Spicy and sweet is a weird combination, to be sure, even if it is a delicious one. Before I jump down an Amazon rabbit hole on the hunt for spicy honey, it’s worth mentioning that major coffee chain Dunkin (just Dunkin, it’s in a Cher moment these days) is offering a new treat to go with your morning cuppa. The pink and orange-clad cafes are now serving a Spicy Ghost Pepper Donut, in which the strawberry icing is infused with cayenne and ghost pepper to create a wicked kick as you bite into the pastry, complete with red sanding sugar because Hell, I suppose.
All told, I tried one last week, and for extra “look out, we got a badass over here” points, I waited until I got to my day job and tried it, and it wasn’t all that bad. There’s spice there, but as someone who orders from Heatonist, the hot sauce retailer you may know from First We Feast’s web series Hot Ones (who also had a hand in making this specialty donut), it wasn’t something that required a fire to be put out in my mouth. It was fine. I can’t say I wouldn’t recommend it, as spicy strawberry is a weirdly fun combination, but it wasn’t mind-blowing or sphincter-igniting.
This isn’t the problem, though. As part of the campaign for the Spicy Ghost Pepper Donut, Dunkin is putting forth a social media hashtag: #DunkinSpicySide. This latest internet challenge involves people pranking their friends with the donut, surprising them with a kick in the teeth (and the taste buds) without their prior knowledge. Granted, this isn’t a Trinidad Scorpion infusion, the kind of thing that might get our own Chase Will to call me a little bitch for not being able to handle, but that’s not the point. There’s tons of literature out there that suggests that hot sauce can cause minor problems such as acid reflux or diarrhea, but in someone with heart or stomach issues the story can be even more inflammatory.
So this Halloween season, if you’re going to get donuts for your coworkers, don’t be a complete asshole. And if you’re going to, at least make sure you don’t pull anything on your poor friend with IBS, especially if they’re your roommate. Even if this donut’s biggest risk is dying of disappointment, best not to risk your plumbing.
Read the full press release on the Spicy Ghost Pepper donut here.
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