I got the idea for the coffee beer (and coffee itself) and doughnut festival called Baker's Dozen back in 2015. The annual, migratory Craft Brewers Conference — a gathering for those in the craft beer industry to share ideas (and beers) — landed in Portland that year. Portland enjoys a reputation as a beer mecca, but somewhat less celebrated is the fact that it's home to an equal number of coffee roasters as it is brewers. So, an event with coffee-infused beers would make for a great hair-of-the-dog type festivity. To top it off, anyone who flies out of PDX airport knows many travelers carry pink boxes of R-rated doughnuts. But just as Portland is more than Widmer Bros. beer and Stumptown Coffee, it's more than just Voodoo Doughnuts. Adding an array of local doughnut artisans to a morning event built around coffee and coffee beer seemed almost obvious.
Maybe it's the cost of goods and/or staff wage increases, but you hardly ever encounter baker's dozens anymore. It means you're getting something extra; 13 for the price of 12. On Saturday, hedonists can feast on beers made with coffee, and several of the coffees starring in said beers, and doughnuts. Admission includes one sample of each; no additional drink tickets or tokens are needed or even available.
Friends and neighbors here in Bend used to ask, "Why don't you also do the fest here?" My stock answer used to be, "We don't have 13 roasters. Nor do we have 13 doughnut shops."
Well, now we DO have a baker's dozen roasters. And, with a little creativity, we have more than 13 purveyors of fried-sugary treats that are (or could be called) doughnuts. Since beer needs no explanation, I'll start with the doughnuts first.
Looking for a fresh-made glazed doughnut in Bend? Your options are: Richard's Donuts and Pastries, Sweetheart Donuts, Delish Donuts and The Dough Nut. Too Sweet Cakes is a bakery with gourmet cakes and more, so naturally it offers the doughnut's swanky cousins, cronuts. Expand that search to Central Oregon and you've got Sisters Bakery in Sisters, Halo in Redmond, and Wickiup Junction in La Pine. Still not at 13. But we've got some crafty women with cottage bakeries such as Chalk to Flour and Treeline Baking. Still, I had to search higher (never lower). This year's Baker's Dozen lineup includes singular offerings from most of the above as well as gulab jamun, an Indian delicacy made of fried dough and soaked in rose syrup, courtesy of Anita's Indian Kitchen. And churros from purveyors of Peruvian cuisine, Hola. And mini cinnamon donuts from The Point Pub. Finally, there'll be banana fritters with a bourbon glaze and bacon, courtesy of a doughnut shop in Albany delightfully called BakerzDozen.
In alphabetical order, beer participants include Bellatazza, Bevel Craft Brewing (which made its first-ever Vietnamese Coffee Stout), Boneyard Beer, Boss Rambler Beer Club (made with house-roasted Boss Coffee), Breakside Brewery from Portland (whose "dirty hippy"-inspired imperial stout was aged in bourbon barrels for two years before further conditioning on coffee, black tea and chai spices), Coldfire Brewing from Eugene, Crux Fermentation Project, Deschutes Brewery, GoodLife Brewing, Kobold Brewing, McMenamins Old St. Francis (also made with house-roasted coffee), Monkless Belgian Ales, host Silver Moon Brewing, Van Henion Brewing and Worthy Brewing.
Bend roasting partners include Backporch Coffee, Thump Coffee, Lone Pine Coffee, farmers market staple Bohemian Woodfired Roasters, and even a secret, underground roaster in Third Rock Roasters.
I'd be remiss in not giving Monkless Brasserie and Deschutes Pub a shout-out. Monkless already offers Franco-Belgian style beignets on their menu and they'll be serving up those powdered sugary puffs of deliciousness. Deschutes ties the concept up nicely with a new offering created exclusively for Baker's Dozen: a chocolate frosted doughnut filled with custard made with the best-selling porter in America, Black Butte Porter.
