Donut Central - Eats & Coffee — Restaurant in Winter Park

Edited On 3/12 after a second visit: Chris kindly invited me back to try more coffee after my original review showed how much I didn't enjoy my first cup. I'm really grateful that as a business owner, he was open to listening to even one customer as pleasantly as he did with me, and it was clear that's just how he does things given the fact they were busy while I was there and he made time for everyone while getting their orders together.

The tour he gave me of their coffee and espresso preparations was both generous and delicious and I think I found a few new favorites to try again on my next visit, plus learned more about what kind of roasts and brew styles I tend to favor. Chris served up:

-side-by-side comparisons of the house blend made via the traditional drip-brew and the coarser grind for the French Press; -a light and then also darker roast of the same Nicaraguan bean also brewed with a French Press; -a smooth and suprisingly creamy cold brew with nitrogen; -a light roast Ethiopian coffee via the French Press; -a shot of espresso with crema as rich as velvet; -and a real signature flavored latte made with honey and lavender that I'm craving all over again now that I've mentioned it.

If I'm forgetting anything, I blame the caffeine high I had by the end of the two-hour tasting tour. A lot of effort and expertise has been invested in this cafe and I'm really looking forward to seeing Chris and his crew make their mark here.

Original comment two weeks prior after one visit: I really looked forward to my first visit and I wasn't exactly disappointed. Wonderfully clean and vibrant look to the place and the maple donut I had was awesome. Given they roast their own beans, I had hoped the coffee would be a treat, too, but it was honestly terrible. I know they had only just finished brewing it, so it was just something to do with the roast itself. I didn't ask if it was a light, medium or dark roast, but it tasted like a lighter roast given the fruity note and dry 'twang' it made of my palate.

I do use milk and sugar so it's not like I tasted the coffee in its purest state, but even adding more whole milk than I like to use, it still had a very dark color so I'm not sure of the grounds-to-water ratio is also a suspect here or what. I also used more sugar than I prefer to try and mitigate the dry/citrusy mouthfeel.

This is usually the kind of coffee experience I have with mechanic shop coffee pots left to sit out for a while. I'm disappointed by this one cup from an otherwise lovely shop, but I think I'm going on at length about it because I really want to have a better cup the next time I try them. I don't think it was just me having a rough day doctoring my cuppa just right.

I really like trying locally-roasted coffees, though I don't seem to have much luck with it in the Orlando area--Austin's and Lineage have left me incredibly underwhelmed every time so I've stopped trying them. In fact, the taste of the coffee here reminded me of what I don't like about Lineage roasts, which I've heard described as "bright", that 'fruity and tangy' kind of thing, so it may be that I simply don't like roasts which result in this kind of flavor and mouthfeel.

Over in Cocoa Village, the Sugar Shack and Ossorio's both roast their beans and yield consistently good cups of coffee from them. And, while the beans aren't roasted in-house, Blue Bird Bake Shop's specially prepared brand of TopHat dark roast coffee is so smooth and easy on the palate that I can drink it black. I hope the owners can do some taste testing of these other local brands and more experimenting while they work on their own...

I have been meaning to stop by everytime I pass the store but either it is closed or I totally forget!

So glad I was able to stop by today and now it will be one of my go to's for good coffee and donut/sweet treat. The staff was nice, attentive, friendly and more than happy to answer any questions or make suggestions.

The shop is clean, their set up is nice and they roast and toast their own coffee. I had drip coffee and my mom a latte and both were good. You could taste the coffee flavor and it was not watery at all, really enjoyed my drip coffee!

As for the donuts well... delish and not overly sweet or greasy! You can tell that they are fresh and made that same day. They fluffy and not doughy or yeasty, which is a plus for flavor and texture. We got the sugar twist, the chocolate almond donut and the birthday cake donut. All were awesome and definitely will be back to try other flavors :)

Now I know where to get my coffee fix while in the area and one of these days I will try their breakfast sandwiches and one of the flavored coffee of the week.

Overall - a great...

This is a very nice establishment to sit, have a cup of coffee, and do a bit of work or read. The ambiance is great and the coffee is very tasty.

The donuts we tried left a bit to be desired. While they’re very aesthetically pleasing, the tastes and textures were not quite there. We ordered a half dozen assorted and a couple cronuts and found that the cronuts looked good but were fairly soggy and the texture was a bit mush. We tried various other flavors such as key lime pie, and found that there was an overwhelming amount of gloopy filling that had a distinctly fake lime flavor to it. The other donuts were also sort of misses, such as the cotton candy which didn’t taste too different from any other generic iced donut. The one we were impressed with was the maple bacon which was balanced perfectly with its sweet/saltiness.

Overall I think the donuts are still heads and shoulders above DD and most other ahops in the area, but I hope they refine their flavors and textures a bit so that they can become the amazing donut shop they have the...