The plan was simple.

Surprise the LA office with doughnuts.

The problem?

I couldn’t decide where to buy them.

So at 5am, I did the only sensible thing.

I went to three different shops.

Spudnuts Donuts.

Honey Donuts.

Stevenson Donuts & Bakery.

Four doughnuts from each.

One office.

Breakfast had officially become a taste test.

And yes, this counts as work.

Each stop came to roughly $8 out the door for four doughnuts.

Stevenson won the presentation round before anyone had taken a bite, arriving in the classic pink box.

Honey and Spudnuts went with white paper bags.

Nothing wrong with that.

But a pink doughnut box knows exactly what it is.

There were also a couple of unexpected extras.

Spudnuts added an extra doughnut for free.

Stevenson threw in some little doughnuts too.

I didn’t ask for them, and nobody knew this was for a Secret Sauce review.

Just two small gestures that deserved mentioning.

I should probably admit something.

I’m not a massive doughnut fan.

For me, the deciding factor is sweetness.

I like a doughnut.

I just don’t want to feel like I’ve eaten the entire sugar aisle afterwards.

From sweetest to least sweet, the ranking went:

🥇Honey Donuts

🥈Stevenson Donuts & Bakery

🥉Spudnuts Donuts

That made Spudnuts my personal winner.

Their doughnuts were thicker, denser and more substantial than the others, without being overwhelmingly sweet.

If you prefer your doughnuts on the less sugary side, this is where I’d start.

The team had other ideas.

Their winner was Honey Donuts.

Yes, they were the sweetest of the three.

But they were also incredibly light and fluffy, which clearly mattered more to the office than my personal campaign against excessive sugar.

Honey disappeared quickly.

Hard to argue with that.

Stevenson Donuts & Bakery landed nicely in the middle.

Sweeter than Spudnuts, but not quite as sweet as Honey.

Still very good, although not quite as light and fluffy as the office favorite.

The doughnuts went down well.

The pink box looked the part.

And the unexpected extras didn’t hurt.

There wasn’t a bad doughnut across all three shops.

Honey Donuts won the office vote with its sweet, light and fluffy doughnuts.

Spudnuts was my winner thanks to its thicker, more substantial doughnuts and lower sweetness.

And Stevenson Donuts & Bakery sat comfortably between the two.

Three shops.

Roughly twelve doughnuts.

A few free extras.

All before most people had poured their first coffee.

So, where should you go?

If you want light, fluffy and sweet, choose Honey Donuts.

If you prefer something denser and less sugary, choose Spudnuts.

If you want the middle ground and a proper pink box, Stevenson has you covered.

The team has spoken.

Honey Donuts takes the win.

The crown is theirs. For now.