Kakigori, or Japanese shave ice, is inherently ephemeral. It won’t keep for longer than it takes you to eat it; its soft, snowy shaven ice crystals will harden in a freezer or melt in the fridge. The pile of juice, tea, or syrup-drizzled ice is often stacked tall and precarious, requiring thoughtful scoops to retain its structural integrity. Eating kakigori forces you to focus and savor, to taste the lingering flavor of sweet cream or matcha or coffee syrup as ice dissolves on your tongue.
As a kid, hot days didn’t actually call for ice cream in my house — a heavy dairy treat never really appealed to
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