19 April 2016

Five to try: Milkshakes

| Bec Cuzzillo
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When the Patissez “Freakshakes” exploded over social media last year, Canberra suddenly became known for more than just politics, porn and fireworks. We were now home of the “Freakshake” and people came from far and wide to try one.

While Patissez might have made Canberra the milkshake capital of the world, there are a few other cafes around town that are also known for their deliciously decadent milkshakes. In no particular order, here are a few that I know about.

5. Patissez

Let’s start with the obvious. The milkshakes that broke the internet last year are famous for being over the top, rich and literally dripping with some sort of decadent sauce. Now with a new store in the City, as well as their original Manuka location, there are two venues you can indulge in one of the milkshakes that made Canberra famous. Find out more: patissez.com.au

4. Fox and Bow

Photo credit: @michaeladacosta

Photo credit: @michaeladacosta

Located at the Farrer shops, Fox and Bow is one of Canberra’s best suburban cafes known for serving up good food alongside a range of juices, smoothies and, of course, milkshakes. Their shakes are delicious and have fun names too, like The Kimye – a white choc, caramel fudge shake with chocolate gelato and complete with sparkly sprinkles, just like a Kardashian would like it. Find out more: www.foxandbow.com.au

3. The Cupping Room

Cupping Room

Photo credit: @sabrinalovebear

The Cupping Room’s salted caramel and popcorn milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. Yes, their main jam is coffee, but their “King Shakes”, as they call them, have been a feature of their menu ever since they opened. If salted caramel isn’t your thing (really?), they also have dark choc and mint or pistachio and chamomile on their current menu. Find out more: www.thecuppingroom.com.au

2. Penny University

Photo credit: @enjoyingaustralia

Photo credit: @enjoyingaustralia

My favourite thing about the milkshakes at Penny University is how creative they are. On a previous menu, Penny had a shake that came with pop rocks stuck to the rim of the glass – it was like a party in your mouth before you even got to the shake. With their current menu, you’ve got the choice between strawberry rhubarb & ginger crumble, salted caramel, banana & walnut, and mango passionfruit cheesecake. I’ll take one of each, thanks. Find out more: pennyuniversitycafe.com

1. Double Shot

Photo credit: @ds_doubleshotdeakin

Photo credit: @ds_doubleshotdeakin

At first glance of the menu, Double Shot’s milkshakes don’t appear to be anything that special. They’ve gone with the classics – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, caramel – nothing too out of the ordinary. Sometimes I just feel like a down to earth classic shake with a flavour I know and trust. However, that’s not why I included them on this list. The fact is, they do the classics oh so well. Served in one of their signature jars, the Double Shot shakes are deliciously decadent. And if you’re feeling adventurous, you can even upgrade to a thickshake. Find out more: doubleshotdeakin.com.au

This is however by no means an exhaustive list of Canberra’s best milkshakes and I’d love to hear from you – where do you go for a milkshake in town?

Read more from Bec Cuzzillo at her website: www.inexplicablewanderlust.com

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GardeningGirl said :

The metal milkshake cups with stripy straws, yes, those were milkshakes, good memories.

A few years ago, I had an amazing “thickshake” at the Central Cafe in Queanbeyan. In an old style, tall metal cup. Just milk and ice cream. The straw actually stood up in the middle – it was so thick – but not too thick. The metal cup was very cold and there was condensation on the outside. It was a (unhealthy) meal in itself – on a stinking hot day. Best milkshake I’ve ever had. It doesn’t need to be served in small jars/cups,with lashings of cream, toppings, sauces or nuts, to be good.

GardeningGirl7:18 pm 03 Mar 16

miz said :

You can hardly call those monstrosities ‘milk shakes’!
Best milkshake I ever had was years ago at a milk bar in Mittagong as a child (after getting out of a hot car en route to Sydney) – it was ice cold and came in one of those huge metal milkshake cups and was frothy and ice creamy but drinkable through the stripy straw. Simple pleasures . . . and no ghastly Nutella in sight!

