Courtesy of Shake That: Milkshake Lab
Audio By Carbonatix
Beginning Friday, a pop-up milkshake bar inside downtown Miami’s Freshko Gourmet will whip up frozen treats while eliminating waste.
Shake That: Milkshake Lab, created by former Miami Culinary Institute students Michael Kelsey and Carlos Ortiz, offers creative milk-based drinks using ingredients already available at Freshko, such as bananas, caramel, and Nutella.
“It’s not that we’re using leftovers,” Ortiz says. “We’re doing what we learned in school: optimizing ingredients. We’re trying to make our kitchen as efficient as possible by incorporating ingredients that would otherwise go to waste if they’re not used for something.”
Adds Kelsey: “For example, banana and caramel are used a lot in crepes and waffles at Freshko. Sometimes they order too many bananas or have leftover caramel, so we’ve taken the two to make a banana caramel milkshake.”
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After Kelsey and Ortiz, who are friendly with Freshko owner Alex Karavias, pitched the idea a few months ago, they began designing a small menu of shakes. Highlights include Oreo, Nutella tiramisu, and the Miami Heat, made with strawberry and pineapple. The menu will also include a rotating flavor called the “Lab Test.”
“That one will depend on what other ingredients we have available to us that day or week,” Ortiz says.
Regardless of ingredients, all shakes cost about $8. For now, the pop-up is expected to run through late September or early October.
To celebrate Shake That’s debut, Ortiz and Kelsey will host a soft-opening party tonight, Thursday, July 26, which will include complimentary shakes, an old-school silent disco, arcade games, and lots of neon. The event is sold out.
Shake That: Milkshake Lab. 228 SE First St., Miami; 305-415-2001; instagram.com/shakethatmia.
