Our Daily Show Interview! Tropical Sno & Lotus Energy: The Most Creative Way Find Energy

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EDWARDSVILLE - It might be cold, but that’s not stopping Tropical Sno & Lotus Energy in Edwardsville from sharing their sweet treats with the community.

Tropical Sno & Lotus Energy, located at 2323 Plum Street in Edwardsville, sells Tropical Sno snow cones, Lotus Energy drinks, homemade s’mores and, starting sometime in the next few weeks, Dippin’ Dots. David and Melody explained that they love creating new drinks and flavors for their customers to enjoy, and they are looking forward to introducing Dippin’ Dots to their lineup.

“I’ve always wanted a big, year-round drink shop,” David said. “We really do have something for everybody.”

According to David, the idea behind the shop was to bring together brands and share their products with the Edwardsville community. Tropical Sno and Lotus Energy are national brands, and the shop sells their products in one location.

“I don’t want to create brands,” David explained. “I want to bring brands that are already known and that everybody likes.”

The people of Edwardsville have quickly grown to love the shop’s diverse offerings. Melody explained that Lotus Energy has its base flavors, and then the shop can mix in different flavors and syrups to create “customized energy drinks” for each customer. They also have a flavorless caffeine pump; every pump adds 80 milligrams of caffeine, making the caffeine levels customizable as well.

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In addition to snow cones and Lotus Energy drinks, they sell hot, iced and blended coffees. Banana bread, German chocolate and butter pecan are their current top coffee flavors. Many of their coffees are flavored with fruit.

The shop also carries Bill’s Lemonade and will soon release more information about their Dippin’ Dots addition.

All of the drinks are customizable. Melody also encourages customers to order from their popular fall, winter and Valentine’s Day menus. She creates customized coffee and Lotus Energy drinks for every special menu, taking inspiration from recipes she finds online, orders from her regulars, and experimentation.

“I started making random drinks, and now I make every single holiday menu, random coffees, random Lotus drinks, random slushies,” she shared. “I have a girl who comes in and makes a different drink every single day. And I take that with me and I’m like, ‘Oh, if that’s good, what if we add pineapple or coconut or something to it, or what if we change the White Lotus to Pink Lotus?’ And then I try it, and if it’s good, I add it to the menu.”

David said that Melody “makes magic happen” with these experiments. In addition to the drinks and snow cones, the shop sells s’mores with nine different flavors, from Snickers to Cookie Monster.

The shop offers Mobile Tropical Sno, a snow cone truck that can travel to events and parties. David also oversees FoamZees, which provides foam parties for kids around the Riverbend. For more information about these services, David encourages people to reach out to him on the Mobile Tropical Sno Facebook page.

David and Melody always look forward to creating new drinks and sharing different brands with the Edwardsville community. They are proud of how the shop is growing. The Tropical Sno & Lotus Energy shop welcomes loyal customers and new faces every day.

“It ranges from 5-year-olds to 80-year-olds,” Melody added. “I know people by name at this point that come in on a daily basis.”

For more information about Tropical Sno & Lotus Energy in Edwardsville, including their Dippin’ Dots addition, visit their official Facebook page.