The metal milkshake cups with stripy straws, yes, those were milkshakes, good memories. 🙂

You can hardly call those monstrosities ‘milk shakes’!
Best milkshake I ever had was years ago at a milk bar in Mittagong as a child (after getting out of a hot car en route to Sydney) – it was ice cold and came in one of those huge metal milkshake cups and was frothy and ice creamy but drinkable through the stripy straw. Simple pleasures . . . and no ghastly Nutella in sight!

GardeningGirl10:55 pm 26 Feb 16

Mysteryman said :

I couldn’t agree more. I tried Patissez (what’s the deal with that name?!) and thought the *milk* part of the shake was awful. Runny, flavourless. The price was adding insult to injury. Of the ones listed, I think Cupping Room is by far the best. Thick, excellent flavour, and easy to drink/eat. The others suffer far too much from style over substance.

I’m sick to death of mason jars, too. They are NOT easier to consume a milkshake out of than a regular glass. The opening is too small, and too much gets stuck on the crevices around the jar. PITA.

Runny, flavourless, style over substance, I was afraid of that, I’d rather a good simple milkshake than a mediocre milkshake with a whole lot of fancy enhancements. Nevertheless I probably would have tried one for myself just to see what all the fuss is about but mason jars completely put me off.

I’m with those who’re fans of the old fashioned milkshake, in an aluminium beaker, couple of scoops of ice cream and a generous squirt of flavor. The thickshakes that emerged during the 1960s were wonderful too! The overdressed sticky confections look great and are okay but they’re more affectation IMHO.

The best one of those I’ve experienced were at a coffee place in Mitchell Street, Darwin, called Confetti’s. They had a range of them, the best and most decadent of which was their Copper Jamaica. Sensational. Sadly it’s been 14 years since I was there and I don’t know if Confetti’s still exists.

Maya123 said :

Kalliste said :

While I’m not crazy about the current trend of overflowing mason jars filled with overpriced shake (how do you drink/eat it? And how do you avoid getting your fingers all sticky?) I still believe a good shake should definitely be thick and full of icecream. My straw better be able to stand up on its own in my shake otherwise it’s a let down and not a true thick shake (obviously this only applies if I’ve bought a thickshake somewhere and it came out like chocolate milk).

Of the 5 suggested I think the Patissez one look the least appealing but would be willing to try Fox and Bow and Double Shot.

I recently tried an Oreo shake from Dobinsons that was pretty good. It was in a mason jar but it wasn’t over the top, just a few mini oreos on top. Easy to drink and tasty.

I also like the mega sized thick shakes from Kingston and Co. in Belconnen, Praga in Dickson and This Cafe in Gungahlin (when it was open), nothing fancy but very delicious. Also the cookieshake from Mrs Fields in Belconnen is quite good for a milkshake (given the $8 price tag I would expect them to be thickshakes though) which include 2 of their cookies blended into it (you get to choose which 2).

As for the suggestion that a good milkshake has skim milk, a bit of syrup and a bit of icecream, I’d feel so disappointed if that is what came out to me when I bought a shake. For one, skim milk makes it so bubbly that I feel like I’m just drinking air, don’t you end up with a stomach ache after drinking them? They also always seem to end up warm like Maya mentioned. I’d prefer more icecream than I can handle and a lovely cold shake.

Other good places (to me) are:
Goodberrys – Chocolate thickshake, with Oreo if you are keen
Caffe Cherry Bean (Gungahlin seems to be best) – Chocolate frappe (not quite a shake but still tasty)
Burger Hero – gelato shake, well priced and you choose the flavours
Gelatissimo – Super shake! you choose 4 scoops of gelato.. it wasn’t thick enough for my liking though (even though it had all that gelato) but it tasted good.. perhaps not $9 good though
San Churro – Dark chocolate and Hazelnut milkshake, I had one of these today and it was pretty good. Definitely more of a milkshake than a thickshake though.
The Knox in Watson – the choc mint and cookies and cream shakes are great!

I could probably go on forever, so I might stop there 😛 Hopefully someone else finds some shakespiration.

“As for the suggestion that a good milkshake has skim milk, a bit of syrup and a bit of icecream, I’d feel so disappointed if that is what came out to me when I bought a shake. For one, skim milk makes it so bubbly that I feel like I’m just drinking air, don’t you end up with a stomach ache after drinking them?”

