Where's Marty? Chilling With AAA Ice As Ice Becomes A Hot Commodity
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Friends, it is the season for heaven in a cone—the snowball.
Today, K2 and I went to the AAA Ice Company on Belair Road to see where a lot of the ice for snowballs are made.
In business since 1921. This family operation is in the business of making ice cubes, dry ice, ice carvings, and blocks of crystal clear ice.
John McPherson, who owns the company, said it makes tens of thousands of ice cubes per day. It measures the amount of ice in tons made per day.
The AAA Ice Company even supplies ice to the Baltimore Orioles.
So it is very possible that your last drink at Camden Yards may have contained ice cubes born in Overlea, Maryland. Perhaps your snowball was made with their product.
McPherson said there has been a noticeable uptick in business when the summer hits.
That is how vast the demand for snowballs is.
In one of their two main production rooms, the temperature is 18 degrees.
So when power outages occur, they are massive—and bad.
AAA ICE is part of the industry that gets that ice out to those in need of it after days without power.
But back to the heart of the matter: is it a snowball or a snow cone?
In Baltimore, the ice concoction is called a snowball. The stands are called snowball stands, not snow cone stands.
But at some touring national productions like ice shows and the circus, they are sold as snow cones.
That may seem wrong, but that is likely because Baltimore is the snowball capital of the world.
Another topic guaranteed to get a discussion going is, "marshmallow or no marshmallow?"
Some people say no to marshmallows because the goo gets too hard amid the cold of the ice.
How about "Egg Custard ever?" And exactly what goes into Egg Custard flavor? Sky Blue is another enigma.
These questions could continue all snowball season, and there would be nothing wrong with that either.