DRINKS: The Hummer Milkshake

Everyone deserves a cheeky treat, but what about a cheeky adult milkshake?! 

The Hummer milkshake, which has nothing to do with the vehicle it shares it's name with, is considered one of the iconic dishes/drinks to hail from Detroit at least according to Eater. Alongside the Coney Dog, the Boston Cooler, the Last Word and the Detroit style pizza, the Hummer came out of the Motor City in the late 1960's.  

There are stories around these parts of how this milkshake cocktail came to be especially old local tales of who actually concocted the drink. Back in 2001, the MetroTimes shared the original story, of Jerome Adams, bartender for the Bayview Yacht Club, who in 1968 was charged with coming up with a new crowd pleasing beverage. After messing and mixing with all the liquors one can find in a typical bar, Adams found the most pleasing mix came from kahula, rum and what would you know, ice cream. 

It became an instant hit. 

With yacht members sailing and traveling the world, they asked clueless bartenders for Hummers - a cocktail that got it's name by the way because well, as one of the original testers described it as being a drink that makes you "want to hum".  Perplexed bartenders rang the Bayview for the recipe and the rest as they say, is history. 

I have to admit to not knowing either about the Hummer or it's Detroit roots until coming across the Eater Detroit article, but seeing the Mercury Bar was the place offering them, well a return trip was in order. As it happens the Mercury Bar, over in Corktown is my favorite place in Detroit for burgers, so it was a double win. 

But if you can't get to the Mercury Bar for yourself (somewhere I highly, highly recommend) you can always make yourself one;

• 1 1/2 ounces of rum
• 1 1/2 ounces of Kahula
• 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
• Couple of ice cubes

Blend together and serve with whipped cream for the top!

If you're luckily enough to live in the area, I can't recommend The Mercury enough - for milkshakes or for burgers!

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 Mercury Bar

2163 Michigan Ave,

Detroit, MI

 

Ever had a hummer?