life & style // no. 9 ¢ Tim Hortons Dream Donuts Review Have an idea for a story? Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca ¢ Chronicles of commuting ¢ What's happening? ..and more Fancy desserts in donut form >» Tim Hortons Dream Donuts Review Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist Ors: Tim Hortons offers specialty donuts that celebrate the season or are associated with a food product. Some of these donuts include the Maple Boston Cream Donut, the Oreo Donut which is filled with Oreo icing, and the Nutella Donut—which has a lot of Nutella in it. Tim Hortons’ current offering of specialty donuts, called Dream Donuts, are the most popular and interesting creations that were made at the Tim Hortons Innovation Cafe in Toronto. I assume Tim Hortons saw that these were very aesthetically pleasing donuts, and now wanits to make more donuts that are so artistic. These donuts are made to be seen. The fillings, icing, and decorations of the donuts make them high quality desserts. All the Dream Donuts are available in the cafeterias of both Douglas College campuses—which allowed me to taste all of them. The flavours of these donuts include Strawberry Confetti, Chocolate Truffle, and Dulce de Leche Creme. The Strawberry Confetti Dream Donut is topped with strawberry icing, sprinkles, and the centre is filled with strawberry frosting. The donut has a strawberry taste and also tastes like birthday cake. There are a lot of sprinkles inside the donut which causes it to bea bit crunchy. The Chocolate Truffle Dream Donut is a chocolate donut topped with chocolate icing and chocolate chips, the centre is filled with more chocolate, and was served sliced which revealed more chocolate icing inside. I was not sure if the donut was supposed to be sliced, though it might have been sliced to make it look like a truffle cake. Having a lot of chocolate in the donut made it very rich and the softness of the donut added more flavour. Finally, the Dulce de Leche Creme Dream Donut is a donut filled with caramel, sprinkled with cinnamon, and topped with caramel icing. The caramel inside the donut was very thick, had a texture like peanut butter, yet still had Photos by Jerrison Oracion — the creaminess of caramel. The cinnamon added more saltiness and sweetness to the donut and eating it was like eating the actual Dulce de Leche Creme dessert. The design of the donuts makes them look like very expensive desserts, yet they come at a cheap price. This is one of the best offerings of specialty donuts that Tim Hortons has ever made. Out of the three donuts, I liked the Chocolate Truffle best because it had a lot of chocolate and had avery rich taste. With the success of the Dream Donuts, I wonder what other donut creations Tim Hortons will make next. Bucha Basics: A beginner's guide to ‘buchtails » How to combine your separate loves for kombucha and cocktails Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager Welcome to ‘Bucha Basics, where we cover everything there is to know about homebrewing kombucha ‘ve voiced my skepticism over the health benefits of kombucha, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying its non-medicinal benefits. Like how fucking great kombucha tastes in a cocktail. Henceforth known as ‘buchtails, kombucha makes a great addition to boozy bevies. It’s flavourful, already slightly carbonated, and has significantly less sugar than comparable liquids like juice or pop. There are plenty of existing cocktail recipes that you could easily insert kombucha into, so hopefully, this article is just the jumping-off point. Before you start following any of these recipes willy-nilly, however, I strongly recommend tasting your latest batch before assuming its flavour profiles. Even if you follow the exact same steps between brews, there’s always a chance it can taste dramatically different. Just give your ‘buch a sip before blindly pouring it into a cocktail shaker. Let’s start with something familiar: a Moscow Mule. Cookie and Kate has a fantastic recipe using ginger or gingerberry kombucha; just prepare this drink just like you would any Mule but substitute the ginger beer for kombucha. Due toa Mule’s simplicity (only three ingredients), it’s important to use high-quality vodka, or else you'll throw all the flavours off. If you're looking for something more subtle, Food and Wine has a Whiskey Sour variant using kombucha. All the usual Whiskey Sour ingredients are here, but kombucha replaces some of the typical lemon juice. Any citrusy kombucha will go great here. One cocktail recipe I’ve had my eye on, but have yet to try, is the Rosy-Gin Kombucha Cocktail from Bon Appetit. It has all the beginnings of a Negroni (gin, Campari) but then deviates with fresh lemon juice, grated ginger, and unflavoured kombucha. Throughout ‘Bucha Basics, I’ve always advocated for breaking off and doing your own thing, and the same goes for ‘buchtails. You know your flavour preferences more than I do, so feel free to experiment. You'll absolutely make some terrible drinks along the way, but it’s immensely satisfying when you nail one. One of my all-time favourite combinations is just a straight hi-ball of mango kombucha with Wild Turkey bourbon, which vaguely reminds me of a southern sweet tea. Peach or pineapple kombucha also pairs well with bourbon. Another original of mine is blueberry kombucha with gin and crushed mint. It’s similar to a gin-smash cocktail, except for the flavourless part. (Gin smash lovers: Don’t @ me.) This ‘buchtail works especially well with a milder batch of blueberry kombucha, so reduce the secondary fermentation by a day or so. The final original recipe I’m going to leave you with is a strawberry kombucha whiskey lemonade, which I adapted from a Life as a Strawberry recipe. It’s so simple that the three ingredients are in its name: whiskey, fresh lemon juice, and strawberry kombucha. I won't give you exact ratios since it'll depend on the intensity of your ‘buch, but I recommend starting at a 1:2:2 ratio, and then working from there, adding more of whatever you think it needs. If the tartness is taking over, don't be afraid to add some simple syrup.