It’s just not summer without a few good milkshakes. Krema’s Hot & Spicy Peanut Butter Shake needs to be on every shortlist.
Sure, it doesn’t look like much. There’s no whipped cream or drizzle of some exotic syrup. It’s served, without glamour, in a classic paper cup.
But when it comes to this particular milkshake, looks can be deceiving.
The magic starts with the process. You can watch as the counter team packs scoop after scoop of cool vanilla ice cream into the cup. There’s no scrimping. Before the milk is added to fill in the crevices, the ice cream climbs a good 1.5 inches higher than the top of the cup.
This particular ratio of ice cream to milk yields an uncommonly thick shake. Forget about stirring it, it doesn’t move. You have to work hard to transport it up through the straw, but that’s part of the joy, no?
At some point in the blending process, several globs of Krema’s Hot & Spicy Peanut Butter are thrown into the mix. It gives the shake a pleasant peanut-y aroma, and disperses into teeny little dots of flavor in the cool, creamy landscape.
And it’s this addition that makes the shake so very un-skippable. The concoction is two shakes in one. Each mouthful provides two very distinct, very different flavor experiences. At first, it’s a cool and soothing, sweet vanilla shake. Then that sensation fades, and a mild burning peanuty heat takes over. The beginning and the end are exquisitely different, which means you never tire of the flavor: slurp after slurp, the spicy and the sweet alternate.
While the shake is the subject of this particular discussion, the whole Krema experience is pretty noteworthy. The same counter that creates the milkshakes also makes sundaes and a menu of peanut-butter based sandwiches including Orangecicle (with orange-apricot preserves) and Peanut Butter Apple Cheesecake (which includes honey-nut cream cheese and some apple preserves).
You can find it all at Krema Nut Company (1000 Goodale Blvd). For more info, visit www.krema.com.