With temperatures falling below minus 30 degrees Celsius in January and its hot summer season lasting only two or three months, Winnipeg beat out cities in the Russian province of Siberia a few years ago for the cool city designation.

Since, its 800,000 citizens consumed nearly half a million Slurpees each month to be awarded the unusual honour from 7-Eleven executives on Slurpee's 40th anniversary Monday.

"It's a short summer, so I guess they try to pack in as much summer as they can," 7-Eleven marketing director Kevin Gardner told AFP. "If you look at it another way, Slurpees are served at 28 degrees (Fahrenheit). That might count as a hot beverage in the winter in Winnipeg."

In fact, local residents buy a lot of the flavoured drink year-round, some even battling blizzards in winter to reach one of city's 50 stores for a sip, store clerks told AFP.

The 24-hour convenience store chain sells an average of 13 million Slurpees per month worldwide. Its 28,000 stores in 19 countries sold 6 billion Slurpees since 1965.

Detroit took second place in the Slurpee competition.