What is Hawaiian Style Shave Ice?
I’ve learned over the course of almost 10 years to never, ever claim to make anything “authentic” to a certain culture, or the internet will freak out on you. But let’s talk about authentic Shave Ice. For starters, if you want to sound legit- say “Shave Ice” and not “Shaved Ice!” The difference between a snow cone and shave ice is that snow cones are finely crushed ice and shave ice is shaved across a sharp blade creating a smooth, melt-in-your mouth velvety snow kind of texture. It actually absorbs and suspends the flavored syrups instead of them running straight to the bottom as a typical snow cone would.
If you’ve ever been to Hawaii, Shave ice stands are everywhere. (The photo above is from the famed Matsumotos on Oahu) They pile up scoops of cool, frosty snow and pour flavored syrups over the top. The crowning glory comes from a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk poured over the top, commonly known as a “snow cap”and you can include a scoop of ice cream on the bottom if you wish (and I always wish). On the islands you’ll often find tropical flavors like macadamia nut, coconut, and pineapple ice cream, along with the standard vanilla. Sounds weird if you’ve never had it, but if you have had it, you know what I’m talking about.
Let’s review: Creamy ice cream, fluffy snow, fruity syrup, sweet milk.
How to Make Hawaiian Shave Ice at Home
Yes, you can make a pretty darn good shave ice at home. We’ve had some little starter machines over the years but we’ve settled on couple great ones that we’ve had for several years now and are working great. I’ll tell you about both of these and why we like each one.
1. Little Snowie: Hands down, the best small counter machine for every day use.
2. Great Northern Commercial Shaver: Great for large crowds and high quantities.
Large Commercial-Style Machine
There are some super nice, and incredibly expensive options available that will run into the thousands of dollars! We bought one on the lower end of the nice commercial ones and have been really happy with it. It’s the Great Northern Commercial Ice Shaver and at under $250 and almost 300 nearly 5-star reviews, it’s a good buy for a commercial-level machine. You can find it by clicking here. It’s super heavy, and really well made. We’ve had ours for about 5 years and have used it lots and have had zero issues with it.
Things to know about a large commercial shaver:
This machine is heavy and large. You’ll need a place to store it. You also need large frozen blocks of ice to shave. After simply some trial and error testing, we found some cheap, round, plastic containers that are the perfect size. Some machines recommend ice blocks for shaving, but we found that smaller, round blocks had the best results for us. This requires a little planning ahead to freeze the ice before we want to use this machine.
The ice will shave best if it sits to “sweat” for a few minutes before shaving, so we keep a cooler close by and load it up so we can crank them out constantly.
Pros of a large commercial shaver:
Quantity and speed. If you’re having a party and want to crank these out, this is your best option. You can make lots, fast. We pull this machine out for large family gatherings and neighborhood parties. You can feed the masses with ease!
When we set up a party table, we do it something like this (this was from a family party we had a while back). We shave a ton of ice into a bowl and then someone scoops servings out of the bowl so we can keep it moving. It works great.
Best Every Day Counter Top Ice Shaver:
Hands down the Little Snowie is the best. Some people are turned off by the price tag of such a small machine but don’t be fooled. The price is apparent in the top of the line mechanics that produces a fluffy, soft, high quality ice shave in a model so small you can keep it out on a counter or tuck away in a cupboard. Another handy feature is that no frozen ice blocks are needed, you simply fill with standard ice cubes from your freezer. We leave this on our counter ALL summer long and literally use it every day.
Pros of the Little Snowie: Small, powerful, fluffy ice. Easy to store, easy to move. Uses ice cubes from the freezer. Kids can operate by themselves.
How to Flavor Shave Ice / Shaved Ice
I love making a menu of flavors for people to pick from. Our kids’ friends love this and we often do it for summer birthdays instead of cake!
You have lots of options when it comes to flavorings.
1. Make your own syrup: Simply involves Making simple syrup (sugar + water) and then adding concentrated flavor. There are tons of places online to buy fun and unique flavors.
