No biz like SnoBiz
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, July 9, 2013
It can’t be that hard to make a sno-cone, can it? If you ask Brittany Frank, an employee at SnoBiz in Andalusia, it’s not as easy as it looks.
“It seems simple, but making one is harder than you’d think,” the 22-year-old said.
During the height of summer business, Frank said between 200-300 sno-cones are made daily at the small stand located in the shopping center between the Huddle House and Larry’s BBQ.
“It does stay pretty busy,” she said.
Frank places a large circular block of ice on a machine that shaves it. This process is repeated a number of times depending on how many cones are ordered and the size of each cone.
Once enough shaved ice is in the plastic cone, Frank takes a funnel and shapes it into a ball. This was a process that used to be more difficult.
“We used to do it by hand,” she said. “We found the funnels and that’s now what gives them their shape.”
The stand makes its own ice blocks, Frank said, to cut down on overhead and because it’s easier.
“We try to do it ourselves so we don’t run out,” she said.
The stand has 58 flavors. Some with interesting names, like Hulk and Ninja Turtle as well as Lion King and Little Mermaid. The most popular flavor is a strawberry-coconut concoction simple known as Tiger’s Blood. The stand has sugar –free options as well.
In addition they serve milkshakes in classic flavors such as chocolate and vanilla as well as any of the 58 other flavor combinations.
The stand is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.