Sadly, deep-fried Starbucks coffee isn't as crazy as it sounds

You can buy deep-fried Starbucks coffee at the San Diego County Fair, sort of

(Image credit: Twitter/@GMA)

published 15 June 2015

County fairs are always pushing the boundaries of things that are possible to deep fry, and at this year's San Diego County Fair the buzzy item is deep-fried Starbucks coffee:

Bacon A-Fair, the vendor selling the confection, is clearly onto something, but here's what "deep-fried Starbucks coffee" is: Finely ground coffee inserted into the middle of pastry dough then deep-fried, rolled in sugar, and served with whipped cream. In other words, it sounds suspiciously like a donut hole made with coffee grounds.

Bacon A-Fair's Mike Peterson, who claims to have invented deep-fried coffee, says the treat "gets a good buzz going," but he developed the culinary marvel for a pretty mundane reason: Coffee makes you need to urinate. "I thought it would be great to have a caffeine shot in a form that was not liquid, so I started playing around with different ways we could deep fry it," he tells ABC News. And if you don't like coffee (or donuts), Peterson has lots of deep-fried bacon treats to sell you.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.