Delicious, Refreshing News!

You wouldn't believe how often people ask if we have a store somewhere. Like...I guess they think it would be a really great idea to have a whole shop that just sells snow cones. Hmm. Well, anyways, so far our delicious all-natural syrups have only ever been available at our booth, in the form of a snow cone, but we have big news!

*Drum rollllllll*

That's right! You can now get Sweet Ice Soda, all summer long, at The Cannon! We're so excited to provide our fresh-fruit, made-from-scratch syrups to our favorite coffeeshop, and Anne and Cindy are so excited to add some refreshing new items to their menu! Starting THIS WEEKEND you can pop by 179 Ottawa St North and try an icy cool Sweet Ice Soda!

And of course, you can still get the Sweet Ice Snow Cones that you're craving. We'll be set up at the Art Crawl tonight, outside Mulberry Street Coffee House on James Street North. Art Crawl starts around 7, and goes...as late as you want it to!

See you there (and probably at The Cannon too, since that's where we are more often than not), and stay cool, Hamilton!

(Photos: Oak & Myrrh Photography)

Because Water Is Blue...

So, we're a snow cone business. Everyone who comes to our stand and orders from us knows we are a snow cone business. BUT, there is something that gets lost in translation every once in a while, and that is the fact that we make all our syrups from scratch, with fruit that is as local and organic as possible.

Really, that's the thing that makes Sweet Ice unique! Most people have had a snow cone or two in their time, but chances are, you've gotten it from a carnival vendor who pumps it out of a plastic jug he ordered on the internet. One of our favorite examples of Sweet Ice being misunderstood is when we ask a customer which flavor they'd like, and they say:

Friendly Customer, we don't hold this against you. We are products of our culture! We are slaves to mass-produced, artificial, corn-syrup ridden alternatives! But we're going to clear this up, once and for all. "Blue" is a color, not a flavor. Blue is not in season right now. Blue, my friends, should not be consumed.

Until now.

This weekend is Tall Ships Festival at the Hamilton Waterfront. The Tall Ships Festival is super cool  - the fleet of 1812 ships arrive at Pier 8 tomorrow, and the weekend is filled with nautical, old-timey activities, events and music...

It's going to be a very fun weekend, and we thought it deserved its own commemorative flavor! So...ships sail...they sail on water...water is blue...how about a blue flavor! It's what The People want!

So, here it is, our all-natural BLUE snow cone!

We'll be offering this 'Blueberry Lemonade' beauty along with a bunch of other delicious, all-natural flavors all weekend at Pier 8 (near Sarcoa). Snow cones are $3, and will be available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon until about 10pm.

You can check out info about the Tall Ships craft fair here, and the music schedule here. Also, more info about the actual TALL SHIPS is here - that is the main event, afterall! This ship is the Sørlandet, it comes all the way from Norway, and it's the oldest full-rigged ship in the world that is still in operation!

This ship, along with the others, will be arriving under the Burlington Skyway Bridge, and pulling into Hamilton Harbour around 2pm on Friday, and there will be a cannon firing ceremony. It's called the Parade of Sails - FUN! Hope to see you there, mates!

All Aboard!

Okay, so we went to the best event on Friday night. We had been gloating about it all week, so maybe you've heard about how we got to serve spiked snow cones on a moving train. Is that even allowed? Apparently it is! And it was awesome. Put on by Wilfred Laurier University Student Publications, Steel Rail Sessions has been happening for a few years now, and is described as Nuit Blanche on a train. Basically, every car contains some kind of art installation, or dance party, or bar, or SOMETHING, and then the train would stop every once in a while with interesting shows, acts, and food outside for the guests to enjoy. It was great.

The train was beautiful and old, and had these giant windows with a perfect country breeze. Our car was pretty full most of the time, which was hilarious, because every time the train would slow down or go over bumps, we'd all have to try to stay standing and not fall all over each other. It was chaotic, but probably one of the most fun events we've done.

Neal was a great train conductor.

We didn't make that sign, but we did approve it, hehe.

One of the coolest things about this event was hearing people talk about Kitchener, and how much they love it there. Apparently there are some really amazing cultural things bubbling up there in the arts and music scenes - we had no idea! People talked about it they way that we talk about Hamilton, and that was really encouraging. It's just a good thing for people to stand together on a train and drink spiked snow cones, and talk about the cities they love. Steel Rails, thanks for choo-choo-choooosing us. xo

(Photo #1: kdub.ca)

Back in the Swing of Things!

The warm weather is here, and Sweet Ice is back at the Art Crawl! We weren't sure if we were going to make it back, as our regular spot at the Tivoli is no longer an option, but we found a cute little home on the Mulberry patio! We'll be there during July and August Art Crawl as well, so make sure you stop by. :)

We made sure to savor the Art Crawl over the Fall and Winter, because now that it's snow cone season, we don't get to see too much! I think this month's crawl was one of the busiest and most jam-packed that I've ever seen it. On every corner and in every store front, there was something magical happening! Very cool, Hamilton.

Our bud CJ was SO ready for a snow cone.

Emma had never had a Sweet Ice snow cone and was very excited.

Our new home!

We did make sure to get away from our booth to stop by and see our friends, Joel and the Jukes, playing at the Lister Block. If you're ever looking for an amazing wedding/party band, these guys are so good.

We also popped out to make some special deliveries to some of our friends along the street. Hey Hollie and Jane, HERE ARE SOME SNOW CONES FOR YOU.

All in all, it was a delightful night! Thanks for being so great, Hamilton.

Soccer Fun Day!

This is the ONLY photo we had time for. Pardon the pixels...

We served snow cones at a Soccer Fun Day to 800 CHILDREN. They were sweaty and yelling and they were wanting snow cones at 9:00 in the morning. Breakfast cones. The words "all-natural" and "organic" meant nothing to them - they asked for "blue" and we told them we didn't have blue but they could have pink or red or orange. 8-year-old children requested espresso cones that were meant for their parents, but we served it to them anyways, because why not. They were adorable and awesome and cool, and it was a really fun day.

We barely had time for one photo, but we did get a great quote:

Photoshoot! Behind the Scenes

We're finally crawling out of our winter hibernation, and starting to book up quickly for the summer. Yay! We can't wait to jump back into snow cone slinging! But for now, it's still a tad chilly out, and The People aren't quite ready for ice (fair enough), so we thought we'd tackle a project before the sun comes out in full force.

A while back, my friend Aisling posted a picture that got our wheels spinning. (Thank you, Kinfolk, for continuing to inspire the nations!) We needed some product photography, and we really wanted to capture the fact that our snow cones are made-from-scratch with all-natural ingredients, so we set out to capture a before-and-after set of photos. The photos aren't quite ready, but I already know they are going to be beautiful!

We got our floral supplies from i fiori on James St N - you need to go check this place out if you haven't been. The owner, Bev, is just the sweetest lady, and she's so passionate about what she does. She has literally made me cry when she talks about the ethos of arranging flowers. She's amazing, and the shop is so beautiful. Add a bit of honeycomb from our friend Brandi, the amazing styling work of Joanna Aitcheson, and incredible photography skills from Aisling (of Oak & Myrrh)...and I'm pretty sure we're going to have something very special.

Photo Credit:

1 & 2 - Meg Makins; 3 - Joanna Aitcheson; 4 & 5 - Oak & Myrrh