Coffee Silk, Coffee Milk
A thwarted journey and a friend’s obsession got me thinking about coffee milk recently.
Until Skybus abruptly folded its wings, Tim, Cass and I planned to go to Rhode Island. There were other places on the itinerary, too. But my literary idol H.P. “I am Providence” Lovecraft identified so strongly with his hometown and state that it was all Rhode Island to my mind….
And Rhode Island loves its coffee milk, so much that in 1993 it made it the official state drink.
Just what is coffee milk? Quahog.org has the answer: “Coffee milk is simply milk mixed with coffee syrup.” This excellent Web site on all things Rhode Island also has a detailed history of coffee milk, suggestions for mail-order sources of coffee syrup, and a recipe for people who want to make their own coffee syrup at home. All it takes is coffee, water and sugar. Put your coffee syrup in soymilk, and it’s suitable for vegans.
But the coffee-milk connection lay dormant in my mind until another friend, Craig, asked about coffee-flavored Silk soymilk. Craig is a connoisseur of coffee drinks, such as Mr. Brown’s Iced Coffee from Taiwan. The coffee-flavored Silk turns out to be quite pleasant – it’s smooth and tasty, and it seems to pack a bit of caffeine, too.
Finally, consider the “coffee cabinet.” As What’s Cooking America explains, “When ice cream is added, Coffee Milk is called a ‘Coffee Cabinet’ or ‘Coffee Cab.’ In other words, a ‘cabinet’ is a local term for a ‘frappe’ which is a regional term for an ice cream milk shake. It is though to be called a ‘cabinet’ because it unknown originator kept his blender in a kitchen cabinet. Also mixers were often stored in square wooden cabinets.”
So, though we may not make it to Little Rhody anytime soon, let’s raise a toast (of coffee milk, of course) to its culinary quirks.
