Raspados time: A guide to great Mexican snow cones and where to find them in metro Phoenix
Andi Berlin
Loaded with fresh fruit and stacked with peanuts and spicy tamarind candies, the Mexican snow cone, or raspado, has always been made with whimsy and creativity.
The shops themselves are wonderlands, their walls decorated with colorful pictures of shaved ice creations and their counters displaying a seemingly endless selection of ice creams, fruit flavored syrups, candies and over-the-top snacks like tortilla chip tostilocos covered in pickled fruit Chamoy sauce.
In the past, many raspados shops would stack their fruity snow cones in white foam cups, but now, inspired by social media platforms like Instagram, shops are getting even more into creative presentations and switching over to clear plastic cups that showcase the colorful layers of crushed ice, homemade fruit syrups and sweetened condensed cream, sometimes topped with ice cream and sprinkled with everything from candy to fresh fruit. Another new trend is to throw an entire popsicle into the drink, creating a hybrid raspado-paleta dessert.
The staggering array of options can be thrilling, but also overwhelming. So, to get you started, here's a list of some of the Valley's best raspados shops and the delicious treats you should order at each one.
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Paleta raspado at El Botanaso
This west side snack shop has a raspados menu with some interesting syrups made from chicle, the tiny chewing gums you'll see being sold on the street in Mexican border towns. But for a jam-packed experience, you need to order a "paleta ahogada" drowned fruit popsicle. Inspired by a bright green creation I saw on Instagram, I ordered mine with a lime pop and lime-flavored syrup. The bottom of the cup held a red layer of Chamoy topped with the fruit pop and shaved ice, which was sprinkled with spicy Tajin chile powder and another drizzle of sticky Chamoy. The lime tasted a little artificial, but it had a powerful sour pucker that I liked. Not for the raspados novice, but rewarding nevertheless.
Details: 3935 N. 67th Ave., suite 102, Phoenix. 623-440-6755, el-botanaso.square.site.
Passion mango at Raspados Imperial
The Passion mango is a variation of the popular mangoneada or mango loco flavor, which often includes fresh pieces of mango laced with fruity Chamoy sauce and Tajin chile powder. Raspados Imperial has both a mango loco and a passion mango flavor on their menu. The Passion mango comes topped with a big pile of Japanese peanuts along with both pellets and strings of chile tamarind candy, which are all covered in Chamoy. For an added layer of fun, they add a few fat slices of fresh mango and a tamarindo candy stick.
Details: 4344 W. Indian School Road, suite 29, Phoenix. 602-441-0423.
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Rompopo raspado at Realiza Michoacana
The walls of this charming raspados shop on 16th Street are covered in murals of kids in mariachi uniforms, Spider-Man and Dora the Explorer, and the fruit syrups here are some of the most impressive in town, with large chunks of real fruit like mangos and strawberries swimming in the sweet liquid. Among the syrups is an interesting flavor that I hadn't seen in other shops: rompope, Mexican egg nog. The flavor is made with eggs, vanilla flavoring, milk and a little cinnamon, which form a sweet syrupy cream that's spooned over ice. Add an extra dollop of sweetened condensed cream to the snow cone, to make it almost like drinking ice cream. As the eggnog mixes with the ice, it transforms into a slushy-like concoction.
Details: 2520 N. 16th St., Phoenix. 602-271-4527, places.singleplatform.com/realeza-michoacana/menu.
Nanche raspado at Neveria Charly's
In between the limon and jamaica flavors at this festive green shop in Glendale, I spotted an unfamiliar word, nanche. The English description read "tropical apricot," which was just as intriguing. Turns out, the tropical apricot is a popular flavor in the Mexican state of Veracruz on the Caribbean coast. The apricots look rather like olives or maybe a small cherry. The small, yellowish fruits are layered onto the top and bottom of this yellow drink. The bulbs themselves had a crisp flesh and were a little sour, while the syrup had a lychee-like taste. Consider this an interesting alternative to the tart pineapple raspado.
Details: 5821 N. 67th Ave., suite 105, Glendale. 623-594-2127, facebook.com/NeveriaCharlyss.
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Strawberry raspado with coconut ice cream at Amigos Carniceria
In the Pascua Yaqui pueblo of Guadalupe, there's a bright raspados shop in the front of a popular carniceria and market. The shop at Amigos plays cumbia classics like Sonora Dinamita on the speakers, and lets you pair your raspados with any kind of ice cream from the case. The shop had some interesting flavors like tamarindo, which can be made with spicy chile flakes, and tropical fruits like guayaba. But I decided to go for a strawberry raspado with coconut ice cream and a layer of crema or sweetened condensed milk. The creamy, fresh coconut provided the perfect contrast to the sweet strawberry syrup. For something a bit lighter, the watermelon raspados is also sweet and refreshing, even without ice cream on top.
Details: 9210 S. Avenida del Yaqui, Guadalupe. 480-590-4822, facebook.com/Amigos-carnicería-106674411480382.
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Reach reporter Andi Berlin at amberlin@azcentral.com or 602-444-8533. Follow her on Facebook @andiberlin, Instagram @andiberlin or Twitter @andiberlin.