Some kinds of seasonality I subscribe to, even obsess over. (There’s nothing like a perfectly ripe summer peach, and I’ll opt for canned or frozen tomatoes over the spongy, bland tomatoes stocked year-round in most produce sections.) Others I’m convinced are the product of culture. While iced drinks may dominate summer menus in the United States, in Morocco, mint tea is traditionally served hot, year in, year out. No doubt a couple of my peak ice cream experiences have occurred during August and July, but there are benefits to choosing ice cream as a dessert when the weather is cooler. For one, the ice cream isn’t melting so fast that you’re forced to wolf it down, the only lasting impression one of having consumed a sizable portion of sugar and cream in a very short time. For another, you can stop into an ice cream store midafternoon and not have to jockey with a crowd of kids (or kids-at-heart) at the counter. And there’s something surprisingly satisfying about the brisk pairing of cold with cold.  

Anymore, there is no shortage of places to pick up a scoop of locally made ice cream in New Mexico. Chocolate shops from Kakawa in Santa Fe to ChocoGlitz on the border between Albuquerque and Rio Rancho offer a selection of cups or cones, tiny grocer ABQ sells pints, and pastry chefs at many a fine restaurant include house ice cream (sometimes striped with meringue) among their offerings. Here, I’m featuring independently owned ice cream shops that make their ice cream in house, with an emphasis on real ingredients (think mint chocolate chip that is not dyed a nuclear shade of green). No one under the age of eighteen will object to being ferried to one of these venues, but they all specialize, to some extent, in ice cream for adults.

TAOS COW

Yes, a zillion people have recommended the lavender ice cream at Taos Cow, but I shan’t let that stop me from doing the same. This probably isn’t one of those lavender-infused things that you’ll like even if you don’t like lavender—which, frankly, is what I like about it. I’m not crazy about ice creams with edgy flavors crafted so subtly that, sans the wall text, I’d have no idea what kind of ice cream art I’d been served. This is a lavender ice cream that tastes like lavender (sourced locally, no less). It’s not overly astringent, but I paired it with lemon, an agent proven by pastry chefs around the state (and world) to balance out lavender’s stiff floral notes.

Taos Cow, a.k.a. The Cow, is one of New Mexico’s longest standing independent ice cream shops, and they’ve made their own mix with Rasband Dairy since they opened in 1993. “We go every week, sometimes twice a week,” says founder Jamie Leeson. “We make our mix in their mix tanks; they pasteurize and homogenize it for us, then they bottle it.” That base of milk, cream, egg yolks, and sugar becomes ice cream within a week—ten days, maximum, Leeson says—produced at Taos Cow’s factory in Santa Fe. From there it travels to their two locations, one with courtyard seating in Taos’s Cañon neighborhood and the other a food truck with a clutch of tables and chairs scattered along the verdant streamside. The pistachio white chocolate, made with Eagle Ranch pistachios from Alamogordo, is general manager Curly O’Connor’s favorite; Leeson likes vanilla because it highlights the quality of their mix. Should you require additional sustenance beyond what ice cream can provide, both spots also offer full menus.

LA LECHERIA

“I’ll let you know when you’re cut off,” says the clerk as I sample my third or fourth flavor at La Lecheria. Then he extends another sample, the simple and charming dulce de leche. I started with the miso pistachio, which would have paired beautifully with the amaretto peach, but I can’t resist the green chile, which, although a standard offering on their menu of ever-rotating flavors, captures the season washing over us on my latest visit: it tastes precisely the way roasting chile smells. I’m almost amazed not to have to pick bits of charred peel out of my cup as I eat. La Lecheria has a roomy interior and mellow vibe, but I gravitate toward the outdoor tables, with the sweet, open sky views unique to the Santa Fe Railyard.

Founded by Joel Coleman in 2016, the quite literally chef-driven ice cream shop bears the distinction, somewhat rare for New Mexico establishments, of having been included in more than one national “best of” list. The chile is only one reason for this: Their ice cream is made from scratch onsite, starting with organic milk and cream (and sometimes egg yolks) from Organic Valley, a dairy co-op made up of hundreds of family farms, including several in southern Colorado. They use only organic sugar, and no stabilizers. As a chef, Coleman says, “I like knowing every step is in my control.”

La Lecheria’s flavor spectrum stretches from purist (their mint chocolate chip is actually made with mint) to eclectic (think flavors involving turmeric, guajillo, or kaffir lime) with plenty of crowd-pleasing seasonal specials (pumpkin spice latte, for instance) along the way. What stands out as much as the occasional seemingly out-there pairing (say, puerh and pecan—”like pecan pie with a hint of tea,” Coleman says) is the depth of flavor, often wrought from local ingredients, like nectarines or sweet corn. I love the Earl Grey, one of many fine flavors they’ve made using Artful Tea; their classic coffee is made with beans from Java Joe’s, and this summer they offered a triple chocolate in collaboration with Eldora Chocolate in Albuquerque, where you can also pick up their packaged cups.

