via BroBible
5-hour ENERGY® just released two new limited-edition flavors, Jelly Donut and Boston Cream. The only responsible way to test them was to hop on a bike and eat my way across Los Angeles.
I bought a bike at the start of summer and challenged myself to ride it as much as possible, both to shake up my cardio routine and to get to the beach without fighting traffic or feeding parking meters. I love my bike, so it turned out to be the perfect excuse for a little food adventure in one of the great donut cities in the world.
So when these new 5-hour ENERGY® flavors dropped, I gave myself a new challenge: pedal to four of LA’s best donut shops in a single day over the course of about 20 miles and settle the great Team Boston Cream vs. Team Jelly Donut debate once and for all. I called it the Tour de Donut, and you can ride along at home by grabbing both zero-sugar shots at 5hourENERGY.com or on Amazon.
TAP HERE TO BUY THE NEW 5-HOUR ENERGY® FLAVORS
Pro cyclists carb-load before a big ride. I decided to carb-load during the entire ride. After trying the new 5-hour ENERGY® donut flavors at the Stan’s Donut Run in Chicago, I chalked it up to “innovation.”
Watch my donut-eating quest here:
The day kicked off in Santa Monica with a big, cakey strawberry donut studded with actual fruit. This was the bougiest and fanciest stop on the ride, and every bite tasted like a sunny Saturday morning at the farmers market.
Of course, I washed it down with a Jelly Donut 5-hour ENERGY® shot. The pairing was sweet and tangy. It made me wonder why I usually start my days with such a boring cereal.
Next up was a stop at DK’s in Santa Monica. This shop is a Westside institution stacked floor to ceiling with every classic donut you could dream of. Believe it or not, I’ve never been. It felt like strolling into a glazed pastry cathedral for the confectionery senses, and I am a deeply devout man. I grabbed a Boston cream and a jelly-filled, because choosing just one felt like picking a favorite child when I saw how gigantic and delicious these things looked.
The Boston cream was freaking amazing, with the kind of custard that makes a grown man get misty while hunched over his handlebars. The jelly was perfection, a word I would end up using a lot that day.
That put me at three donuts before I’d pedaled anywhere close to burning one off. But I felt like I had plenty of fuel in the tank to get down to the beach in the heat of the afternoon.
TAP HERE TO BuY THE NEW 5-hour ENERGY® FLAVORS
Asking the people of Venice if they’re TEAM BOSTON CREAM OR TEAM JELLY DONUT?
From there, we cruised down to the world-famous Venice skate park, glaze still on my fingertips, to ask strangers the only question that matters…
Are you Team Boston Cream or Team Jelly Donut? Our boy Chris, in town from Minnesota for a baseball tournament, kicked things off. He informed us he was a donut connoisseur, which is exactly the kind of expert witness you want on a day like this.
The crowd did not hold back. One taster loved the little raspberry razz in the jelly. Another raved about how smooth the Boston cream went down. One guy declared himself Team Boston Cream, 100 percent. Someone else admitted, with the reluctance of a man betraying his own family, that the Boston cream was fire. The jelly loyalists held their ground the whole way.
Then three women visiting from Italy rolled up on rollerblades, tasted both, and were hopelessly torn among themselves. Italy has been perfecting pastry for centuries, so I took their split vote very seriously. A few minutes later, a guy whipped out a guitar and serenaded us with an on-the-spot song about 5-hour ENERGY®, which is about as Venice as it gets. The boardwalk has hosted plenty of heated debates over the years, but few with this much custard on the line.
Venice was a split decision, which is what happens when both choices taste like dessert. Luckily, you don’t need a bike or a boardwalk to join the debate. Grab a pack of Jelly Donut and a pack of Boston Cream and cast your own vote.
Then it was down the strand to Marina del Rey, where I paired a $3 coconut glazed donut with a Boston Cream shot. This was my *first* non-Boston Cream or Jelly Donut of the day, simply because they were out of each, and I had always wanted to try this place. The combo was a hit, like a tropical vacation routed on a detour through a bake shop.
Stop number four was an unassuming strip mall donut joint in El Segundo, right by LAX. It’s called Doughboys. It’s unassuming, and the kind of place you could drive past a hundred times without a second glance on your way for a burger after the beach.
I rolled up just as dusk was settling in, with a long, hot day of riding behind me. The owner gave us the full history of the place, all the way back to the mid-’80s, which means this shop has been quietly doing its thing for longer than I’ve been alive.
TAP HERE TO BuY THE NEW 5-hour ENERGY® FLAVORS
Then this humble little shop stole the whole show. Donut number five was a raspberry jelly-filled beauty oozing sweet, gooey jelly. Their Boston cream slapped just as hard, and I capped it all off with a maple bar for good measure.
The sun set and a summer day turned to evening. By the time I rolled back into Santa Monica, four shops and six donuts deep, I felt like a Tour de France champion on his victory lap. I started pondering some of my favorite donuts I’ve ever had in my life and ranking where the day’s pastries stood on the pedestal.
Then I launched into a rant about one of my favorite ideas in physics: the universe might be shaped like a donut, which would mean that if you traveled far enough in one direction, you’d roll right back to where you started. My day had followed the same sugary loop, from Santa Monica back to Santa Monica with six donuts along the ring. Maybe the whole cosmos is one enormous old-fashioned spinning through the dark, and we’re all sprinkles lucky enough to be along for the ride.
I’m so grateful to have 5-hour ENERGY® backing this side quest, because it checked off three things I love: delicious food, exploring beautiful Los Angeles, and riding my bike on a summer day. Now it was time to pick a side.
I started the day Team Boston Cream.
I’m ending it with Team Jelly Donut.
I blame the jelly donut at Doughboys in El Segundo, which was just that good. It was the perfect way to finish the quest. Pair it with the tart, crisp bite of the Jelly Donut shot and you’ve got a chef’s kiss of culinary perfection. Boston cream, we’ll always have breakfast.
Now it’s your turn to pick a team. Both flavors are limited edition, so grab your Jelly Donut and Boston Cream shots at 5hourENERGY.com or on Amazon while they last.
Thanks for riding along on the Tour de Donut. And remember, the universe is a donut. I checked several of them today, just to be sure.