Um, no, never had a stomach ache from skim milk, but a thick shake is both not refreshing when thirsty and uncomfortably too filling. I would also rather have skim milk which tastes better to me than milk with too much cream, but also because less of it adds to the body fat. How much of the daily intake of fat does one of those above milkshakes have?
I make milkshakes as part of a volunteer job and we use low fat milk (the full cream and skim milk choices were got rid of to simplify the situation – I don’t make these decisions), and unfortunately the added ice ream too. When we used to have ice cream to add (low fat milk had always been the standard) the compliments were frequent. “These are the best milkshakes in town.” I have to admit without a bit of ice cream, I don’t think they are any longer. However, because our milkshakes are cold (milk stored in fridge and the glasses in the freezer), I have still not had a better elsewhere, and NEVER one as cold. It’s simple to serve an ice cold milkshake, so why can’t most cafes manage it?

If you’re choosing to have a milkshake, surely you’re choosing it as a treat – why would you be thinking about adding to body fat if what you’re choosing to ingest is milk and sugar?

Mysteryman said :

I tried Patissez (what’s the deal with that name?!)

That’s exactly what I thought when the Tuggeranong Hyperdome first opened and one of the original tenants was announced as being a shoe shop called “The Athlete’s Foot”.

More recently, i saw this business name, the effect of which – to me – is like I’ve snagged a bit of my brain on a barbed-wire fence:
http://6ixty.com.au/shop/

Jardeath said :

+1 for the cupping room. You can basically get 2 here for the price of 1 at Patissez in the city, so it’s probably my preferred choice. The shake is better at the cupping room in my opinion.

I’ve had a shake from Patissez once in the city, it was alright, the actual shake component that you drink was below average in my opinion but the decorative stuff on top was nice, considering the high price I probably wont be going back.

I couldn’t agree more. I tried Patissez (what’s the deal with that name?!) and thought the *milk* part of the shake was awful. Runny, flavourless. The price was adding insult to injury. Of the ones listed, I think Cupping Room is by far the best. Thick, excellent flavour, and easy to drink/eat. The others suffer far too much from style over substance.

I’m sick to death of mason jars, too. They are NOT easier to consume a milkshake out of than a regular glass. The opening is too small, and too much gets stuck on the crevices around the jar. PITA.

Kalliste said :

While I’m not crazy about the current trend of overflowing mason jars filled with overpriced shake (how do you drink/eat it? And how do you avoid getting your fingers all sticky?) I still believe a good shake should definitely be thick and full of icecream. My straw better be able to stand up on its own in my shake otherwise it’s a let down and not a true thick shake (obviously this only applies if I’ve bought a thickshake somewhere and it came out like chocolate milk).

Of the 5 suggested I think the Patissez one look the least appealing but would be willing to try Fox and Bow and Double Shot.

I recently tried an Oreo shake from Dobinsons that was pretty good. It was in a mason jar but it wasn’t over the top, just a few mini oreos on top. Easy to drink and tasty.

I also like the mega sized thick shakes from Kingston and Co. in Belconnen, Praga in Dickson and This Cafe in Gungahlin (when it was open), nothing fancy but very delicious. Also the cookieshake from Mrs Fields in Belconnen is quite good for a milkshake (given the $8 price tag I would expect them to be thickshakes though) which include 2 of their cookies blended into it (you get to choose which 2).

As for the suggestion that a good milkshake has skim milk, a bit of syrup and a bit of icecream, I’d feel so disappointed if that is what came out to me when I bought a shake. For one, skim milk makes it so bubbly that I feel like I’m just drinking air, don’t you end up with a stomach ache after drinking them? They also always seem to end up warm like Maya mentioned. I’d prefer more icecream than I can handle and a lovely cold shake.

