Acoffee cabinet is anice cream-basedmilkshake popular inRhode Island consisting of coffee ice cream, coffee syrup, andmilk. The ingredients are mixed in a drink blender ormilkshake blender.[1]
Among the famous Rhode Island creameries which serve them are Delekta Pharmacy inWarren, and the Original Vanilla Bean inSouth Kingstown.Newport Creamery, a chain of family restaurants found almost exclusively in Rhode Island, serve a variation of cabinets made withice milk under the brand name "Awful Awful".[2] A cabinet is often referred to elsewhere inNew England as afrappe.
The earliest known reference to the Coffee Cabinet was published inThe Spatula in 1903:[3]
A drink that has become the most popular is "Coffee Cabinet," consisting of coffee syrup, egg, plain cream, ice cream, and shaved ice, thoroughly shaken. The coarse stream of soda is drawn and the drink is strained. This has often been called a meal in itself.
As withdowncity, theetymology of this term is unknown. One common, but unsubstantiated, explanation is that thesoda jerk or pharmacist kept the coffee syrup in one of the polished wooden cabinets behind the counter.[4] It has also been theorized by some that the name was a variation on a drink known as theRoyal Cabinet, anegg cream first popularized in Chicago.[5]
