ROLLING IN DOUGH

Gourmet doughnut chain bakes up first Austin shop in sweet location

The Salty Donut, group of hands holding doughnuts

The Miami-based chain is opening its first Austin location early next year.

Photo courtesy of The Salty Donut

We bet dollars to doughnuts Austinites are excited about a new small-batch craft margarita coming to the Capital City — especially if that margarita comes in the form of a sweet treat.

The Salty, a wildly popular artisan doughnut shop based in Miami, is opening soon in South Austin, marking the family-owned bakery’s fifth location. And in honor of its Austin expansion, The Salty is rising to the occasion, adding a new margarita doughnut to its menu: a brioche dough filled with lime curd and tequila-infused orange glaze, and topped with torched merengue, margarita “salt,” and a dehydrated lime chip.

Though The Salty’s brick-and-mortar shop at 2000 S. Congress Ave. (across from Magnolia Cafe) won’t open until 2021, the holidays are coming early for local doughnut fiends, as The Salty will host a pop-up shop December 12 and 13 in front of its new Austin location. And the icing on the, er, doughnut: The new margarita pastry will be included in the complimentary boxes of doughnuts The Salty is dishing out to pop-up visitors who pre-registered for the event, alongside its traditional glazed, cookies-and-cream, and horchata doughnuts.

Owners Andy Rodriguez and Amanda Pizarro-Rodriguez launched the doughnut concept from a small trailer in Miami five years ago, eventually expanding to three brick-and-mortar locations in Florida and one in Dallas' Bishop Arts District that opened earlier this summer.

Buttering customers up with its fluffy brioche dough is key to The Salty’s success, as is the bakery’s menu, which features a variety of always-available standards (the brown-butter-and-salt doughnut, the guava-and-cheese doughnut, and the maple-and-bacon doughnut), as well as seasonal favorites (currently, the pumpkin-spice cake doughnut and the gingersnap-cookie doughnut), and local flavor specialties like Austin’s margarita doughnut. A sweet margarita you can eat? Obviously, The Salty gets Austin.

“We can’t wait to make our way into the neighborhood,” The Salty posted recently on social media. “In the meantime, time to party!”

openings breakfast doughnuts coffee

Refill, revere, rejoice

Austin distiller refills Kentucky Bourbon bottles for $1 in UT gameday stunt

Photo courtesy of Still Austin Whiskey Co.

Still Austin is filling up empty Kentucky Bourbon bottles and adding its own label in a display of Texas dominance.

Cheap bourbon isn't usually something people line up for, but in this case they know it's good. Still Austin Whiskey Co., a favorite Austin distiller, is offering $1 refills of its own Cask Strength Bourbon on empty Kentucky Bourbon bottles on November 23.

The promotion celebrates the Texas Longhorns vs. Kentucky Wildcats football match the same day. This is a highly anticipated game because the two teams have only been matched up once, back in 1951. Kentucky coach Mike Stoops reportedly also upped the ante by saying the Longhorns have "no weaknesses."

Essentially, this is a parallel challenge by Still Austin: Replace your Kentucky Bourbon with our Texas spirit and watch the Lone Star State win again.

"Why would I ever taint your bourbon with dried up Kentucky juice[?]" asked a (frankly, terrifying) customer on Instagram.

There is a misconception that bourbon has to be made in Kentucky. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association itself points out that, "According to the 1964 Congressional Resolution, in order to have “Bourbon” on the label it must be made in the United States of America and meet all other federal “standards of identity” for Bourbon."

Still Austin CEO and co-founder Chris Seals is setting the record straight with a little snark, inviting both fans and "skeptics" to stop by to take advantage of the deal.

“We’re deeply grateful to Kentucky for inventing the stuff, but after 200 years of the same old bourbon, people want something new,” said Seals in a press release.“The idea that great bourbon can only come from Kentucky is a myth based on decades of misinformation. We’re inviting everyone still holding onto this old guard notion to ‘Kentucky Fill Up’ to experience the difference for themselves.”

The product he's chosen to represent the brand, the Cask Strength Bourbon, is described as "a deeper more 'metal' version of our beloved straight bourbon." It's 116 proof (58 percent ABV) and has won double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition twice, in 2022 and 2023.

Still Austin will only refill 500 bottles. Here are the rules: The bottles have to be 750 milliliters, clean, intact (with the original cap on hand), and they must have originally contained bourbon from a Kentucky Distillery. There are two time slots for refilling at 9 am and 11:30 am. Patrons can get tickets ahead of time at stillaustin.com.

In addition to the fill-ups, Still Austin will host a watch party starting at 2:30 pm. More Texas-Kentucky crossover will include Frozen Texas Julep cocktails, Texas fried chicken, and an armadillo derby race. There will also be exclusive merch and giveaways. Still Austin is the official corporate partner of Texas Athletics.

------

Fans of Austin sports and Austin food and drinks can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm December 12 at Distribution Hall. Find out more about it here.

whiskey university of texas longhorns