Other good places (to me) are:
Goodberrys – Chocolate thickshake, with Oreo if you are keen
Caffe Cherry Bean (Gungahlin seems to be best) – Chocolate frappe (not quite a shake but still tasty)
Burger Hero – gelato shake, well priced and you choose the flavours
Gelatissimo – Super shake! you choose 4 scoops of gelato.. it wasn’t thick enough for my liking though (even though it had all that gelato) but it tasted good.. perhaps not $9 good though
San Churro – Dark chocolate and Hazelnut milkshake, I had one of these today and it was pretty good. Definitely more of a milkshake than a thickshake though.
The Knox in Watson – the choc mint and cookies and cream shakes are great!

I could probably go on forever, so I might stop there 😛 Hopefully someone else finds some shakespiration.

“As for the suggestion that a good milkshake has skim milk, a bit of syrup and a bit of icecream, I’d feel so disappointed if that is what came out to me when I bought a shake. For one, skim milk makes it so bubbly that I feel like I’m just drinking air, don’t you end up with a stomach ache after drinking them?”

Um, no, never had a stomach ache from skim milk, but a thick shake is both not refreshing when thirsty and uncomfortably too filling. I would also rather have skim milk which tastes better to me than milk with too much cream, but also because less of it adds to the body fat. How much of the daily intake of fat does one of those above milkshakes have?
I make milkshakes as part of a volunteer job and we use low fat milk (the full cream and skim milk choices were got rid of to simplify the situation – I don’t make these decisions), and unfortunately the added ice ream too. When we used to have ice cream to add (low fat milk had always been the standard) the compliments were frequent. “These are the best milkshakes in town.” I have to admit without a bit of ice cream, I don’t think they are any longer. However, because our milkshakes are cold (milk stored in fridge and the glasses in the freezer), I have still not had a better elsewhere, and NEVER one as cold. It’s simple to serve an ice cold milkshake, so why can’t most cafes manage it?

While I’m not crazy about the current trend of overflowing mason jars filled with overpriced shake (how do you drink/eat it? And how do you avoid getting your fingers all sticky?) I still believe a good shake should definitely be thick and full of icecream. My straw better be able to stand up on its own in my shake otherwise it’s a let down and not a true thick shake (obviously this only applies if I’ve bought a thickshake somewhere and it came out like chocolate milk).

Of the 5 suggested I think the Patissez one look the least appealing but would be willing to try Fox and Bow and Double Shot.

I recently tried an Oreo shake from Dobinsons that was pretty good. It was in a mason jar but it wasn’t over the top, just a few mini oreos on top. Easy to drink and tasty.

I also like the mega sized thick shakes from Kingston and Co. in Belconnen, Praga in Dickson and This Cafe in Gungahlin (when it was open), nothing fancy but very delicious. Also the cookieshake from Mrs Fields in Belconnen is quite good for a milkshake (given the $8 price tag I would expect them to be thickshakes though) which include 2 of their cookies blended into it (you get to choose which 2).

As for the suggestion that a good milkshake has skim milk, a bit of syrup and a bit of icecream, I’d feel so disappointed if that is what came out to me when I bought a shake. For one, skim milk makes it so bubbly that I feel like I’m just drinking air, don’t you end up with a stomach ache after drinking them? They also always seem to end up warm like Maya mentioned. I’d prefer more icecream than I can handle and a lovely cold shake.

Other good places (to me) are:
Goodberrys – Chocolate thickshake, with Oreo if you are keen
Caffe Cherry Bean (Gungahlin seems to be best) – Chocolate frappe (not quite a shake but still tasty)
Burger Hero – gelato shake, well priced and you choose the flavours
Gelatissimo – Super shake! you choose 4 scoops of gelato.. it wasn’t thick enough for my liking though (even though it had all that gelato) but it tasted good.. perhaps not $9 good though
San Churro – Dark chocolate and Hazelnut milkshake, I had one of these today and it was pretty good. Definitely more of a milkshake than a thickshake though.
The Knox in Watson – the choc mint and cookies and cream shakes are great!

I could probably go on forever, so I might stop there 😛 Hopefully someone else finds some shakespiration.

