Are milkshakes and frappes the same thing? If you ask that question in New England, the answer is a resounding no. The rest of the country might call a blended drink made of milk, ice cream, and syrup a milkshake, but they’re wrong. That’s a frappe. If you walk into Amherst, NH, restaurants—or restaurants anywhere in New England—and ask for a milkshake, don’t be surprised if they ask you, “Do you mean a frappe?” But some restaurants around here sell milkshakes, too, so what’s the difference?

Let us answer the most important question facing Amherst NH restaurants.

So what’s a milkshake?

If you ask anyone outside of New England, they will tell you that it involves ice cream. But, as we all know, they would be wrong. Well, within New England, at least. Here, what we call a milkshake actually lives up to its name. The ingredients are milk and syrup, end of list. If anyone dares to ask if that’s just chocolate milk, you can tell them, no, don’t be silly. It’s a milkshake. You shake it until the milk forms a frothy head.

Why do we call it a frappe?

Nobody knows why, really. Milkshakes, containing only milk and syrup, started to appear on menus in the 1890s. By the 1920s, ice cream became a common ingredient, but there was no change to the name. Everyone, except New Englanders, still called it a milkshake. And no one can quite figure out where our name for the drink with ice cream—frappe—came from. Briefly, milkshakes with ice cream were called “frosted milkshakes,” but that didn’t last very long.

Many people theorize that we have the French Canadians to thank for the word frappe. In the first half of the 20th century, New England, especially NH and MA, was full of French Canadians whose first language was French. In French, frappé refers to a frozen juice mixture, similar in consistency to a frappe. It’s possible that restaurants dropped the accent to make the word easier to pronounce for non-French speakers. But that’s just one guess, and it may or may not be true.

Whatever You Call It, Enjoy One at Amherst NH Restaurants

Whether you call it a milkshake or you call it the right name, the perfect place to enjoy a frappe is at Amherst, NH, restaurants. And if you come to Bentley’s Roast Beef, you can try one of our extra thick frappes.

Visit us at 134 NH-101A in Amherst. Contact us at (603) 883-2020 or order online!