A Visit to Salt & Straw on Capital Hill

There can never be too many ice cream spots in Seattle. And lucky us, Salt & Straw from Portland, OR just opened not one, but two locations here. Ballard and Capital Hill got a Salt & Straw last month, so we headed to the closest one, the Cap Hill location, to visit. We've checked it out in Portland and were impressed with the quality and taste of the ice cream. I love how for only 50 cents you can do a split scoop and try two flavors. Because you're going to want to have at least two here. They don't mess around when they make their ice cream.

 And what I think is really cool? Since they just opened in Seattle, they've partnered with some local businesses to create some amazing flavors.  Fran's, Intrigue Chocolates, Theo Chocolates, Beecher's Cheese, Ellenos, and Rachel's Ginger Beer are some of them. They've also created the Seattle Chocolatier Series featuring five local chocolate businesses.

I couldn't pass up trying Theo's Big Daddy S'mores. It's a smoked-salt chocolate ice cream with ribbons of caramel, marshmallow fluff, and homemade graham crackers. I didn't know caramel was making an appearance so I was happily surprised. I ordered a split scoop of that one with the Beecher's Cheese With Peppercorn Toffee in a waffle cone. That one sounded too interesting to pass up and I'm glad I ordered it. They turn an aged peppercorn Marco Polo cheese into a creamy cheese swirl and add it to a salted ice cream. Then they use their homemade green and black peppercorn butter brittle. I was impressed with both flavors and would eat this ice cream cone again in without hesitation.

Since my family was along, I got to try three more flavors! Poor me, right? My husband ordered  one scoop of the Ellenos Yogurt & Matcha. His ice cream cone was a bright and vibrant green color and tasted like Green Tea Cheesecake. They didn't turn it into frozen yogurt when making it, instead they folded it into ice cream. Then they cooked it down with some sugar, turning it into a pudding. They then swirled it into a matcha ice cream made with honey, salt, and orange juice. His cone looked like spring and tasted like happiness.

Our sons each got a kid scoop in a cup. One tried the Chocolate Gooey Brownie and the other tried some Coconut Mint Chip Cupcake. The Chocolate Brownie was really chocolaty and hit the spot and we loved the big chunks of brownie. They also use a homemade marshmallow fluff to take this one up a notch. The mint one was light and minty, but with nice big chunks of homemade chocolate cupcakes. This one is also vegan, not that you'd have any idea. They use a rich coconut ice cream with chocolate and pure peppermint oil from Seely Farm, then they add the pieces of cupcake.

I think you'll be surprised and satisfied if you go to any Salt & Straw. And I love how they team up with the local places to create this one of a kind ice cream. Now we don't have to drive to Portland to get our fill.