Denver: Voodoo Doughnuts

On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is being burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft and 10 is inventing a time machine so that you can relive the best taste in your life whenever you want, Voodoo Doughnut in Denver, Colorado scores an 8 in our book.

Are you prepared to hear about the best doughnut experience we've ever had? We've tried Dunkin' Donuts (and we're not huge fans of cake doughnuts). We've tried Rebel Donuts (read about it here). We've tried Krisy Kremes (delicious melt in your mouth goodness). And then we tried Voodoo Doughnut... and our expectations of doughnuts rose to a whole new level.

We stayed at a cute VRBO (Vacation Rental Based Option- great option for vacationing when you don't want to pay the cost of hotel and you want a stove and fridge) in Denver which had a guest book for those guests in the room to write in during their stay. Our first night there we read through all the entries and almost every single one of them mentioned this little doughnut shop. We decided we had to go the very next morning.,, and we fell in love.

This is a shop open 24/7 with over 90 glorious doughnut options. As you walk in, these treats spin in a glass case, showing off the artistry in their creation. We chose several options each and immediately went on to try them as we left. This is where I tasted the best doughnut I've ever had in my life: the doughnut with Oreo chunks on top and delicious cream filling inside.

It was so good that we went back again a few days later. This is a big deal because when you're only in a city for a few days, you don't repeat shops unless it is the best taste of your life. This was that type of of shop for us. We absolutely recommend it!

What is your most vivid tasting experience?

Albuquerque: Rebel Donut

On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is eating a doughnut literally made from rocks and 10 is eating a doughnut made in heaven, Rebel Donut scores a 5.

Many doughnut favors are uniquely found under this roof. The doughnuts were good and the company seems to be very proactive in supporting good causes. However, the doughnuts we chose didn't leave us craving more.

We had a day off and we wanted to do something...go somewhere...make something good happen in this day of our lives. But we felt so lazy; we weren't up for hiking, running, or really anything physical. So what is the best bad choice we could make? Doughnuts! I had been hearing rumors about a doughnut shop in town with awesome flavors and we just had to check it out for ourselves.

We walked into Rebel Donuts and were pleasantly surprised by how many options there were. Some ranged from The Homer (Simpson) to Blue Sky (cotton candy flavor from Breaking Bad) to Fruity Rebel (with Fruity Pebbles on top) to Maple Bacon Bar (literally with strips of bacon on top).

We picked a half dozen doughnuts and we sat down and ate all 6 of the donuts we picked out right then and there. They were good donuts, but we were expecting more. As fun as the flavors sounded, we didn't realize we were preparing to eat cake donuts. We both started with our Oreo choice and were expecting more than just a chocolate cake doughnut with a little bit of extra Oreo flavoring on the top (neither of us are huge fans of chocolate cake). We proceeded to the others. Orrin's favorite ended up being his lemon doughnut and mine was the birthday cake (we are pretty sure they actually used birthday cake batter). Nothing we had was awful, but we didn't have the best doughnut experience of our lives (like we did at Voodoo Doughnuts in Denver... read about that in a different blog post). They had many options for the doughnuts, but seeing strips of bacon on a doughnut just wasn't our thing.

Having said all of that, the two details I support most about Rebel doughnuts are their flexibility and their support for good causes. Checking out their facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/RebelDonut/), it soon becomes clear that they will use any excuse to be creative and make specialty doughnuts. Just in the first half of the month of February, they have had special doughnuts for the Superbowl, Valentine's Day, the Chinese New Year (year of the monkey), Fat Tuesday, Groundhog Day, and National Peanut Butter Day. Obviously this is a company that loves doughnuts and will use any excuse to make more. Look at how cute the groundhog below turned out!!

https://www.facebook.com/RebelDonut/photos/a.329651963755476.82169.329643497089656/952936238093709/?type=3&theater

While enjoying out doughnuts, we couldn't help but notice that this shop had a free book exchange bookshelf (painted up as zombie theme, of course!). We love that idea of helping the free exchange of knowledge even in your local doughnut shop! We also see posts about this shop helping out homeless people by bringing doughnuts and donated jackets from the group 505 Cycling straight to the shelter. This is a company worth supporting even just because of the way they try to look out for their community.

We do not plan on returning to Rebel Doughnuts because we would hope for more from the actual doughnuts, but we do think that this was a cute shop and that people in Albuquerque should stop by at least once.

Denver: Little Man Ice Cream

On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is licking a cactus and 10 is tasting the rainbow, Little Man Ice Cream in Denver, CO scores a 9.

Honest to goodness, the one complaint I have about this adorable shop in a giant 28 foot tall, 14,000 pound cream can is the line you have to wait in to get to the ice cream (because everyone else wanted their own scoop too!). This shop hand makes ice cream, vegan ice cream, and sorbet from local ingredients. Their ice cream section alone has around 57 delicious flavors (curious? Check them out here: http://www.littlemanicecream.com/menu/). On their walls are magnets displaying the flavors currently available, so each trip is a surprise at what options you may find. They have vintage uniforms and many fun events such as live music, slam poetry, and movie nights.

The moment when I absolutely fell in love with this company was when I learned about their scoop for scoop program. For every scoop of ice cream purchased at their shop, they promise to donate a scoop of rice, beans, or other essentials to anywhere in the world in need. According to their website, this shop has "delivered to communities in 9 countries spread across 4 different continents. Scoop for Scoop has helped to feed tens of thousands of the world's malnourished and hungry since Little Man opened in 2008. In 2015 alone, Little Man Ice Cream has operated four different Scoop for Scoop feeding programs in Guatemala, Uganda, and Peru." If you need an ice cream place you can believe in, I believe this is the one! Watch their video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2KrAVKTfuc

When you are only in a city for a week and you wish to return to a simple ice cream shop multiple times, you know it must be a great shop. We highly recommend it!