In a Relationship with a Hansen's Sno Bliz Sno Ball
A love who's cold as ice, sweet as syrup, and gives me exactly what I want.
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It’s hot, you guys. I don’t like it when it’s hot, which is pretty funny when you consider I have two Oklahoma trips this month. I have never experienced heat on par with Oklahoma in July. It’s make-you-mean heat.
Last night a friend told me she has a first date tonight and they’re going for sno cones, which I think is just about the cutest thing ever. They even had a conversation about their favorite sno cone flavors (pina colada for him, black cherry for her).
Have you succumbed from adorability, or are you having a heat stroke?
The sno cone conversation didn’t help the recent bout of longing I’ve been having for Hansen’s Sno Bliz in New Orleans. They’re not in the business of sno cones, but instead specialize in the New Orleans sno ball, the sophisticated cousin of the sno cone.
Forget gritty ice the texture of Grape Nuts soaked in high fructose corn syrup. That’s not the Hansen’s way. For 86 years they’ve been cranking out delicate snowflakes that melt on the tongue without crunch. The secret seems to be in the giant old ice-shaving machine they fire up for each order. It growls, grumbles, and sounds like the beast within wants to eat the arm of the person holding the ice block. But it creates the magic that Hansen’s calls, “Air conditioning for your tummy.”
Did you know that most sno cone syrups originate in St. Louis? It’s true. We’re home to RIO Syrup Company, makers of Tiger Blood.
There’s no Tiger Blood at Hansen’s, because they make all of their syrups in-house. My favorite flavor is whatever citrus tastes the most like St. Joseph’s Aspirin for Childen, so satsuma and vanilla bean with a pour of sweetened condensed milk is my favorite.
I don’t go to New Orleans in the summer months—again, I don’t like being hot. I’ve gone a few times in the winter, but that means no Hansen’s because they do close for a few months, even though it’s never too cold for a sno ball. I try to plan accordingly.
How much do I love Hansen’s sno balls? I have one of their party buckets tattooed on my lower back. It’s blueberry cardamom.
Today, I’m hunkered in my air-conditioned home in Illinois with a plentiful stash of ice cream in the freezer. But my thoughts are with one of my Nola friends and my first-date sno cone pal today, and I wish I had a cherry vanilla bean sno ball with condensed milk for lunch. Looks like Tiger Blood will have to do.