Sno-cone syrup?

We're renting a Sno-cone machine for our daughter's birthday and I was wondering if anyone here knows of where to find syrup for sno-cones. The rental place sells them by the gallons and the prices for syrup seemed pretty steep.

Thanks!

Believe it or not I just finished pricing out sno-cone equipment for a work event (don't ask). There are online sources for syrup but I found most of them wanted to deal in LARGE quantities and that the rental companies prices actually weren't that bad.

The thing that'll kill ya, and why we decided NOT to rent one after all, is finding a way to store all the ice. It takes a pound of ice to make one sno-cone, and when you're looking to make 100 plus sno-cones like we were, well, that's a lot of ice!

I t saw syrups at target yesterday. Sorry, I didn't look at the price. When I tried to put the sno-cone maker in the cart I got a dirty look.

Flip

cyoung wrote:We're renting a Sno-cone machine for our daughter's birthday and I was wondering if anyone here knows of where to find syrup for sno-cones. The rental place sells them by the gallons and the prices for syrup seemed pretty steep.

Thanks!

Try the GFS Marketplaces throughout the Chicagoland area. I saw the syrup yesterday.

HI,

An aside: I was in the Lawndale area with Rene G on Saturday. I was surprised by the number of snowcone private enterprises lining the streets. The set up was a cooler for the ice and an array of gallon or half gallons syrups set on the side walk or along the curb edge. No idea of price and obviously these were treated like kid lemonade stands to make a few extra bucks.

This might be more than you want to do. In German and Eastern Europe stores there are fruit syrup concentrates of raspberry, blueberry, currants, strawberry intended for making drinks. They cost maybe $3 for a liter bottle, though I am sure they would make excellent flavored ices.

Regards,

What about using the Torani Italian syrups? The flavors are a lot more interesting than any of the sno-cone flavors I've had, with things like mandarine and orgeat and mint, but there are good mainstream flavors like strawberry and cherry as well. You don't have to buy them by the gallon, and you can use them to flavor sodas if you don't use them up at the party. I saw Torani syrups at World Market in Evanston this weekend. Sorry, I didn't look at the price, since I wasn't buying. (I think they also had tiny bottles in the mini-condiment section of the store, if you want a few novelty flavors, but don't want to invest in a big bottle. You might call and find out what they have in stock in different sizes before you make a trip there, though.

bananasandwiches wrote:The thing that'll kill ya, and why we decided NOT to rent one after all, is finding a way to store all the ice. It takes a pound of ice to make one sno-cone

I find this amazing. It's just shaving the ice, right (?), so you're actually adding volume to the ice, and surely each cone doesn't weight a pound, so I'm confused. I'll take your word for it; I just don't get it.

Josephine wrote:What about using the Torani Italian syrups? The flavors are a lot more interesting than any of the sno-cone flavors I've had, with things like mandarine and orgeat and mint, but there are good mainstream flavors like strawberry and cherry as well. You don't have to buy them by the gallon, and you can use them to flavor sodas if you don't use them up at the party.

That is an excellent idea -- the way I'd go if I were making these. The flavors of most sno-cone syrups is so bad, I can't imagine eating one myself.

C2, I've noticed the private enterprise phenom you mention. It's hard to imagine that there's enough demand to support the number of suppliers.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:C2, I've noticed the private enterprise phenom you mention. It's hard to imagine that there's enough demand to support the number of suppliers.

The frequency was enough it reminded me of the copycat businesses observed on the south side and reported in Gary, IN during its decline. One good idea begets many imitators totally diluting the uniqueness.

Did you ever stop at one? I keep wondering what the price may be.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Did you ever stop at one?

No. Not crazy about the syrup.

have u tried sam's club? i know they sell vending machines and such so they might have the syrups there.

From what I can gather (from a sno-cone vendor down the street), Sam's Club sells syrup really cheap but you have to buy 4 gallons of the same flavor.

Here is a link to an online place that sells syrup by the quart for 5.50, or pint for $3.50. They have dozens of really odd flavors like strawberry cheesecake, cotton candy, dreamsicle, ninja turtle, wedding cake, pimpjuice(?) and the ever popular blue bubblegum. I checked out the shipping on 5 quarts, and it was just under $10. However, their website is goofy. I don't know if I trust it, but they have an 800 number listed when you add something to the shopping cart.

http://www.wmcorporation.com/CompanyWeb ... .php?cat=8


Personally, I vote for Cathy2's suggestion of using the Croatian fruit syrups. They are delicious and made from real fruit. But I know that's not what kids want. They want the novelty flavors in colors that don't occur in nature.

I have a Target ice shaver/sno cone maker and the syrups from target are very good. Plus they carry sugar free syrup that is also very tasty.

David Hammond wrote:

bananasandwiches wrote:The thing that'll kill ya, and why we decided NOT to rent one after all, is finding a way to store all the ice. It takes a pound of ice to make one sno-cone

I find this amazing. It's just shaving the ice, right (?), so you're actually adding volume to the ice, and surely each cone doesn't weight a pound, so I'm confused. I'll take your word for it; I just don't get it.



Hammond

Yeah, that didn't make any sense to me either but every single place I called gave me the same quote in terms of the ice to cone ratio.

I do NOT remember my Snoopy Sno Cone machine requiring all that ice.

"A pint's a pound the world around." ¶ But that's a Brit pint ( = 20 oz volume). Ice weighs pretty much what water does. So, does a single sno-cone contain 20 oz? Probably not. Hence, either the industry recommendations are nutsy, or there's a LOT of waste in the production process.

Geo


¶ Speaking metrically, which I can do, since I'm writing from Canada, 3.8kg = 1 gal; .48kg is c. a pint, thus c. a pound.

Geo wrote:"A pint's a pound the world around." ¶ But that's a Brit pint ( = 20 oz volume). Ice weighs pretty much what water does. So, does a single sno-cone contain 20 oz? Probably not. Hence, either the industry recommendations are nutsy, or there's a LOT of waste in the production process.

A sno-cone cup is 5.75 floz., so a sno-cone cannot be much more than 8 floz. of sno. Ice actually weighs less than water ( .95 oz/floz), and sno weighs less than ice because of the air space. I figure a sno-cone probably comes in at about 7.5 oz by weight w/o syrup. So they must be figuring at least 50% spoilage.

d4v3 wrote:

Geo wrote:So they must be figuring at least 50% spoilage.

I think that's got to be part of the equation: melting (and, I suppose, consumption by vendors).

THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL YOUR SUGGESTIONS! I'll be on my way to GFS and Target this weekend to look at some choices, and also those Toriano syrups.

Cathy2 wrote:I was surprised by the number of snowcone private enterprises lining the streets [of Lawndale]. The set up was a cooler for the ice and an array of gallon or half gallons syrups set on the side walk or along the curb edge. No idea of price and obviously these were treated like kid lemonade stands to make a few extra bucks.

A quick survey of the surprisingly extensive southside snow cone scene revealed that Tone Product's Sno-Bal syrups are very popular. I don't know if Tone sells retail but I'll bet their syrups are some of the cheapest around. It seems like the going price for a snow cone is a dollar (sometimes a small can be had for half that) but I wonder if the price might not be lower in the hypercompetitive Lawndale market. I didn't ask any of the vendors about the yield of snow cones per pound of ice.

Tone Products
2129 N 15th Av
Melrose Park IL
708-681-3660
800-536-TONE
708-681-2368 (fax)