Date Shake—Palm Spring's Desert Drink

It’s about 100 miles from Los Angeles to Palm Springs—making it the ideal getaway under Old Hollywood’s “two-hour rule.” Studio heads once insisted their stars stay within a quick drive at all times. The desert oasis, with its mid-century pools glittering beneath the San Jacinto Mountains, became a glamorous weekend playground for actors escaping the backlot.

Fast-forward a few decades and the Coachella Valley is still humming—only the Rat Pack martinis have given way to Aperol spritzes, sipped by LA bros and bohemian-chic influencers vibing to Calvin Harris at the hottest music festival in the country. Though through it all, the valley’s true signature drink endures: the date shake—Palm Springs’ desert milk shake.

Sweet Like Sugar

Medjool Dates

Humankind’s oldest dessert might just be the date—sticky-sweet, with natural caramel, vanilla, and toffee notes packed into one bite of fruit.

Often cited among the world’s earliest cultivated crops, dates didn’t take root in the Coachella Valley until the late 1800s, when botanists noticed how closely the California desert mirrored Middle Eastern groves. Today, the valley supplies the vast majority of America’s dates

From Fresh Fruit to Dehydrated Crystals

Date Crystals at Lapperts

Around 1928, Russell Charles Nicoll mixed his harvested Medjool dates with vanilla ice cream at the now defunct Valerie Jean Date Shop near Therma Ca, creating the first ever date shake. A few years later, Floyd Shields industrialized the craving. His date crystals—finely chopped, dehydrated flakes of fruit—were a game change that made the shake travel proof and roadside ready, so the “desert dessert” could be scooped and blended more efficiently. His crystals spread the popularity of the shake to ice cream shops throughout Palm Springs.

The Date Shake Trail

Start at Shields Date Garden (home of the OG crystals) in Indio, then try the banana date shake at Lappert's Ice Cream on N Palm Canyon, Palm Springs. Great Shakes on Palm Canyon turns out a plush, modern take, and Nature's Health Food & Cafe does a delicious "I can't believe it's not" plant-based riff. From Desert Hot Springs to La Quinta, takeout counters and farm stands serve their own blends, same sticky grin

Palm Springs, By the Bite

Street Taco from Tac/Quila

Palm Springs is still that weekend-escape classic: motels with poolside menus and kitschy retro neon signs that hum after dark, mountain air that makes everything taste brighter, and a crowd that’s equal parts regulars and revelers. The city’s queer-forward, design-driven DNA reads in its food and drink—sharp cocktails, standout Mexican, and plenty of misting-patio swagger. Start with tacos and a mezcal paloma at Tac/Quila, detour to Melvyn’s for Steak Diane and a time-capsule flourish, then wash it all down, with a date shake— the desert dessert.

WARNING- They are decadent!