There are always a lot of questions about which syrups are the best. There are at least a dozen companies out there selling flavor concentrates and the choice is not easy. It depends on a lot of different factors. I believe in real, live testing to get some results to help make the decision.
I organized an official testing session with three different flavors this past weekend. We had friends over to sample ice and fill out a survey. I bought strawberry, pina colada and blue hawaiian from each of the following vendors: shaveicesupplies (HTK), 1-800-shave-ice, and Southern Snow. Obviously, this was not an all-encompassing test either with flavors or suppliers, but it gave me some great results.
I was going to list the winners, but I want to see what other people think, first. Out of those three, how would you rank them? I will respond later with my results.
Results of Taste Testing
Without guessing which company won, I will go out on a limb and say the same company did not win all three. I am performing similar tests myself and that was my conclusion, As a side note I will reveal that I am in the process of doing the same thing on an official scale in the near future. I will be posting about that, ironically, within the next day or so.
I look forward to your results.
I look forward to your results.
Ok, then. Here's what I discovered among those three companies:
1. HTK (Shave Ice Supplies.com) took first place in two of the three flavors. And it was not close, either. They were the hands-down winners of Strawberry and Blue Hawaiian. Distant third place in pina colada.
2. Southern Snow came in second. They earned a very close first place in Pina Colada, with 1-800 coming in second.
3. 1-800 earned no first places, but were second in pina colada, as mentioned, and distant second in Blue Hawaiian. Dead last in Strawberry.
One thing to consider: the pina colada I used from HTK was yellow, while the other two were white. Many people commented on the color. A couple people thought the "after-scent" (whatever that is) was medicine-y. I think that biased the results.
For me, there is a clear answer to "who provides the best flavors" at least out of these three. I would be interested to try Rio and Harders to see how they compare, but I probably won't.
Also, I'll be honest with you, that Blue Hawaiian literally transports me to the Islands! I love it!
1. HTK (Shave Ice Supplies.com) took first place in two of the three flavors. And it was not close, either. They were the hands-down winners of Strawberry and Blue Hawaiian. Distant third place in pina colada.
2. Southern Snow came in second. They earned a very close first place in Pina Colada, with 1-800 coming in second.
3. 1-800 earned no first places, but were second in pina colada, as mentioned, and distant second in Blue Hawaiian. Dead last in Strawberry.
One thing to consider: the pina colada I used from HTK was yellow, while the other two were white. Many people commented on the color. A couple people thought the "after-scent" (whatever that is) was medicine-y. I think that biased the results.
For me, there is a clear answer to "who provides the best flavors" at least out of these three. I would be interested to try Rio and Harders to see how they compare, but I probably won't.
Also, I'll be honest with you, that Blue Hawaiian literally transports me to the Islands! I love it!
Excellent and unbiased review Matt! Kudos.
www.shaveiceshaveice.com
Forum for Hawaiian shave ice, shave ice supplies, shave ice flavors, and shave ice machines.
Forum for Hawaiian shave ice, shave ice supplies, shave ice flavors, and shave ice machines.
-
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:05 pm
Blue Hawaii is a vanilla coconut mix. Pina Colada uses pineapple
-
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:44 am
Bump up again for the excellent review from Matt
Providing quality shave ice products in Hawaii and all over the mainland for over 20 years. Visit http://www.shaveicesupplies.com.
For current deals and offerings, visit the promotions and prize giveaway forum at www.shaveiceshaveice.com!
For current deals and offerings, visit the promotions and prize giveaway forum at www.shaveiceshaveice.com!
Great Idea! We may have to do something similar. We only used HTK last year and this year we used southern. I prefer HTK's flavors while my business partner prefers southern. We will have to hold a private tasting event before we start next year.