Science finally produces something useful for a change

[Axxon]

CU grad's science perks up pastries
Scientist invents way to add caffeine to doughnuts, bagels

By Greg Avery (Contact)
Thursday, January 25, 2007

Move over, Tom Cech, Carl Wieman and John Hall.

The University of Colorado might want to clear some shelf space near those Nobel Prize-winning researchers' awards for the accolades another Boulder-connected scientist may well receive.

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Scientist and entrepreneur Robert Bohannon, a CU graduate, is staking a claim to the morning commuter's holy grail: the caffeinated doughnut.

Or, more precisely, caffeinated bakery goods of any kind that lack the powerfully bitter flavor caffeine normally imparts in baking.

The idea came to Bohannon several years ago in his North Carolina kitchen.

"I woke up one morning, and I didn't have any coffee," Bohannon recalled. "What I wanted was a glass of milk and a doughnut — a caffeinated doughnut."

The inspiration struck a man with a background to make it happen.

Bohannon graduated from CU two decades ago with an undergraduate biology degree. He went on to earn his doctorate degree in molecular virology and conduct post-doctoral AIDS research at the Baylor College of Medicine, and then went into private research in Houston.

He later helped develop an oral HIV test, created a vaccine that wards off the effects of cocaine and pursued numerous other inventions. He is president of Onasco Inc.

Making caffeine palatable in baked food turned out to be easier than most of his previous projects, Bohannon said, but it wasn't a piece of cake.

He worked with flavor experts for months to find a way to "micro-encapsulate" caffeine, encasing its foul-tasting particles in molecules of a vegetable-oil derivative. The process yields an off-white powder that can be added to dough without changing its consistency.

The result is the possibility of a normal-tasting doughnut — or, for that matter, bagel, muffin or Danish — packing the eye-opening wallop of a double espresso, Bohannon said.

He has applied for a patent on the process, trademarked the names "The Buzz Donut" and "The Buzzed Bagel" and approached Krispy Kreme, Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts about taking his amped-up pastries nationwide. It's not clear whether the companies will sell the pastries.

He predicts the market for his invention could easily top $50 million annually.

Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst for food-industry research firm Mintel International, said she sees some potential — especially, she joked, among police officers.

It could make sense for a coffee company, such as Starbucks, to embrace Bohannon's product.

Mintel studies show that coffee consumption is declining among 18- to 24-year-olds. Only 46 percent of that age group drinks coffee — far less than older generations — but it does consume a lot of caffeine in energy drinks.

Across all ages, energy bars are more popular than doughnuts or bagels as breakfast food, she said.

"Everybody's got these lifestyles where they're running around, and everybody wants an energy boost," Mogelonsky said. "Everybody's looking for shortcuts in everything they eat."

Those could be just the right conditions to help the buzz-filled doughnut catch on.

At Tastefully Toasted, Boulder's gourmet doughnut shop, Bohannon's concept had some currency. The shop sometimes makes a mocha glaze with shots of espresso in it. It sells well but doesn't have much caffeine per doughnut.

"You mean this doughnut jacks you up on caffeine, but it tastes the same?" asked Jayme Gershen, a store doughnut maker. "I could see people liking that."

I want one and I want one now.


hxxp://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/25/cu-grads-scixence-perks-up-pastries/

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Can't I just eat a regular donut and pop a caffeine pill?

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

Can't I just eat a regular donut and pop a caffeine pill?

Sure but then you need a beverage too and with that you might as well just drink coffee.

[sachmo71]

i would rather the lord had done it.