Trip Number: 3
Where: The Holy Donut, Portland, ME
Date: Sunday, October 23, 2016
Katie: Regular Coffee
Addie: Hot Chocolate
Mileage: 3.33 miles
Bike Friendliness:  Great.  There is one bike “post” right out front and several street signs you can lock up to.  They also advertise this program where you can pay $5 for a sticker and get discounts at hundreds of businesses if you bike there.  Addie and I haven’t joined yet, but we would have gotten a free donut if we had.

This place is quite famous.  Maybe you’ve heard of it?  It shows up on my Facebook feed quite frequently among the top 10 or 24 donuts in the country and has made the news in Bon Appetit, New York Times, Boston Globe, etc., so we had to include it in our Coffeeneuring escapades.

Check out the drool-worthy display.  I’m lucky enough that my place of work brings in Holy Donuts every Wednesday.  I’m really quite spoiled.  Addie and I visited the Park Avenue location because it’s closest to our house and not to mention the original location.  If you’re not already aware, Scarborough residents are about to get their own.

The line was pretty long, but it moved fast, and I’ve seen it way worse.  I run by the Exchange Street location quite frequently, and even in early hours (in the summer), the line is out the door and up the street.  My coffee was fine – nothing to write home about – but they’re really more about the donuts than the coffee.  So am I for that matter.  Addie thought her hot chocolate had a distinct coffee flavor.  I tasted it and thought it just might have been made with a less sweet chocolate.

Far be it from me to say anything against a Portland institution, but the texture of the vanilla-based donuts is just a bit too – rubbery is a bit too strong of a word – chewy maybe? for me, but the chocolate sea salt are perfect. We went with three of a sure thing and also tried the coffee cake which was really good, good old fashioned vanilla-glazed, and triple berry.

The funniest donut they have is Allen’s Coffee Brandy.  For some reason, this is the Maine state drink.  Chances are good if you’re in the supermarket on Friday after work, the person in line in front of you will be buying Allen’s Coffee Brandy and milk.  It’s kind of the poor man’s Sombrero or Black Russian.

We decided to try for a less hilly ride home and continued down Park Street past the Expo and Sea Dogs stadium.  That did turn out to be a better route, but the wind was blowing like crazy from our left to right and almost pushed us into each other.  Once we turned onto a not-so-scenic St. John St., the wind was at our backs, and the rest of the ride was quite pleasant.  Addie was having trouble changing her gears on our last big hill, so she held my bike while I pedaled her tiny bike and put it in her easiest gear.  After that, she just crushed the hill.  I think I will try to buy her a nicer bike in the spring.  Any recommendations?

I love putting cool things in my bike basket.  I’m sure many people who passed us on the way home were quite jealous of my cargo.  The donuts are so rich that Addie and I hardly made a dent in them which the rest of the kids appreciated when we got home.

This was the first time I used my bike basket.  We were on a cauliflower roasting kick, and it was my work from home day, so I grabbed a sandwich from Rosemont.  I have this basket which is great now, but all the reviews are right that the hardware that comes with it is absolute crap.  Almost all the screws fell out on mine after just a few rides.  My friendly local Aubuchon store helped me replace them, and it’s been great ever since.

This was the coolest cargo my basket has carried.  We were doing a beer tasting party at my house of local Pale Ales.  We threw a Miller Lite in there to throw people off, but no one was fooled.

Anyway, we are loving our Coffeeneuring experience.  Thanks to Chasing Mailboxes for linking to us.  Hope you’re all enjoying yourselves as well!