Cool off and recapture your childhood while giving it a grownup twist with our shaved ice cocktail recipes.
The secret to truly nostalgic snow cones or shaved ice treats is a quality ice shaving machine. Our Polar Pal behemoth is on the large size (and strangely reminiscent of a cross between R2D2 and a Teletubbie) but it cranks out the shaved ice quickly (6 pounds a minute!) and in a texture you can control (similar model available here).
Make 6-inch blocks of ice in your freezer that fit right into the machine using food service tubs like these. Clamp the block into the machine and you’re good to go.
Turn the machine on and be ready for an immediate cascade of ice.
If you prefer a coarser ice like a snow cone or for drinks, you can quickly change the setting.
Kid-friendly syrups are available online singly or in flavor packs.
Make the process a little easier and tidier with pour spouts that fit the syrup bottles.
Try a selection of fruit-based alcoholic shaved ice cocktails at your next late summer evening happy hour.
Fresh fruits are always preferred for your syrup bases but in a pinch, frozen will do the trick. We love the combination of gin and blackberries in this Blackberry Bramble syrup.
What You’ll Need
- 1 cup blackberries
- 1 jigger (1½ oz) lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 3 oz gin
Add the sugar and the water to small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves.
Remove from heat to let cool. When cool, add the blackberries. Mash the berries to release all the juice, then strain through a fine mesh strainer.
Add the lemon juice and the gin, and set in the refrigerator to chill.
Once chilled, drizzle over a cup or cone packed full of shaved ice. Serve with a straw.
Whip up this simple Strawberry Daiquiri syrup.
What You’ll Need
- 1 cup cleaned and halved or quartered strawberries
- 1 jigger (1½ oz) lime juice
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 3 oz white rum
Add the sugar and the water to small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat to let cool.
When cool, add the strawberries. Mash the berries to release all the juice, then strain through a fine mesh strainer.
Add the lime juice and the rum, and set in the refrigerator to chill.
Once chilled, drizzle over a cup or cone packed full of shaved ice. Serve with a straw.
Ripe mangos and tequila are a match made in cocktail heaven (well, really, it’s made in your blender but it is heavenly).
What You’ll Need
- 1 cup chopped mango
- 1 oz lime juice
- ½ cup simple syrup (make your own with equal parts water and sugar stirred over heat until dissolved)
- 3 oz tequila
Combine mango, lime juice, cooled simple syrup and tequila in a blender and puree until smooth.
Pour into a jar and place in the refrigerator to chill.
Once chilled, drizzle over a cup or cone packed full of shaved ice. Serve with a straw.
If you love gimlets, this Vodka Gimlet Slush will be right up your alley.
What You’ll Need
- ½ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup baker’s sugar (a fine sugar that dissolves well without heat)
- 3 oz vodka
Add lime juice and sugar to a mixing glass or bowl and stir thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the vodka and place in the refrigerator to chill.
Once chilled, drizzle over a cup or cone packed full of shaved ice. Serve with a straw.
© Caruth Studio