What is the difference between “shaved ice” and “snow cones”?
Snowcone, slushy, shaved ice, snowball…We hear all kinds of different things when someone is ordering a cup of shaved ice at Weekley’s. This very well could be my fault for not actually putting the words “shaved ice” on the menu anywhere (smh…a new menu is in the works, don’t worry). OR this is just everyone’s unique interpretation of what our product is and that’s okay. But I’m here to explain what it is we’re actually filling your cups up with! A hint… it’s only part smiles.
Shaved Ice. That is what we’re here to tell you about. We do not sell snow cones, but I’m not going to correct you because that may come off as rude and I’d prefer to keep our 5-star Google rating.
Let’s get to it!
Typically, shaved ice is made by starting with a frozen block of ice. These blocks can be made a few different ways-a story for another day. Some are shaped like a cylinder and others are a rectangular cube (or cuboid if we’re gettin’ fancy). To shave the ice off of the block, these blocks are inserted into a machine and have a device that applies pressure to the block. Ours has a lever to then push the block against very sharp blades which shaves the ice into powdery snow. That is a very basic explanation of how it works, but still very different than how a snow cone is made.
Snow cones are made with “cube ice” or “bag ice”. Machines that are used for snow cones are also entirely different. The cube ice is added to a compartment on the machine and then when pressure is applied and the ice is pushed through the machine, the ice is then crushed or ground into small tiny pieces of ice. Because this method does not create as fine of consistency as the shaving machines, the ice has a clear crunch to it when being eaten.
This illustration by 1-800-Shaved-Ice.com is one of my favorites and sums it up so well!
To wrap it all up, snow cones are crunchy and shaved ice is soft, fluffy, and smooth!
I hope this clears it up a little bit and shows you why we’re so passionate about our product. There is so much you can do with shaved ice…and if there is one thing I love most about this job, it’s experimenting with new flavors and toppings!
What’s your unique flavor mix? Drop it in the comments below, I’d love to try it!