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Eggnog not your cup of tea? Try this Detroit cocktail instead!

It’s the original adult milkshake

My family and I are not giant fans of eggnog, but one drink I do remember my parents making is a Hummer. It’s the original adult milkshake comprised of ice cream and coffee-flavored booze. Like an alcoholic Frappuccino. I think it stuck in my memory so much because it was a milkshake I was not allowed to have. Now, while this drink is not kid-friendly, it is very easy to make and all you need is ice, vanilla ice cream, Kahlua, and light rum.

Little did I know at the time but this delicious creamy cocktail was first created in Detroit in the 1960s. There are debates over who the original inventor was with many saying it was Jerome Adams of the Bayview Yacht Club, and others saying it was Farouk Elhaje and Lester Gruber with the London Chop House. To me, what it sounds like is Elhaje and Gruber started adding ice cream to cocktails which became quite popular, and Adams took a cocktail he made with cream and switched it up to ice cream to create the Hummer... but the details are truly lost to history.

It was named the Hummer after one patron asked Adams what he called his new drink. Adams replied that it didn’t have a name yet, and the patron said that after you have a few of them you start to hum, so it became known as the Hummer. This drink is now known worldwide and in London, they call it The Detroit Hummer, while in Germany they call it Sir Jerome, after Jerome Adams.

Without any further ado, here is how you make it:

Michelle’s Take on a Hummer

Ingredients

3-5 Ice cubes

2 Scoops of good vanilla ice cream

1.5 oz. Kahlua

1.5 oz. Light rum

Method

Combine everything in a blender and blend until it is a smooth milkshake-like consistency. Garnish with whipped cream and Sanders Hot Fudge.

Happy Holidays!