Our Favorite Fruit Syrups For Shave Ice

We've been obsessed with shave ice lately, hunting around for the best halo-halo in NYC and tinkering in the Test Kitchen to perfect a red-white-and-blue beauty for the Fourth of July.

Once you splurge on a machine, hand-cranked or otherwise, you'll want to make the stuff all the time, so it's wise to keep these fruity syrups on hand. Bonus: When the summer is over, they'll make a great base for homemade sodas.

Morris Kitchen ($12)
We love this very spicy and subtly sweet Brooklyn-made syrup. And it's a natural partner for a cocktail involving those bourbon-soaked cherries.

June Taylor ($9.50)
These dreamy concoctions have a distinctly northern Californian sensibility: Try grownup plum-bay leaf or gently floral rose geranium.

Quince and Apple ($13)
The flavors of sour cherry and pomegranate dovetail neatly in this silky cherry grenadine from the Midwest. Or try the lively, complex rhubarb-hops version.

P&H Soda ($10)This darkly-hued hibiscus soda syrup is made with dried flowers and organic cane sugar. Fruity and a tad dry, it's maker Anton Nocito's take on West Indian and Mexican drinks.

Royal Rose ($12)
We dig the summery flavors of ripe strawberry with licorice-leaning fennel seeds. Feel free to drizzle it on vanilla ice cream, too.

Small Hand Foods ($12)
Bartender Jennifer Colliau made her syrups for cocktails, specifically, but her classic grenadine (pomegranate syrup) is tart, pink perfection on a pile of shave ice.

Sonoma Syrup ($13)
This dark syrup, made with sassafrass root and birch bark, has the power to make a cone of shave ice taste like a creamy root beer float.