2. Premade Snowcone Syrup: You can buy large jugs of prepared flavor syrups at restaurant supply stores in very basic flavors. These are great for things like school parties, youth camps, etc. Anything where you want an economical options and don’t care too much about variety and creativity.
3. Coffee Shop Bottled Flavored Syrups: Torani (and similar) syrups, which aren’t quite as thick as the sugar syrups, still taste really great. This is what we use the majority of the time! The endless flavor options provide fun and creativity. Look for the best prices on these at restaurant supply stores.
4. Little Snowie now makes all natural flavor packets. I haven’t tried them yet, but it’s an option.
Tip: At restaurant supply stores, or on-line, you can buy toppers for your bottles that make them easily pourable, or for use with a pump.
What else do you put on Shave Ice?
For the “Snow Cap”, put your sweetened condensed milk in a condiment squeeze bottle to make things super easy. Have your ice cream nearby for the bottom!
You can also buy the fun traditional cups and spoon-straws on Amazon. We buy them by the case!
Scoop a big scoop of vanilla ice cream into a cup and pile snow on top. Pour flavored syrup over the top generously and then drizzle with some sweetened condensed milk. That’s it! I also make a low-calorie version by using frozen yogurt or high protein ice cream and sugar free Torani syrup.
This is one of our family’s favorite foodie traditions, and I hope it can become the same for some of you! Let me know if you have any questions or would like a video or something. I’d be happy to share!
AND, if you’re now craving some tropical eats, make sure to check out our Tropically-themed recipe index where you’ll find all kinds of Hawaiian-inspired eats. Click here!
Questions & Reviews
I ordered the machine after checking your review and I can undoubtedly say- it’s the best choice for summers.
We have both machines and love them. The snowie has definitely seen the most use this summer with the kids because it’s so easy. And we use the snowie flavor packets-they are our new favorite-i love that they are easy to store and hardly take up any space, but we have tons of flavor options for parties. I buy them at Orson Gygi.
I want to let everyone know who has a Bledtec that you can use it to make surprisingly fine ice for snow cones! I’ve been doing it for years.
Thank you so much for posting this. I now have confirmation after 22 years, that the “Hawaiian Creme” that i was drizzled over a cup of shave ice in Lynchburg Virginia in 1998 while i was in college, was indeed sweetened condensed milk! One more of my many life’s unanswered questions is now answered!
We were just at Matsumoto on the North Shore!! It was amazing! Condensed milk is Phenomenal!!
Hello, Thanks for sharing this Post , your ice Cream is good in taste and Great stuff love to see the effort of a young entrepreneur pay off.
For some that want to pay less, I bought a ninja master prep that makes snow. I don’t know if theres a difference between shaved & snow. but its good.
how do you freeze the ice blocks, mine are not flat on top I presume due to the freezing (to fast?) ?
That’s totally normal. Just put the flat side on the bottom where the blade is!
I am so excited about this!! I just bought this shave ice machine after your recommendation…the kids don’t know yet, I plan on breaking it out this weekend for an “end of summer/beginning of school” pool party!! They will be thrilled! Thank you, thank you!!!
woo hoo! hope hope love it!
If you order the machine direct they say it comes with the shield.
Ya, mine came with it!
What containers from Walmart do you use to make the blocks of ice?
They were just a generic brand. You’ll have to look in that section and just find something that looks like it’s that size.
Did the ice shield come with it? And have you found any stores that sale the flavoring in Boise?
You can buy sno cone syrup in bulk and also torani syrups at Cash n carry in Nampa. And my ice shield came with it!
Ok. I’ll be the brave one and ask… where did you buy yours for $150??
I linked it in the post- it’s from Amazon! Click –> Here 🙂
Hi Sara. Thanks for your reply. We’re all clicking on the Amazon link you posted, but It’s $233.47. That’s not even close to $150. Have you just had your machine for a very long time, or should we all watch for a sale??
Oh got it, haha. No, that’s correct- just a typo in my post! It’s under $250 🙂
Shave ice is the best! I just bought a Little Snowie 2 and have been really impressed with it. The thing I like about it is that it takes regular ice cubes from the freezer and it still magically gives you the fluffy, shaved snow! No crunchy ice chunks. We sometimes drizzle a little heavy cream on top, if we’re in the mood for something a little less sweet than condensed milk. They both have a special place in my heart.
