Malts.

Cafe Society
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So every few months I become fixated on one particular food and I have to make it or buy it several times in a row, with differing variations, to find THE BEST. Right now, it’s malts. I loooove malts, although I am lactose intolerant and obviously don’t want to weigh 300 pounds, so I can’t have them that often. I’m sure, like all my other mini-obsessions with certain foods, that in a couple of weeks, this too shall pass, and I’ll make sure to drink nothing but water for three solid months after this. There, now that the guilt is out of the way, where is the best malt?

Here are places I’ve tried lately- I do not want to mess with this at home, not the least because real malt powder is hard to find. I know this due to my recent cheesecake obsession, wherein I wanted a malt cheesecake and had to resort to using an instant fake malt mix.

Johnny Rockets: I find their food to be less than stellar, but their malts are divine. Just right. Superb. Too bad they want to charge 5-6 bucks for them. I’m not paying that.

Sonic: Not nearly as good as JR, it’s still passable. Nice malt flavor, real ice cream, good texture and taste. S’okay and much more reasonably priced.

Carl’s Jr. : After I ordered a chocolate malt I heard one worker ask the other how to make a malt when they’re out of malt mix. I’m still not sure if I got a malt or just a shake, as there was absolutely no malt flavor in it, but maybe that’s how Carl’s malts are?

Whataburger: Their “malts” suck. Period. Their “malt mix” tastes like just so much extra sugar, no malt flavor at all. Probably fake ice cream as well. Very disappointing.
That’s it for my malt experiences here in Tucson- it’s only been a week since my desire has struck.

I know a 25 year-old that claims to never have had a malt- is that common? Are malts going the way of the ice cream soda (which I’ve never had), where pretty soon only old people will remember them?

And what I really want to know- where all the good malts at?

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Not that hard to find, actually.

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Well okay then. Thank you. Mods, please close this thread.

Or not. I still don’t want to make them at home.

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A good malt is hard to find. When I’m on the road, I’m always on the lookout for a decent chocolate malt. I’ve had good ones at chains like Sonic and Dairy Queen in the past, but they’re pretty mediocre nowadays.

The best-tasting malt I ever had was at the soda fountain at Petrified Forest National Park. It was over 100 degrees outside, and I needed a icy cold beverage. I asked the woman behind the counter put an extra scoop of malt in for me, and she said it was no problem. Not only was the malt totally excellent, but it was the first time anyone ever gave me the mixing cup so I could slurp down the extra couple of ounces that didn’t fit into the glass.

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I have two great malts to recommend, but they’re nowhere near Tucson.

First is a Chicagoland sandwich chain called Potbelly’s. They do hand-dipped malts that are amazing. I usually ask for extra malt powder. The chain has been expanding more and more (I think they opened some on the East coast and maybe in Texas) so maybe you’ll get one near you someday.

Second is a restaurant in Evanston, just north of Chicago, called Edzo’s. They do fantastic milkshakes and malts along w/ “upscale” burgers and what not. I say upscale but it’s basically just a counter service burger grill that has taken things to the next level as far as quality and recipes. Anyway, they do a Nutella Malt that will make you see God with each sip.

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I realize you don’t want to make them at home, but I must question the sanity of trusting the preparation of your malty goodness to the skills of the questionable, unwashed, and maltose-ignorant masses*…

My dearly departed dad was always waxing nostalgic for the old corner soda shop that he grew up with in Waukegan, Illinois. As we lived out in the middle of nowhere and hours away from civilization, he used to make malts at home once a month or so. Plain old vanilla ice cream, Carnation Malted Milk powder, Hershey’s chocolate syrup, and a glug of whole milk. His instrument of choice was my mom’s old Osterizer blender, but I <3 my hand blender for such tasks. I’ve tried some fancier flavor combinations, but find it too easy to lose the flavor of the malt or make them too rich, so I’m a bit of a purist.

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Consider me a fellow malt addict.

And I go way beyond the simple addition of malt to a shake (although I do that too). I am lucky being in San Francisco because we have one of those gourmet, co-op grocery stores where I can buy it in bulk and not the awful sugarized Carnation malt powder sold in grocery stores.

When I am feeling especially decadent, I pull a shot of espresso and blend it coffee ice cream, the espresso, a shot of Starbucks liqueur and a whole-lotta-malt. The combination of sweet coffee and malt is a great combination.

On blustery evenings (and tonight feels like one!), I’ll make a little stove-top hot chocolate and add some malt powder.

Lastly, freely stolen from Daniel Patterson’s Coi restaurant (a hoity-toity molecular gastronomy establishment), I heat a small cup of milk and add a ton of malt powder, whipping it lightly for a bedtime aperitif.

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In the Twin Cities go to the 50’s Grill or Annie’s Parlor.

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Here is the best malt in the whole wide world, and it’s under $2. Nom to the infinity power. It’s one of the very, very few things that’s as good as I remember it being when I was a kid, and in fact, the one I had last time I was home was even better than I remembered.

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Oh man, it’s a good thing I don’t live in Kentucky. $2 *good *malts?? I’d be weighing 300+ in no time.

I heard a long time ago that malts make you sleepy. At the risk of raising the ire of those opposed to easily googled questions, is this true? I’ve never noticed it, personally.

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I live in a small town and DQ is all we have. I ask for extra malt.

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I’ve considered going to DQ, but I’m pretty sure that soft-serve “ice cream” would just end up pissing me off.

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For some reaon this invoked laughter out of me. That you’d get pissed off at the simple of concept of soft serve ice cream. Though I agree, soft serve is pseudo-ice cream, it’s just humorous how you worded it.

I must try one of these malts some day. If only someone could give me the locations of a few places in town. :cool:

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We take our ice cream seriously around here, mister!

And yes, you really should try one someday.

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They’re still there? It’s been a few years, but I’ve had one of their malts. CCL doesn’t exaggerate!

A close runner up would have to be the B&K root beer stand of my childhood. They had a black raspberry malt that my mom would always order. After us kids had slurped down our root beer floats, orange slushes or ice cream cones, she’d give us just the teeniest tast of hers. I often wonder why us kids just didn’t order one for ourselves.

A few years ago, I was at an old school drugstore soda fountain in Harrogate, TN and had one of their chocolate malts. It was almost as good as the one from the Big Dipper.

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I definitely need to second Annie’s Parlour - amazing malts and decent burger/fries. Unfortunately, I haven’t been in Dinkytown for a few years.

For those who might consider Dairy Queen, be very careful. Some of their employees are heathens who don’t know the difference between shakes and malts. My brother-in-law has gotten in the practice of ordering extra malt powder just to make sure that they put some in there in the first place.

And now, thanks to this thread, I’m now dying for a butterscotch malt, with absolutely no way to get one tonight!

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I used to order a Chocolate Malted with Chocolate Fudge ice cream at Baskin Robbins.
It was pretty hard to beat.

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D’oh! Baskin Robbins! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. I’ll definitely have to try theirs soon.

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Woodward’s. I always got a chocolate malt if I was a good girl on shopping trips with my mother. Sniff. Both Woodward’s and my mother have passed on.

However, you are not alone in the malt love. We have a jar of malt in the cupboard, just to make a chocolate malt at home. Yum!

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If you try Baskin Robbins, as a long-ago employee (2648 E Speedway location), the best malt I ever made and tasted was:
French Vanilla ice cream, Hot Fudge sauce as the syrup, malt powder.

I recommend a local place, 5 & Diner
4520 N. Stone Avenue, across from the Tucson Mall

It’s where I would have suggested we meet for coffee last year, had you ever called back to set a time.