Shave ice syrups in Hawaii are often flavored with local ingredients such as guava, pineapple, coconut cream, passionfruit, li hing mui (Chinese plums), lychee, kiwifruit, and mango.

The history of Hawaiian shave ice can be traced back to one particular ice-based dessert that originates from Japan's Heian period, which spanned the 8th through 12th centuries CE.

[2] During the early 1900s of the Meiji period, the development of new technologies allowed ice to be cheaply made and stored, leading for greater consumption among various types of people.

[5][11] The ice can be made in house by freezing pure water in containers very slowly over a period of days, while constantly agitating the mixture to ensure impurities are not incorporated.

[15] Traditional syrups are made from sugar, flavoring extracts, and additional coloring elements with acid incorporated to enhance preservation.

[10] Syrups are often flavored with local ingredients such as banana, pineapple, lilikoi (passionfruit), guava, lychee, kiwifruit, mango, and coconut cream, and are found in other regions around the world, such as in bingsu (Korean), tshuah-ping (Taiwanese), and halo-halo (Filipino) shave ice variants.

[10][5][16][11] Bubble gum, vanilla, lemon-lime, green tea, strawberry, cherry, grape, watermelon, coke, root beer, and fruit punch have also been incorporated into syrups for shave ice.

New syrup flavors are constantly being developed including more unusual ones such as li hing mui (salty dried Chinese plums), melona, ginger, and pickled mango.

After the ice block is taken out of the freezer, it needs to be tempered by leaving it out at room temperature for roughly 15 minutes so it begins to melt slightly.

[10] While the machine runs, the operator rotates the container and shapes the ice flakes with one hand to get the intended size and consistency.

[12] Many global variants of ice-based desserts that are similar to Hawaiian shave ice can be found in a number of different countries.