My friend just bought that one too- says it’s great!
My Blendtec blender get the ice as fine as snow. The ice can’t be melty at all to get it like snow. It works for a small group.
I would love to know where you get your ice shield from as well! I have had this machine for years. And, as fun as it is for my kids to watch, it is far too dangerous! Sharp blade, chunks of ice flying in every direction, it is scary! I would love to buy the shield for it. Thanks for another wonderful post!
Oh, and a picture of the containers you use to freeze your ice would be great too! I’ve been using cottage cheese or sour cream containers. They don’t seem too well.
Mine actually came with it!
I’d really really love a post where you list and talk about all your “specialty” appliances and where to get them. I’m a bit of an appliance junkie myself and that’d be fascinating and convenient!
Have you ever checked out the “Favorite Things” section on our blog? It has lots of fun stuff! I definitely need to update though, with some things like this- I’ll do that!
This is crazy the timing of this. We are visiting family and my brother in law made it for us. He used black cherry flavored kool-aid made into ice cubes. When I had seen it in my Sisters freezer it looked like cubed watermelon. He got his Hawaiian. Ice shaver from a thrift store before they were married. I’m going to have to send this post to them. Kaylene Wheeler
Oh darn it, your post is a week too late! ? I tried to convince my mom to get this shave ice maker last week and she got a show come machine instead thinking it was too hard to figure out! Wish it had free return!
Your machine sounds awesome! I worked at a shave ice hut when I was a teen during the summer and have been so disappointed when I’ve gone to shave ice shacks and get crunchy little ice pebbles. Such a let down. Shaving the ice to be perfect little melt in your mouth ribbons is an art in my opinion 😉 I never would have thought about investing in one of these until now. My kids (and I) would be all over ditching birthday cakes to have these instead. And our birthdays aren’t even during the summer. Ha! Green apple and coconut with cream on top, forever. ❤️ Oh, we also used to have an option to have vanilla ice cream on the bottom of the cup. You should try that, if you haven’t already! It makes slurping up the last of the shave ice nice and creamy.
Yes, I mentioned that in the post- ice cream is a must!! You should totally get one of these, you’re a pro already!
We also have the Great Northern Ice Cub and LOVE it!
What a fun idea! We do it on a little smaller scale but blending ice cubes in a Blendtec and the ice turns into snow. I need to follow your advice and put some condense milk on next time!
I have this same shave ice machine and have loved it! We make our own flavors with kool aid packets and simple syrup. I am still trying to figure out how to drizzle the syrup so it doesn’t melt the top as much. Would love to see a video on how you do it!
Where did you get the shield for the ice block that fits on your machine? We have the same one and have issues with chunks of ice flying out as it gets smaller!
Awe, the memories! I worked in my best friend’s Tropical Sno shave ice stand in high school back in the 80s. It was awesome to work there because I could eat as much shave ice as I wanted. But that was back in the day when we hand cranked the shave ice machine. None of this fancy electricity!
We have the exact same machine and love it! Where did you get your “ice shield” for the machine? Ours didn’t come with it and I wish it did! Did you order it separately? Thanks!
Do you store your syrups in the fridge? What about the ones you make yourself? If not, what would you consider to be the self-life? I really don’t have room in my fridge for big things of syrup, haha! Thank you!
I love shave ice! Can you tell me where you found the safety shield for this unit — it doesn’t seem to come with it and with little grandkids to make shave ice for, I’d love to have it.
Thanks!
I totally need to make this! There are no good shaved ice places in Georgia!
Could you post a picture of the containers you freeze your ice in?
I would love a link to the containers you found at Walmart as well, pretty please! Also the bottles that you serve the homemade flavors in?? Thank you much, can’t wait to try at our upcoming party!!
Those bottles are just old Torani bottles that I washed out and re-used 🙂 And the Walmart containers were just a generic plastic container. If you have the shave ice machine, you can kind of tell by looking what size to get!