Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we give our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems.)

After a fancy dinner in June to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, the server handed my husband and me dessert menus. We glanced at it, looked at each other and said, “Power Cone!”

So off we headed to Arvada’s newest ice cream shop, hoping to make it before Power Cone ran out of ice cream for the night or the owner closed the door at 10 p.m. We skirted inside just before closing to enjoy the best soft serve in the Denver metro.

Power Cone pitches itself as serving “most excellent soft serve.” We agree. It sources its dairy products from Morning Fresh Dairy Farm in Bellvue (Larimer County), where the farmers raise their cows, grow their feed and bottle their milk. The store uses organic A2/A2 milk powder from Alexandre Family Farm in California. That type of milk has different proteins from most cows’ milk and is believed to be better absorbed by the human body.

Power Cone also uses organic sugar cane and fair-trade vanilla and cocoa. The only other ingredients are guar gum (a natural thickener) and soy lecithin (an emulsifier).

You can choose from chocolate, vanilla or strawberry and add toppings such as peanuts, cookies, potato chips and sprinkles. Or go wild and order a chocolate-dipped cone (waffle cones are available, too). Power Cone also makes sundaes and floats.

But that’s it.

And it’s all you need from this family-owned ice cream shop.

The owners put so much care into their products and it shows when the ice cream machine twists soft serve into a waffle cone. The flavors are natural and the cream is rich and smooth. The chocolate tastes like real chocolate, not some artificial “chocolate-like” imitation. Same with the vanilla. (We haven’t sampled the strawberry.)

Pete Castleberry, the “cone experience officer” and an owner, is a quirky dude who posts silly videos on Power Cone’s Instagram account. He makes a Power Cone visit all the more fun. And he is super nice.

The shop even gives back to the community by donating 5% of gross revenues to charity.

On Juneteenth, the shop gave 25% of its sales to Youth Seen and Black Pride Colorado.

On our anniversary night, the cashier asked why we were dressed up. When we told her we were celebrating a special day, Pete overheard while making a waffle cone and said, “Ice cream is on us tonight.” What a surprise — especially when a new shop is trying to make it in the rough-and-tumble food industry. We tipped generously that night.

Power Cone is at 8295 Ralston Road in Arvada. It’s open every day except Monday from 1 to 10 p.m. (summer hours). powercone.love