In the past few years, Dunkin’ has become one of my favorite places to get coffee. I am not a huge fan of Starbucks, and while I will go to a local business if given the chance, there is something that can be said about the consistency of a chain like Dunkin’. Plus, Dunkin’ really saved me in college because there was a 24-hour location by my house.
However, in the past few years they have also made some very interesting business decisions as well. Not once in my life did I ever think that Dunkin’ was going to collaborate with Snoop Dogg, make a beer based on their donuts, or change their name by removing the “donuts” from their name. They’ve added so many different options to the menu in order to be trendier or apply itself to the mainstream more.
But one of the strangest things that I have ever heard them doing was create the “spicy” donut.
Why? Theories to Explain
After reading the press release, I feel like the company was trying to think of the wildest thing that they could conceive and sell their donuts based on the shock factor. Because if we’re being completely honest, Dunkin’, despite being the number one sellers of donuts in America, is the least common denominator when it comes to donuts. If they wanted to sell more donuts, they were going to have to change something, and what better way to increase hype by creating such an outlandish flavor?
Here’s the thing though: I think that a spicy donut can work. There is something about spicy and sweet flavors that makes an eating experience more interesting. Plus, if their marketing strategy was to create something go strange that people would get it… Well, it did pique my interest enough for me to get them. However, when I initially thought of a “spicy donut,” my first thought about what flavor would complement the best was not… Strawberry.
Dunkin's Mistake
That’s right. The Dunkin’ spicy donut is strawberry flavored. Honestly, who thought that was going to be a good idea? STRAWBERRY. S T R A W B E R R Y. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled about the idea of this particular spicy donut. I mean, who looks at a strawberry and thinks “Hm, this is good, but what if we made it spicy.” I can only imagine what the pitch meeting for this flavor was like.
Regardless of how I felt, I knew that I had to get my hands on this donut, so I went to my local Dunkin’ and asked the tired teenager if he could hand me half a dozen donuts, with three of them being this special donut. Even I could see his pain behind the bored look he was giving me. It kinda gave me hope that the donut was going to be a bit spicier than I originally imagined, but I was wrong to have that impression. So wrong.
First Impressions
Upon first impression, I just thought that the donut looked like something from Steven Universe (and apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought that because it was posted on Reddit as well). It had a colorful appearance with red sugar flakes to accent the pink frosting that it had. It was honestly one of the most visually appealing donuts that I had ever seen. Of course, the pictures that Dunkin’ posted on their website was much better looking, but I digress. The only thing that I was concerned about was the fact that it was the end of the day and the spicy donuts were completely full. It made me think that those donuts had been sitting on the shelf all day.
It looked like it had some promise...
Donut Anxieties
With foods like donuts, I’m always concerned about the strategy of eating the donut. I feel like it’s one of those foods that I always eat the same way, but it’s incredibly inefficient? Maybe that’s just a hang-up I have. And this is also my convoluted way of saying that I think I eat donuts weird.
After my first bite, my whole being was set into confusion. I wasn’t sure which flavor to focus on, but it was clear in that initial bite that those who created this flavor didn’t really think it all through.
Textures and Flavors
The base donut was fine. They clearly stated in their press release that the donut wasn’t going to be the extraordinary thing about this bread portion of this dessert. It was just going to be the base donut that they use for their frosted donuts. The key to the majority of the flavor was going to be in the frosting of the donut. The strawberry frosting.
However, the flavors of the frosting tasted a little off… I don’t think that the mixture of strawberry and ghost pepper really complimented each other in the slightest. It really just made everything taste foul and unappealing. And the red sugar flakes were just interesting to say the least. It added a different texture, but it wasn’t nearly interesting enough to save this donut from a mediocre taste.
Spices and Aftertaste
The spice only comes after a few seconds of eating the donut, and it really only leaves a foul taste in your mouth while singing it slightly. If anything, I wish that this donut just neglected taste and focused on singeing my tongue so that it would just be a numb piece of flesh. Or maybe that’s just the masochist in me. I just wanted them to pick a lane.
The worst part about this donut was that the foul taste didn’t leave my mouth. It just stayed persistent like an infection. Continuously bleeding and festering until ointment is applied. The ointment in this case was copious amounts of water.
Final Thoughts
Anyways, you should eat it if you have a “burning” curiosity because these donuts will be gone by December. Otherwise, you should just go to Krispy Kreme or another donut shop that is far superior.
Final Rating: 4/10.
Bonus
I think that this donut really missed the opportunity to be great by focusing on the wrong kind of flavor for the donut. Instead of strawberry, they should have used chocolate. So, this is my promise to you and me that I will create a spicy chocolate donut in the near future. I need to know if my theory is correct, so I will be testing it myself.
Wish me luck!
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