The official drink of the state of Rhode Island is ‘coffee milk.’

What is coffee milk, you ask? Well, it’s milk mixed with coffee syrup. So, what is coffee syrup then? It’s a thick, sweet liquid made from water, sugar, and coffee grounds. And it gets weirder – in Rhode Island, they call syrup mixed with milk a “milkshake,” and if you add ice cream to the concoction, they call it a “cabinet”!

Coffee milk first became popular among Rhode Islanders back in the 1920’s, having likely originated with Italian immigrants. Kids loved it because it seemed like such an ‘adult’ beverage, and parents loved it because it encouraged their kids to drink milk. Nowadays, coffee milk even dramatically outsells its chocolaty cousin in much of the state!

The milk is not the only coffee-based food enjoyed in the state; they kind of have a coffee obsession, consuming large amounts of coffee ice cream, hot and cold coffee products, and even coffee gelatin. In a 1990 survey of Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts, coffee was the second-most popular ice cream, behind vanilla!