Sweet Alchemy Ice Creamery — Restaurant in Seattle

Sweet Alchemy Ice Creamery, U-District, Seattle WA

Sweet alchemy, an interesting name (Witchcraft? Wizardry? or Magic?) but no matter the definition the result is some seriously good ice cream. Located in Seattle’s University District on the somewhat drab (if not a bit depressing) corner of University Ave and NE 43rd. Like much of the ‘Ave’, the surroundings are or can be a bit sketchy, but soon all will change when the new Light Rail station opens (on the end of the block) and Covid retreats to where, once again many small and unique businesses will come back to life. The creamery storefront is unassuming and the interior is even less so as Covid protocols and plexiglass shields somewhat ensure overall transaction time is quick, efficient and distanced (tap to pay as cash is taboo). But really who cares, in this case it's the destination, not the journey that counts, and our GPS was squarely destined towards two deliciously, freshly made waffle cones awaiting our arrival! With one filled with a scoop of Banana Nutella Crunch Ice Cream (Butter and brown sugar roasted bananas pureed into our sweet cream base with Nutella sauce and double roasted hazelnuts) along with a scoop of Coffee Ice Cream (Made with Olympia roasters organic big truck blend), and the other being another generously filled waffle cone featuring Darkside Ice Cream (Dutch choco with homemade Oreo and ganache swirl) and again more Banana Nutella Crunch. The silky small batch, organic, and locally sourced ice cream flavours are so genuinely rich, pure and incredibly more delicious than any other ice cream we have come across, its hard to put what your taste buds experience into words. The ice cream is more than rich so be careful that one's eyes don't exceed what one's tummy may accommodate. On our visit other deliciously sounding flavours on offer were London Fog Ice Cream (Earl gray tea with house blend of vanilla) and Persian Rose Ice Cream (Cardamom and rosewater ice cream with pistachio bits). Being ‘small batch’ you're not going to find 31 flavours, you're going to find a few unique and truly artisanal palate pleasing treats. Sweet Alchemy prides itself on using ingredients from meticulously selected local farms to deliver the best natural taste through many creative flavors. From doing a bit of research, it also seems that flavours change and continually evolve, and additional specialities such as Ice Cream Cakes and limited homemade baked goods are also available. Quantities of all their products are limited due to the devotion of individual product quality so selection may be limited. Staff are friendly and energetic within the Covid protocols enforced (that we all should abide by), if only abiding by one's diet was just as easy. Quality doesn’t come cheap hereabouts – a large waffle cone won’t leave much...

Sweet Alchemy is a great, alum run shop. I believe they have another location other than the one near UW now. Price isn't the best, but it's not awfully terrible. It's fairly proportional to the quality of the ice cream and honestly it might even be more "healthy?" Tastes like it and the ingredients are all provided, but to be honest, if you're getting ice cream, you don't care too much about that. They also have a ton of vegan options which means they're catering to all audiences, although I'm not a fan of the vegan ice cream here.

Location wise, it's in a great spot for students. Molly Moons is a bit far over at U-Vill and Salt & Straw is quite a ways to go. Cold Plate is deeper on the Ave. So that leaves you with Sweet Alchemy as a convenient spot for a sweet dessert.

On my first visit a few years back, I tried the Dark Side and it was very chocolately, a bit stronger than your usual chocolate ice cream. I was a fan and I think there may be brownie bits too? It's been a while so I can't recall completely. They have relatively classic options as well as their specialized flavors and I'd recommend going for any of the unfamiliar ones. The classic ones aren't too different than what you might get elsewhere so you're coming here for the special blends.

Got to try some other flavors at the U-District Food Walk. Dark Side was as I remembered, no complaints. Waffle Brittle was a great flavor as well, though the waffle bits were inconsistent. Some were a bit soggy which was not appealing whereas other pieces were fresher and crispy. Blueberry Lavender was also refreshing, you can definitely taste the lavender ice cream with a hint of blueberry flavor. I wasn't a fan of the UW Honey though, the sprinkles didn't help much either as they were kind of bland. Honey was like a sweet cream, but something threw me off, not sure...

Came here to satisfy my ice cream craving during the UDistrict Street Fair. The place was definitely hopping.

Ice Cream: I got the Salted Caramel Sundae and my friends got the London Fog and the Thai Ice Tea. For my sundae - they ran out of salted caramel ice cream so I got to replace the ice cream with 2 other flavors so I tried the chocolate chip cookie dough and the mint chocolate chip. The cookie dough one didn't have much of a flavor - really just vanilla ice cream. The mint chocolate chip was not bad - good minty flavor and felt fresh. The sundae itself was kind of a disappointment - they also ran out of caramel sauce for my sundae and the whipped cream was melted. The london fog and thai ice tea was really really mild, so hardly tasted the flavor. Not my favorite ice cream place...

I also got the Ube Shortbread cookie and I was told it was the owner's first time making them - I think they need more work because the shortbread cookie was a good shortbread cookie but there was no flavor of ube. The only ube thing about them was the color purple.

You also get a $1 discount on your purchase if you return the jar that the sundae came in and I did return the jar but since I wasn't buying anything extra, I asked if I can pass along the discount to the person standing next to me that was buying something and they said No........wouldn't it have been the same if that person handed in the jar? But they refused to give that person the discount. I thought...