Seattle Soft Serve

Milk Drunk is some of the best textured soft-serve in Seattle, hands down. Seriously. Their ice cream base is made in-house, which makes the dairy-queen-like texture even more impressive. On paper, Milk Drunk is a fried chicken joint with soft-serve as a fun dessert. In reality, its the soft-serve that you'll remember. They've got classic flavors like vanilla, chocolate malt, and strawberry (vegan!), but don't hesitate to try their seasonal flavors; the ube is fantastic.

Indigo Cow's claim to fame is its special milk. Importing milk from Hokkaido, Japan seems like an awful lot of fuss for simple soft-serve. I can tell you firsthand that the fuss is worth it. The ice cream base is really what shines at Indigo cow: the milk's rich vanilla-like flavor is highlighted tastefully with toppings like fruit sauces and chocolate syrup. You can go all out and get a cone topped with dango and brown sugar syrup, but I'd recommend keeping it simple.

Rachel's Ginger Beer soft serve is reliable and simple. Nothing more and nothing less. They have two flavors (vanilla and pineapple Dole whip), no toppings, or add-ons. But simple doesn't mean boring. Since they have ginger beer on tap, you can get a ginger beer float! Their vanilla is made in-house, and while it didn't have a stand-out texture it does have an excellent milk-forward flavor. RGB is certainly worth a stop on a hot summer day.

Cosmic Ice Cream is a delightful ice cream truck that does the basics right. Their vanilla base tastes strong (in a good way) and feels like it omits common stabilizing agents. Together it makes for cold (!) and delicious ice cream. I like it in a cone with animal crackers, but you can get it matcha or red velvet cones. They even have floats (root beer, orange soda, Coke, Dr. Pepper, or kombucha)!

If you see them at the Fremont Sunday market, don't miss out!

Frankie & Jo's will change your mind about vegan ice cream. Located in a sleepier part of Ballard right by the 17th St Greenway, Frankie & Jo's hosts inventive dairy-free hard serve and (more importantly) soft serve. Soft serve is a seasonal item (June-September) and is only served at their Ballard location. Frankie & Jo's has a relatively small menu, but excels with interesting, homemade tasting toppings. Their soft-serve base is vanilla flavored and made with a combination of oat, coconut, and cashew milk. It has great vanilla flavor and a pleasant nutty/oat-y undertone that rounds out their toppings.

I got the Strawberry Shortcake sundae ($14) which is a generous serving of ice cream drizzled with strawberry-beet syrup and garnished with zucchini pound cake. Each sundae has an ingredient or two that offers a twist on classic flavors, for instance, Chaga Hot Fudge or Smoked Fudge S'mores. Their hard serve is pretty good too. For more adventurous picks try the California Cabin (pine and smoked vanilla), or the Salty Caramel Ash (activated charcoal).