Kent's Famous "Long Island Milkshake" Mixed Drink Recipe

by
H. Kent Craig
©1999




Many moons ago, way back in the last decade of decadence - the 1970's, the year 1979 to be exact, The Great State Of North Carolina decided to join the twentieth century's social customs and mores if somewhat belatedly and pass "liquor by the drink" legislation.


Up until then, one could not buy a mixed drink in a restaurant or public bar. The only way to be served a cognac at the Angus Barn Steakhouse was to go to a state-run liquor store (there still aren't any privately-owned liquor stores in NC), buy a fifth of whatever cognac they may have in stock at the time, then "brown bag" it in a $.01 paper sack into the Angus Barn to be served by the restaurant staff with your $100.00 steak dinner. You could, of course, find mixed drinks if you wanted them, but only at illegal "liquor houses" or "shot houses", or at so-called "private clubs" such as the Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge, assorted biker-type bars, etc.


Defining the hypocrisy which makes politics politics and satisfies virtually no one which is the art of true compromise, North Carolina decided that they would allow public sale of mixed drinks in restaurants, but only if total gross sales were at least 51% food. If alcohol sales exceeded 49% of gross cash register receipts at any time, the restaurant would literally have to quit selling booze and sell only food until the food receipts again exceeded 51%.


Into this curious mix of changing cultural phenomena I thrust myself with all deliberation, deciding I wanted to be a bartender as well as keeping my "day job" working for my father's plumbing contracting firm, so I signed up for the first class of the first local bartending academy, the "International Bartenders Institute" in nearby Durham N.C., which had set up shop almost the next day after the liquor-by-the-drink legislation had passed. There being a much greater demand for bartenders than supply, I had my pick of jobs after "graduation" from my two week course, and on the first interview I found the place and the people I wanted to work for, The Leprechaun Lounge at the Downtowner Inn in downtown Durham, North Carolina.


The Downtowner's restaurant as well as its adjacent bar, "The Leprechaun Lounge", were run by a Mr. Robert J. McClane, a former PGA golf professional who got into restaurant management after his golf career ended. My nighttime home for the next year was called The Leprechaun Lounge because the managing partner for the Downtowner Inn was a certain Mr. O'Keefe, an emigre Irish national, and one of the most fascinating and honest men I have ever known. At my first night as Leprechaun's new bartender/manager, he and I got accidentally got into a trivia "cutting heads contest, and he gave up when I answered his question: "how many staves in a barrel of Guiness (beer)?", the answer being forty-two.


Between Mr. O'Keefe and Bob McClane, I learned the bar business over the next year from two very knowledgeable, professional, and courtly gentelmen, gentlemen in the truest sense of the word.


The Downtowner Inn also was also home to one of the three "Rice Diet" programs being run by Duke University, and because of that was a magnet for rich, famous, and beautiful people from all over the world. Since anywhere from a quarter to a third of the Downtowner's resident population at any moment were those enrolled in Dr. Stuelke's version of the Duke U. Rice Diet, obviously a good number of my regular patrons at the 'Leprechaun were "Ricers". Within a month of my beginning employment as Leprechaun's barman, I started getting repeated requests for a mixed drink that was full of alcohol but didn't taste like it, since alcohol was forbidden by the Rice Diet plan and the "patients" didn't want to feel like they were blatantly cheating too much if they had a cocktail or two. From their requests, I came up with my "Long Island Milkshake" recipe, a variant on the well-known "Long Island Iced Tea" mixed drink.


Caution! : this drink contain four full shots of high-proof alcohol, but doesn't taste like it has any alcohol at all hardly. It will flat put you on your butt, or at least make your legs wobbly if you're not very careful . . . you have been warned, Smile!


The Ingredients





The Recipe


Into a large blender cup, add the ice, the sugar cubes, the shot of creme de cacao, the vanilla extract if you'd like, and the cream or Half & Half; then hit the "mix" button on the blender for no more than 5-10 seconds. Then add the alcoholic beverages in no particular order, then hit the "frappe" or "whip" button on the blender for 15-20 seconds, or until you can see that all the ingredients are well-blended, but before you over-blend and start the ice melting too fast. Serve in a tall pre-chilled Tom Collins or similar tall iced-tea glass, no garnish required, serve with a large-diameter straw. Enjoy!




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