HEIDI’S ICE CREAM SHOP

Announcements that Heidi’s Ice Cream Shop was coming started to trickle in two years before the shop’s grand opening in 2023. And, like most people who’ve had any of Heidi’s raspberry jams, I anticipated (correctly) that the ice cream would be good. My surprise was at how delightful the space is; situated in a district that’s home mostly to warehouses, restaurant supply stores, and the occasional brewery, I didn’t expect atmosphere. Without quite reaching secret-garden levels, the fenced-in courtyard feels private, tucked away, its solid tables flanked with flowers and green things. Inside, the ice cream counter affords views right into the kitchen space where the sweet stuff is made.

“I’m kind of a purist,” says Dimitri Eleftheriou, talking with Stephanie and Walt Cameron for their podcast, 5-Minute Fridays, and that shows in a menu that is all about the ice cream. Sure, they’ve developed kid-friendly flavors that involve fudge chunks and marshmallows, but simplicity reigns; I’m partial to the crème fraiche wild blueberry and jasmine milk tea & honey, pairings that balance distinctive sweet notes with discernible but not overpowering traces of sour and bitter.

“Everything we do, we make from scratch,” Eleftheriou tells me, from the custard base to the Graham cracker chocolate chunks and toasted marshmallows in their upcoming fall release: burnt honey s’more ice cream. Pastry chef Vanessa Martinez and freelance chef Daniel Garcia were key players in early R&D for the shop, which started, naturally, with raspberry. Now, Dimitri’s wife, Celestina Eleftheriou, is the head of ice cream research. Given their jam backgrounds, it’s not surprising that Heidi’s sorbets, from a straight raspberry to one with cucumber and Tajín, are also excellent; the pink peppercorn strawberry is among the most memorable sorbets I’ve ever eaten. 

PINK PONY SOFT SERVE

I first approached Pink Pony with the low expectations of someone who’s experienced alternately bussing tables and working the soft serve ice cream machine at an all-you-can-eat restaurant—meaning, among other things, that I was all too familiar with the hyper-processed liquid ice cream mix that kept that machine humming. But I was captured, first, by Pink Pony’s cherry dipped cone, a thing that tapped nostalgia notes I didn’t even know I had. Then there are the sundae toppings, from housemade concoctions like honeycomb brittle and pistachio butter to classics like caramel sauce and chocolate sprinkles to intriguing add-ons like blue electric dust, made from buzz button flowers. The ice cream itself is creamy, smooth, neither overly gummy nor grainy, and made with milk and cream sourced from Rasband Dairy.  

Pink Pony started its life as a food truck serving Santa Fe, then opened a brick-and-mortar in the tiny shop that was formerly home to Tonari No Mise, where they’ve cultivated the same kind of quiet but devoted following as their predecessors. The people who work here, at least in my experience, are gorgeously kind. The seating inside is limited—there’s bar seating along the window, as well as a couple chairs at one small table—but there’s also a bench outside, and departing customers generally seem to make room for new arrivals. I like the intimacy of the space, perhaps partly because it makes me feel okay about slipping in for a sundae cup on my way from one errand to the next. The lightness of soft serve doesn’t hurt.    

HELLO SWEET CREAM

Opened in 2024 in Eldorado, Hello Sweet Cream is a newcomer to Santa Fe’s ice cream scene, and many of the confections incorporated in their ice cream are made right in their shop. “Inspiration comes from everywhere,” says Ryan VanderGiesen, from cocktail books to team members to the farmers market, where he buys basil to make the compote that’s ribboned through their signature Basil Berry Cheesecake Crumble—a flavor that manages to evoke both the texture and flavor of real cheesecake while still feeling and tasting like ice cream. They use a sweet cream base made with dairy and sugar—no flavor extracts or syrups—and really do produce small batches, taking up to an hour to make one pan of ice cream.

I found Hello Sweet Cream at CHOMP food hall in downtown Santa Fe, but they’ve since moved out of that location, so, at least for now, you’ll have to make the trip to Eldorado to sample their goods. Their small menu achieves a nice balance between classic flavors and house inventions, like one pairing blue corn with pinon brittle from Señor Murphy Candymaker in Old Town Albuquerque. They’ve also been known to experiment with customer ideas, says VanderGiesen. “That’s the fun of staying small—it keeps us connected to the craft and the community.”

BURQUE LICKS

Burque Licks, opened in summer 2025, is something of an exception to this list—and not only in that teenagers are often staffing the ice cream cabinet. Ice cream flavors are aimed squarely at kids and lovers of rich sweet things: while there’s a black raspberry and a peach, most flavors lean into cookies, candy bars, and caramel. They do an ice cream taco loaded with whipped cream, and a sundae involving a massive brownie; even cones come dipped in chocolate and rolled in chocolate sprinkles.

The creators of this shop did their research and designed a place guaranteed to please its target audience: Brightly colored chairs and tables positioned on the outdoor patio make the spot impossible to miss from the road, and, thanks to the artistry of the same painter who did the owners’ ice cream shops in Baltimore, Maryland, that funhouse theme continues once inside. While the clerk recommended a cookie dough flavor, I went with the Burque Butter Crunch, with the faintest hint of spice from the green chile (sourced from the Fruit Basket ABQ) and lots of crunchy toffee bits.