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Warm weather welcomes new shave iced shop
McCOOK, Neb. — Tucked into the northwest corner of the B Street Auto Spa and sharing the car wash's pure RO water to make crystal-clear ice, "Tropical Sno" opened Friday morning in McCook.
Nan Schaper of Olathe, Kan., co-owner of the new shave ice establishment with her husband, Dan, and their daughter and son-in-law, Kristen and Josh Cherry of McCook, is excited about offering shave ice to McCook residents and travelers to and through the community.
Nan said her brother-in-law has sold snow cones for 35 years in southeast Kansas, where they love their shaved ice snow cones. "They actually have an 'Opening Day' just like the baseball season does," Nan said, chuckling.
It was at Christmas time last year when Nan and Dan and Kristen and Josh were discussing what to do with open space available within the car wash complex. It was Josh's suggestion, "Why don't we do snow cones?" that led them to investigate "Tropical Sno."
It's quite a process to create the perfect ice for a "Tropical Sno" cone. RO water freezes in ice cream tub-size "blocks" — 72 at a time — for two days in two large upright freezers. They're then transferred as needed to a chest-style freezer and then a chest cooler that eventually soften the block enough to "shave" perfectly.
The shave ice girls have perfected the technique of packing the ice so that it's tight, but not too tight to accept the flavor mixes.
Powdered flavor packets have been blended with RO water and sugar to create the quintessential "Tropical Sno" flavors: 38 individual flavors and 36 blends. ' course, any of those can be mixed in endless custom combinations. Cups come in three sizes.
Josh said they'll offer multiple "Flavors of the Week" not listed on the menu.
Kristen said her favorite flavor is "Tiger's Blood," which sounds disgusting but it's really a concoction of strawberry and coconut. "It has 'a little cinnamonny' flavor to it," she said, "but what really makes it the best is the cream you can ask for on top. Yeah, it's the cream that really makes it."
Nan said, contemplating, "Oh, I don't know. The 'Mudslide' is awfully good … "
Kristen thinks a little, "I really haven't had a flavor that I didn't like."
What really, really impresses Nan, however, is the Tropical Sno "spill stopper" that holds the cup of melting ice and slurpy flavoring. "It's a 'game changer' for parents," she said, with a chuckle.
Tropical Sno is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. It will be open seasonally, from early April through "some point in October," Josh said. " … depending on the weather."
The walk-up "Sno" window is on the northwest corner of the blue-and-white building at 414 West B.
The Cherrys and the Schapers are partners, too, on the B Street Auto Spa that opened in September of 2018. The auto spa has high-power vacuums, a self-serve wash bay, a brush wash bay, a touchless wash bay, an oversized self-serve bay and an "All Paws Pet Wash."
It's painted Neptune blue and ocean wave white, which complements perfectly the summer-fun "Tropical Sno" color theme.
Nan said that she and Dan are impressed with McCook. She said, "What we've noticed about McCook is its pride in the community.
The homes and yards, and its businesses are well taken care of. People take pride in their town. This is the reason we're willing to invest in McCook."