My non-professional goal, being the non-professional I am now since retiring recently from 29 years at the Court, is to find a malt just like the old-fashioned ones made by the malt/diner in Downey, Idaho well back into the last century. I am referring to the ones with real ice cream and malt mixed in those wonderful mixers like this:
My recollection is that the one in Downey was green and could mix two or three at a time. Part of the charm is they had to stop it mid-cycle to make sure the mix was doing well. Maybe that was just to build up our anticipation and delight. If that wasn't their reason for doing so, it worked that way anyway.
It used to be that a good malt was the norm. Somewhere along the line, someone decided to thicken the malt so it couldn't be drawn from a straw. Someone else had a thought on the other side of the spectrum and made malts so thin they were like a runny syrup. They also decided to half the malt flavoring, anything to save a few pennies.
Now a perfect malt, in my opinion, is one that you could drink with a straw or use the long spoon to dip in if you wanted a change of pace. The whole idea of a malt is to enjoy every sip. I have not found a malt in years where they fill up your glass (made of actual glass), hand you a straw and a malt spoon and lay the balance of the malt in the container where you can finish it off at your own pleasure.
I've taken a survey of friends and former coworkers as to possible malt places in Utah County or its surrounding counties. Here are the current contenders:
1-The Malt Shop in Ephraim
2-Stone Drug in Spanish Fork
3-Eli's in Payson
4-SOS Drug in Springville
5-The Trolley in Springville
6-Barry's in Spanish Fork
7-Glade's in Spanish Fork
8-Leatherby's in Draper
9-BYU Creamery
10-JCW's in Provo
11-Granny's in Heber City
12-Farr's (Orem & Ogden)
13-Peach City in Brigham City
14-Pace's Dairy Ann in Bountiful
15-Casper's in Richmond'
16-The Bluebird in Logan
17-Nielson Ice Cream in Bountiful
18-The Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove
Nik made me an Instagram account called malt_maven just for the adventure. Neither he nor any of the rest of my family knew what a maven was (apparently not a word used these days) so I looked it up and found--
"A maven is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass timely and relevant knowledge on to others in the respective field." I'm a NATURAL!
I'll be looking for the following: texture, taste, atmosphere, 3 points in each catagory, a 1 point bonus if it's served with a cup of water and a 1 point take-away if they put a cherry on top after I've requested they not do that.
Several people have said they'd like to go, too, but my grandson, Jesse, said, "Grandma, when do we go? I'll drive." SO, we are off to the Ephraim Malt Shop this Saturday. I will keep you posted. (By the way, Happy Birthday today, Jesse!)
malt_maven
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