Keventers packs nostalgia in an Instagram-worthy glass bottle 

Let’s be honest. While the city has seen a spree of milkshake brands setting up shop here, we’ve all been waiting for the arrival of the brand that calls itself ‘the original milkshake’. Though it has taken the 93-year-old brand a while to open in the city, Keventers continues to remain synonymous with bringing the vintage glass milk bottles back into vogue. “Milkshakes have been available at a lower price for years. But it was our packaging that differentiated them from the rest. Keventers made milkshakes aspirational...made them hip. True, that many other brands have followed suit, but this company has a long legacy backing it,” shares Kumar S, manager of the Keventers outlet at the Brookefields Mall. 

Old world charm in a new bottle
The legacy apart, we wonder if the brand has what it takes to compete in a market that recently saw the launch of city-based brand Yugo, Bengaluru-based Frozen Bottle, Hyderabad’s Thick Shake Factory and is looking forward to the opening of the Hyderabad headquartered smoothie bar Drunken Monkey. But the long queue outside the 10-day old kiosk puts our apprehensions to rest. Vintage black and white themed, with their logo lit up brightly with fluorescent lights, the 200 sq ft outlet along with their signature glass bottles neatly lined up on wooden shelves is hard to miss. 

Contemporising its menu while keeping in line with their retro-chic packaging, the menu is divided into classics—shakes that were popular in the 1960s, thick shakes that introduce new flavours like Banoffee and Caramello popcorn, and ice-cream sodas that remind us of one of our favourite comics, Archie & Jughead.
 

Through thick and thin 
The original Keventers recipe has always been about consistency, processing the milk until it was very fine. The classic shakes do justice to this recipe. The Butterscotch Shake is smooth and well blended with no crunchy bits of butterscotch chips. Next up is the thick shake which takes us a while to order given the intriguing list of flavours that are offered. A quick game of Rock Paper Scissors to decide the odds and the Mint Oreo Crumble and Salted Caramel emerge victorious. The Mint Oreo Crumble is a meal in itself. Between choosing a regular and a large, the regular is more than enough for one person. Irresistibly sweet, the mint tones down the sweetness from the large amounts of ice cream and Oreos. 

For those looking for a mildly sweet milkshake, we suggest you try the Caramello Popcorn, Salted Caramel or even one of their ice cream sodas (we recommend the orange). 

200 ml starts at Rs 95. Also available at Prozone Mall and an individual Keventers store in Peelamedu.