Near midnight, when we checked into the cheapest hotel which didn’t have complaints, Marianne explained to the night clerk / probable owner what we were up to, with the Donut/BBQ tour of the south. Most people, presented with a summary of our trip, respond with “that sounds fun!” The receptionist responded with a flat-toned, “…interesting.” Marianne then asked captain enthusiastic if there were any local donut recommendations and he replied, “no, not really. Wait! There’s Donut Country. That’s pretty good.”
I already had chosen a well-regarded donut location for our stop in Medford – the 5-star “Richard’s Donuts & Pastries” Faced with the choice between Yelp’s darling and the startling positivity coming from the battle-worn clerk, I did the right thing.
On the pretension scale, Donut Country sits firmly grounded at the bottom. They make T-shirts, with their slogan rendered in unironic Comic Sans: “This is how I roll.” next to a rolling pin and pink-frosted ring. In terms of execution, they pull off the raised donut damn near perfectly.
I got a chocolate frosted buttermilk and glazed ring. The buttermilk is doomed to be compared to the buttermilk donuts at Sultan bakery, which makes it seem small and tough. The ring, however, is exceptional. Light and fluffy, like a bread marshmallow with a well-set glaze, dry to the touch. You see this same consistency at Krispy Kreme, but something about the dough there makes it seem more like neoprene than cake. Not so at Donut Country – we took a couple more glazed rings to go.
Marianne’s choice was the raspberry filled. Made of the same raised doughmallows as the glazed ring, it’s just as delightful. I told her I wasn’t going to get into pricing as part of my doughnut reviews, since that is covered in depth by Yelp reviews. But this place was a bit of a shock after coming from our local place which charges $4 per. Our whole order with coffee was $5.50. Maybe donuts are also about value? It’s definitely one of the attractions, unless you’re eating at Serious Donut.
Here in Donut Country, all are welcome – despite the large sign asserting their right to deny service to anyone for any reason. Refills on coffee are free, and T-shirts are $10. I don’t think I can even buy a blank T-shirt for $10 anymore, in Seattle. One trait I value in myself is a sense of where the ground is. In my foodie yuppie world, a regular glazed ring is the golden anchor that keeps my aircraft-carrier-sized ego from floating away.
