The Taste of Sweet Action in Denver, CO

On a recent trip to Denver, I knew I needed to get some delicious homemade ice cream, but I had an unusual dilemma; there were too many choices! I had to weave through about a dozen different options to discern which one might be both delicious and relatively near my route. I left many options for next time, but I’m so glad I went with Sweet Action for my first ice cream in Denver.

It was a charming location in very walkable part of downtown. There’s a giant window that opens to the outside, sort of like a garage door, and that offers window seating with some shade and an inviting display for passing pedestrians.

I tried tons of flavors, as usual, and the super-nice staff member assisting me assured me that I could try every single flavor if I wanted to! Here’s what I tried:

Brown Butter Sage – This hits you first with the flavor or brown butter, creamy and subtle. Afterward, the sage comes in, and it’s fabulous. I apparently love sage! I knew I enjoyed it, but this definitely made me happy. Must love sage to enjoy this one!

Green Apple Peanut Butter Swirl – I thought this sounded bizarre, but I’m sure glad I went for it! It’s kind of a classic green apple candy flavor rather than necessarily the real thing (or maybe the real thing does taste like that when it’s concentrated), but this is super bright and fun. The peanut butter is just as you’d expect and hope for too. When you think about it, who doesn’t love apples and peanut butter as a snack? The creamy green apple base is refreshing and it tastes indulgent with the rich peanut butter. The staff person working with me said this was her favorite gluten-free flavor, currently.

Vegan Blueberry – Their vegan ice creams (they have several) mix coconut and soy for the base. It’s pretty creamy, but you can definitely taste the coconut in there. I enjoyed it for a nice summer flavor.

Horchata – This is a frozen version of the Mexican drink, which includes almond milk as its base. It’s just as tasty as the real stuff! Fun idea.

Salted Butterscotch – The butterscotch is strong here. I wonder if it could have had a touch more salt, or maybe something else? It’s tasty, but it felt a bit one note to me.

Lavender Goat Cheese – I don’t think this ice cream is quite as creamy as the Green Apple Peanut Butter Swirl, but that’s okay; it reminded me of the texture of actual goat cheese! The lavender is a bit subtle, and I found it got lost here. The goat cheese is fabulous. It goes well with the other flavors, I just think you’ll be bummed if you’re a huge lavender fan that it gets lost. Maybe don’t combine this one with other flavors like I did.

Strawberry Balsamic – This is a gorgeous flavor, beautifully mixing savory and sweet, genuine strawberry flavor, perhaps from jam or some sort of similar reduction. It’s almost like strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce! It’s so good and deliciously satisfying. It’s like a sundae in itself! If I can recommend anything for when you visit, I’d recommend you get this if it’s in stock.

Portions here felt decently generous. Maybe my large would be more like a medium elsewhere, but this triple scoop felt affordable given the crazy flavors – plus, in a bit city, I’d always expect a bit of a mark up for higher rents and such. Overall, this ice cream is very creamy and the flavors are creative and fun. I had an absolute blast trying the combinations, and the ice cream itself was very satisfying, probably the most well-executed “weird” flavors I’ve had in Colorado so far.

I definitely recommend Sweet Action! I’m also looking forward to returning to Denver to try some additional flavors. I also just learned that Little Man ice cream (of Denver) is opening a new location in Fort Collins this fall! I really, really hope they’ll be open before we leave the state, but either way, I hope it’s a big success and Fort Collins will have a new, delicious homemade ice cream option when I return. Fingers crossed!

If you enjoyed this article about ice cream in Denver, you might enjoy reading about my epic adventures in Tampa, including goat cheese habenero ice cream at Revolution, or you might want the scoop on the middle-of-nowhere Sandwich Creamery in New Hampshire.

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