For most people, Monday morning represents the return to another week of drudgery at work or school. As most people are clearing their inboxes or struggling to stay awake through their first class of the week, some Denverites are waiting patiently for a chance at the latest flavors from Sadboy ice cream.  

Founded by Michael Kimball, the namesake Sadboy himself, the online creamery offers unique flavors specially designed to cure the blues. Patrons can order these exclusive pints starting at 10am on Monday for pickup later in the week at a designated location. Often these “drops” sell out in a matter of minutes if not seconds, but when the dust settles, a lucky few know they will soon be able to get their hands on some of the finest ice cream in the city. 

Kimball recalled that some of his earliest memories were getting vanilla ice cream cones with his dad and grandpa, and he has been partial to vanilla ever since, despite his customer’s pleas for more chocolate flavors. “I’ve always been a vanilla boy,” Kimball confessed.  

A distinct combination of technique, ingredients, and process are what constitute Sadboy’s “secret sauce” of sorts, and it all comes together into Sadboy’s distinctive flavor and texture. The Sadboy base is born out of a combination of ice cream, custard, and gelato making techniques which Kimball says gives Sadboy a very dense, almost chewy, texture and allows for more flavor impact. Ice cream this extraordinary also requires an extraordinary dedication of time and labor to the craft of ice cream making.  

Kimball originally worked out of the kitchen at City O’City, a popular vegetarian restaurant in Capitol Hill that still serves as Sadboy’s pickup location, during the early hours of the morning before the restaurant opened. Now, two and a half years in, Sadboy operates with a small team out of a shared production kitchen in the Sun Valley neighborhood, and is doing better than ever. Kimball explained how special it is to see so many people eager to get their hands on his creations. “I’m glad people appreciate a more thoughtful product that you kind of have to go out of your way to get.” People love the flavors, and Kimball even shared that he and his team have been able to put out some flavors suggested by the community, such as Key Lime Pie and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  

“The goal has been and always will be to make the best ice cream in the Milky Way,” Kimball added, “but we definitely want to make it more accessible.” While many have speculated that Sadboy may one day open a brick-and-mortar store, Kimball said that a traditional scoop shop isn’t in their plans. “We’re not trying to do it like everyone else.” He did however say that he wants to be able to move into a larger kitchen and be able to offer more accessible hours, do more pick-ups, and ideally have more pints available on site for “those times when you’re really sad but you didn’t plan ahead.”