Hey ladies! I'm so excited I might burst so I have to share with you guys! Tonight is our opening night for our new business at our local outdoor market. My husband & I built our stand from the ground up & we're completely stocked & ready to go. I'm just a bit nervous (but not in a bad way) and praying that all goes well & that our product is a hit in our area.
So for a question (and this is pertinent I promise) what flavor of shave ice is your favorite? What tastes like summer to you?
Many people use the terms "snow cone," "snow ball," "shave ice," & "shaved ice" interchangeably; there is a difference but unless you're an ice nerd it probably doesn't matter to you. :-) Thanks all & happy summer!!!!
Thanks all for the well wishes! We have had a solid opening weekend so far with one more event tonight.
You guys have given me some ideas of more to try – I spent the weekend asking customers if they had preferences. I had a number of older customers ask for adult flavored ones; not necessarily with alcohol (though I'm sure they wouldn't mind it) but things such as Margaritta flavored, Rum, & Amaretto.
Nervy Girl & Elena B. - I lived in Wahiawa for 3.5 years (Helemano Military Reservation then the town of Wahiawa). Hands down my favorite place we've ever lived & I would move back tomorrow if I could...only further up the North Shore. We used to stop at this little shop in Haleiwa all the time & I fell in love with shave ice. Growing up I had only ever had snow cones but when I tasted the real thing...wooohooo!
Also, try Li Hing Mui powder sprinkled on pineapple – we used to eat it like that after every ship dive – yummm. Ok, now I'm feeling a bit nostalgic & Hawaii homesick.
Piña Colada, Coconut, Watermelon, Tamarind, and Lime are a my favorites that remind me of this glowing season.
Congratulations!!! We have a few different shave ice places in AZ, but my favorite is half iced tea, half lemon, like an Arnold Palmer! Sometimes just the iced tea flavor. My kids like cherry and blue raspberry or a "suicide" with a little of everything!
I'm from Hawaii, so Li Hing Mui is my all-time favorite.
(Li Hing Mui is the 'traveling plum', eaten like candy. The plum is preserved with salt, sugar and licorice powder. I just ordered a bunch, as a matter of fact. It's a favorite; many candies are made with this flavor and there's a huge variety of it.)
We used to get these from the shave ice truck, along with guava, POG (Passion Orange Guava-- also a wonderful, flavorful 'summer' taste, second fave!) and a few others. Mainlanders have the ice cream truck; we had the shave ice truck come out. Miss those D.. Enjoy and have fun!
Margie: take the kids to Ate-o-Ate sometime for shave ice. They're on 28th and E Burnside. While the dishes are fairly salty (Hawaiian style!), the mac salad is to die for, too! And their happy hour, daily from 4-6 has cheap, fresh burgers.
ETA: S. D., just a thought-- we have a shave ice/old snow cone maker (makes it like that, shaved, not granular) and I make my own syrups to put on it. I'll often cook fresh berries in a simple syrup or good lemonade, macerate the berries, strain, chill the liquid and voila! Golden raspberries and lemonade are great, strawberries and lemonade, strawberry basil, blueberry lavender.... lots of options. Some families avoid colors and HFCS, so consider a few options for those kids who are impacted by it. We have had to pass on the snow cone vendor at Kiddo's old school for that very reason.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
I like Lemon or Lemon-Lime.
Best of luck and much success!!! How exciting!!!
I actually have not had shaved ice but wanted to say congratulations and good luck!
Usually Cherry, but sometimes (if the place has it) watermelon.
Congratulations on your new business.
Raspberry and Pina Colada
Good luck and much success with your new business!
Yes, there's a world of difference between shave ice and snow cones. I much prefer shave ice, but it hasn't always been easy to find. My favorite combination is cherry-lime (which makes for an ugly brown, but delicious treat). Would also enjoy cherry, strawberry or raspberry mixed with lemon.
This brings back memories of my first visit to Hawaii, when I discovered shave ice. The stand we went to offered vanilla ice cream at the bottom as an option, and it was amazing!
I live in Hawaii currently, and shave ice is amazing. I don't like the silly flavors (bubblegum, for example), or flavors that sound like they belong in a Starbucks (coffee, or coffee mocha, for example) and prefer the fresh summer fruit flavors. I like cherry, lemon, raspberry and strawberry.
I had never heard of shave ice until we moved here. The difference between that and a snow cone is like night and day. Shave ice is like eating a cloud!
Nervy Girl, we have discovered Li Hing Mui! It's amazing.
Good luck with your business!
The shave ice place near us has this mixture of 3 green flavors and I can't stop thinking about it!!! It's SOOOOO yummy. I think it's lime...and...I don't actually know, but it's so good. :)
Good luck with your business! Hope it takes off!
Pineapple and coconut
I only eat shaved ice! That's one of the best parts of going to Hawaii!
I like mine mixed with different flavors like pineapple, cherry and strawberry. I had a mango and pineapple one time that was really good. Good luck with your business.
I like lemon the best, followed by cherry, but only when the flavoring uses real fruit juice/extract. The artificial flavor syrups are too sweet for me.
I like pina colada for a shaved ice flavor.
When I get a slurpee and that's not available then half coke and half cherry is my favorite combo.
I get chocolate nearly every time I get one. Some chocolate flavoring has an aftertaste that isn't yummy though.
My favorite is banana but I'm allergic to bananas and even if the flavor is 100% artificial it makes me miss bananas so very much so I skip it. So I get the usual stand bys when I don't get chocolate. Lemon, cherry, grape, etc...
My daughters favorite is Tigers Blood. Not all places have it, but it's so good! And the name is pretty cool too.