TuggLife said :

Maya123 said :

I want a milkshake to be a drink, not a meal as those in the photographs. Actually, they gross me out and I lose my appetite just by looking at them.
The best milkshake for me is cold (too many are served too warm), skim milk, which froths the best, one squirt of flavour, so it’s refreshing rather than syrupy and a bit of icecream. Ideally the glass should have been stored in the freezer, so it is cold; not still warm from the dishwasher, as I think, by the number of not cold enough milkshakes I have been served, must happen.

No thickshakes thank you.

I agree wholeheartedly. And I refuse to drink anything that comes in a Mason jar – or pay $9+ for a milkshake.

For me, it’s a chocolate milkshake made with skim milk, a little ice-cream and squirt or two chocolate syrup (and then actually mixed, not artfully stuck around the outside). Add some ground-up Flake on top, serve it very cold, and it’s perfect.

I don’t understand the mason jar hate. They hold a lot, and more than that, they’re easy to hold in your hand. And multipurpose!

I personally like thickshakes, but I like them to be contained within the glass/jar in which they are served. I don’t like this trend of overflowing, sticky monstrosities. Interesting flavour combinations are welcome, but too much stuff sitting on top of the shake doesn’t really appeal. Also, if you’re going to Double Shot, I’d recommend the peanut butter smoothie over the milkshakes. It’s a delight, and although it’s made with almond milk and is therefore friendly towards those of us who can’t have dairy, it doesn’t taste like it’s made with alternative milk products.

Consumer perception is “The Thing”.

So the message here is Lotsa since the notion of quality, taste and the totally ignored health is going right over the customers’ heads.

Mason jars frankly make me burst out laughing and having tasted the usual contents act as a warning not an encouragement.

Marketing to the unwise fat who can’t understand how they got that way but figure that more is better.

Maya123 said :

I want a milkshake to be a drink, not a meal as those in the photographs. Actually, they gross me out and I lose my appetite just by looking at them.
The best milkshake for me is cold (too many are served too warm), skim milk, which froths the best, one squirt of flavour, so it’s refreshing rather than syrupy and a bit of icecream. Ideally the glass should have been stored in the freezer, so it is cold; not still warm from the dishwasher, as I think, by the number of not cold enough milkshakes I have been served, must happen.

No thickshakes thank you.

I agree wholeheartedly. And I refuse to drink anything that comes in a Mason jar – or pay $9+ for a milkshake.

For me, it’s a chocolate milkshake made with skim milk, a little ice-cream and squirt or two chocolate syrup (and then actually mixed, not artfully stuck around the outside). Add some ground-up Flake on top, serve it very cold, and it’s perfect.

Please don’t tell me that you ate that plate of chips with one of those Fox & Bow smoothies! Just not possible surely …

I want a milkshake to be a drink, not a meal as those in the photographs. Actually, they gross me out and I lose my appetite just by looking at them.
The best milkshake for me is cold (too many are served too warm), skim milk, which froths the best, one squirt of flavour, so it’s refreshing rather than syrupy and a bit of icecream. Ideally the glass should have been stored in the freezer, so it is cold; not still warm from the dishwasher, as I think, by the number of not cold enough milkshakes I have been served, must happen.

No thickshakes thank you.

runtheredlight10:36 am 24 Feb 16

Bit weird that you start off acknowledging that everyone knows about Patissez, suggest that you’re about to present five “other” cafes, then talk about Patissez anyway…

I miss the Cupping Room’s lavender shake :'(

+1 for the cupping room. You can basically get 2 here for the price of 1 at Patissez in the city, so it’s probably my preferred choice. The shake is better at the cupping room in my opinion.

I’ve had a shake from Patissez once in the city, it was alright, the actual shake component that you drink was below average in my opinion but the decorative stuff on top was nice, considering the high price I probably wont be going back.

Surprisingly, the fish shack in the city does fairly decent shakes too (make sure you select extra ice cream!) with a large range of flavours, and also online ordering!

I recently tried a shake from Dobinsons in the city and that was good too, I’d go again.

I recently went to Wellington in NZ and their shake game is on a whole different level to Canberra, to the point where I’d consider moving there just for superior shakes. Hopefully there’s an epic shake I’ve yet to try in Canberra that someone else can mention here. Something that is insanely thick with a ton of ice cream, with possibly brownie or oreo options…

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