Why Australians Have Two Words for a Shake
Order a milkshake in the US and you'll get something thick, because a milkshake there is, by default, blended with ice cream. Australia went a different way. Here, the milk bar became the home of the shake, and those shakes were usually served lightly whipped, often in the aluminium or stainless steel cups they were mixed in. That frothy, drinkable style kept the name "milkshake", so the ice-cream-loaded version needed a name of its own: the thickshake.
It's why visitors from overseas are sometimes surprised when their "milkshake" turns up as cold flavoured milk with a foamy top. Nothing has gone wrong. They've just ordered the Aussie classic instead of the thick one.
So What Actually Makes a Thickshake Thick?
Mostly, the ice cream. The more ice cream goes into the blend and the less milk, the thicker and creamier the shake. A milkshake leans the other way: more milk, a lighter body and plenty of froth on top. Both use the same flavours, so the choice comes down to texture and how hungry you are.
- Milkshake:lighter, frothy and quick to drink. A good match with a burger when you don't want dessert in a glass.
- Thickshake:dense, rich and slow. Basically a dessert you drink, and the reason the diner's shakes get described as "so thick you'll need a spoon".
You'll also see frappes on our menu. Those are blended icy drinks in flavours like cappuccino, mocha and choc hazelnut, and you can add cream. If you want fruit instead of ice cream, the smoothies are blended cold and come in a long list of fruity flavours.
What Is Malt in a Milkshake?
"Add malt" means a spoonful of malted milk powder blended through your shake. Malted milk powder is a mixture of evaporated milk, malted barley and wheat flour, first sold as a health drink before soda fountains in America worked out it tasted great in a shake. A malted shake, or simply a "malt", became a soda-fountain staple and one of the classic orders of the diner era.
Malt adds a toasty, slightly nutty, biscuity flavour and a little extra body. It works especially well with chocolate, vanilla, caramel and butterscotch. At the diner, "add malt" is an option on any milkshake or thickshake.
Avoiding gluten?Skip the malt. It's made from barley and wheat, and Coeliac Australia's gluten free diet guide lists barley malt extract as not suitable. Ask us at the counter about anything else in your order.
Our Milkshake & Thickshake Flavours
Milkshakes and thickshakes share one flavour list at the diner, so you can have any of these either way (regular or tall · add malt):
- Chocolate
- Iced Coffee
- Strawberry
- Choc Lime
- Honey Comb
- Butterscotch
- Spearmint
- Blue Heaven
- Cookies & Cream
- Peanut Butter & Choc
- Pineapple
- Lime
- Mango
- Banana
- Caramel
- Vanilla
The one people rave about is the butterscotch thickshake. If you grew up with milk bars, the spearmint, lime and blue heaven are pure nostalgia, and spearmint and lime are flavours that took off in Australia in particular. The full list is on our menu, and prices are on the menu board in store.
How to Order the Shake You Actually Want
- Pick the texture:say "thickshake" for thick and spoonable, "milkshake" for light and frothy.
- Pick the size: regular or tall.
- Pick the flavour, and add malt if you like that old soda fountain taste.
Still can't decide? Get a milkshake with your burger and come back for a thickshake as dessert. Or skip both and try the other milk-bar classic, a spider drink: a scoop of ice cream in fizzy soft drink. Shakes are part of the takeaway menu too, so you can take one for the road.
