement activists promoted going out for ice cream sundaes and milkshakes instead of drinking at saloons, helping foster the wholesome image the treat still carries⁷.

Mechanization and the ice-cream era

Mixing equipment shaped the drink. James Tufts, a soda fountain manufacturer, patented the Lightning Shaker in 1884, a counter-mounted device holding one or two glass canisters that a crank blended². The first patent for a blender-type mixer was granted in 1889 to F. H. Shepherd and J. W. Meyer, and Hamilton Beach introduced the Cyclone Mixer in 1910; the growth of soda fountains, hangouts for young people in city and town, created popular demand for the cool, creamy beverage⁴. Mechanical spindle mixers became common fountain equipment in the 1910s and 1920s, and the addition of a spoonful of ice cream in this period marks the transition toward the ice-cream-based shake⁶.

The modern ice-cream version arrived with refrigeration. Freon-cooled refrigeration made ice cream a new and available ingredient, and some advertisements referred to shakes containing ice cream as frosteds. A Denton, Maryland, newspaper wrote in 1937 that if you wanted a "frosted shake, add a dash of your favorite ice cream," and it was not long before ice cream was a regular ingredient⁴. Soda fountain culture of the 1950s produced coded names for combinations, such as the "Burn One All the Way" (chocolate malt with chocolate ice cream) and the "Shake One in the Hay" (a strawberry milkshake)⁴.

Regional names and the fast-food era

Regional vocabulary reflects how differently the drink is made and understood. In New England, particularly Massachusetts, a frappe (locally "frap," rhyming with "nap") is what most Americans call a milkshake, made with milk, ice cream, and usually other flavorings, though sometimes it is simply flavored cold milk with no ice cream³. In the United Kingdom, an ice-cream-based milkshake may be called a thick shake, and in parts of New England and Canada the frappe name also appears⁸; British shakes are typically thinner than their American counterparts and are widely sold at ice cream shops and fast-food chains⁹.

Fast food industrialized the drink and standardized its name. In New York City and other regions a shake used to be known as a frosted; when McDonald's and other fast-food chains began calling shakes simply "shakes," the usage spread and "frosted" went out of fashion³. Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman who bought exclusive rights to a machine invented by Earl Prince, built the McDonald's fast-food chain around the business, and McDonald's helped cement the milkshake as a fast food essential nationwide by the 1950s¹⁰^•⁴. Kroc argued that McDonald's shakes, made from a mix rather than ice cream and milk, would "wear better" on customers, who would not feel bloated after drinking one¹¹. Some chains, such as Dairy Queen, still prepare milkshakes by blending soft-serve ice cream or ice milk with sweetened flavored syrups and milk⁸.

Variants and related drinks

A malt, or malted, is a milkshake with a scoop of malted milk powder added. The powder combines malted barley, wheat flour, and evaporated milk, and gives the drink a toasted, nutty flavor; it was originally created as a nutrition booster, mostly for babies, before finding its place behind soda fountain counters³. Blended frozen drinks made with frozen yogurt instead of ice cream are sometimes called fro-yo shakes³.

Distinguishing neighbors matters when ordering. A milkshake contains ice cream, while a milk smoothie does not¹²; smoothies are traditionally made with fruit, yogurt, juice, and sometimes ice, and can carry as much sugar and richness as a shake depending on the ingredients³. The concrete, invented at Ted Drewes in St. Louis, is a frozen-custard dessert so dense a spoon stands upright in it, blended with mix-ins but no milk, making it scoopable rather than sippable³.

Flavor preferences show a consistent pattern. At the Lexington Candy Shop, a century-old Manhattan luncheonette opened in 1925, vanilla accounts for about 60% of all shakes ordered, followed by chocolate, coffee, and strawberry³.

Preparation and texture

The basic home recipe uses as little as two ingredients, milk and ice cream, blended together. Whole milk yields the thickest, most consistent texture, and plant-based milks such as soy, almond, coconut, or rice milk provide lactose-free alternatives¹³^•¹⁴. Without a blender, an immersion blender, a spoon or whisk, or a mason jar shaken vigorously with softened ice cream will do¹⁴.

Texture is unstable by nature. A milkshake starts losing its texture within minutes of being made, as melting releases water that dilutes the thick liquid phase and drops the viscosity; no amount of careful storage prevents some loss of texture¹⁵. Commercially, thick shakes are prepared with specialized commercial milkshake machines with settings for blending speed to adjust consistency¹⁶.

Commercial market

Milkshakes have moved well beyond the soda fountain into packaged, ready-to-drink products sold in bottles, pouches, and cartons¹⁶. Future Market Insights values the global packaged milkshake market at USD 2,073.2 million in 2025, reaching USD 2,212.1 million by 2026-end and USD 4,231.1 million by 2036, a compound annual growth rate of 6.7%⁵. Growth drivers include health-conscious consumers, premiumization, and demand for convenient ready-to-drink beverages¹⁷, with manufacturers developing protein-fortified, plant-based, and lower-sugar formulations¹⁸. A separate estimate by Market Glass puts the global packaged milkshake market lower, at US$1.7 billion in 2025 rising to US$2.5 billion by 2032 at a 5.2% CAGR, so the market's size depends on the research house and methodology¹⁹.

India is a standout regional market. IMARC Group values the India milkshake market at INR 8.93 billion in 2025, projected to reach INR 35.57 billion by 2034 at a 16.10% CAGR, driven by urban youth consumption, quick-commerce delivery, and premium brand expansion; chocolate leads flavors at 32.6% of the 2025 market, online stores are the largest distribution channel at 28.4%, and Maharashtra accounts for 16.8% of national revenue¹⁶. Market Research Outlook offers a different sizing, projecting growth from USD 845 million in 2025 to USD 1,490 million by 2032 at an 8.4% CAGR²⁰.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Food, cooking and hospitality › Beverages and drink culture › Soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages › Milk-based and plant/grain drinks

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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