The Deal

• $12 for two Groupons, each good for $10 worth of ice cream ($20 value)

Malted Milkshakes: The Whiskey Cocktail’s G-Rated Counterpart

Here, you can get your milkshake regular or malted. To find out just what the latter style involves, read on.

Although its flavor may be a little hard to place—mellow and nutty, not quite like anything else in the world of desserts—a malted milkshake has a simple recipe: milk, vanilla ice cream, and malted milk powder. On its own, malted milk powder is light yellow in color and naturally sweet (from evaporated whole milk) and slightly gritty (from wheat flour). The key ingredient, however, is malted barley—the same stuff that’s used to make beer and whiskey, which is created when barley is allowed to sprout before being oven-dried.

Slurp Your Medicine

Malt powder was originally marketed in the 1800s as a health supplement for babies, who weren’t yet old enough to experience the nourishing effects of an Old Fashioned. It does contain nutrients such as vitamin A and riboflavin, but a major benefit was simply that it made home remedies such as cod-liver oil more palatable. Given its quasi-medical history, it’s not surprising that malt powder became part of a classic dessert at drugstore soda fountains. Early versions of the drink were made with regular milk and chocolate syrup, but in 1922 a Walgreens soda jerk named Ivar “Pop” Coulson thought to toss in some ice cream around the time the electric blender debuted. Walgreens’ original recipe called for “a generous portion of whipped topping” on top and a “package of fountain treat cookies” on the side.