Review: Harry Potter: Houses Of Hogwarts X Krispy Kreme Collection Is An Overly Sweet Visual Feast

Ever since J.K. Rowling's first "Harry Potter" novel dropped in stores back in good old 1997, fans have essentially demanded more of anything having to do with the young wizard in training. The book spawned a massive franchise that includes films, theater productions, stores, and theme park experiences. Food and drink always played a large role in the series, and mythically delicious items like Butterbeer have been conjured up in the real world for muggles to buy and try. In more recent times, Harry Potter has seemed to team up with numerous partners, to peddle themed Hershey chocolates, Haribo gummies, Goldfish grahams, and Keebler Fudge Strips.

Doughnuts have been named dropped in three books of the series, and some bakeries have even baked some up in Harry's good name. As the kids are returning to school, Krispy Kreme is going large with this idea with a special new limited time collection called Harry Potter: Houses of Hogwarts x Krispy Kreme Collection. This collection offers up five special doughnuts, all related specifically to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as well as a one-of-a-kind drink to sweeten the deal.

Before you hop on your broom and jet on over to your local Krispy Kreme, don't you want to know if these doughnuts are pure alchemy gold, or just fool's gold? The Takeout took out this collection to see what kind of spell they cast, and we're now ready to spill the tea on where the truth lies.

The very first Krispy Kreme opened its doors in 1937 by Vernon Rudolph in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It has gone on to sling delightful doughnuts in more than 40 countries around the world. The doughnut makers have always strived to deliver fun and unique flavors, and some of the more inspired ones have come through film and TV tie-ins, like a well-spirited "Ghostbusters" set it sold last year.

Harry Potter was introduced as a boy with a wizard pedigree, but needed further schooling to enhance his skills. He was sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where all students are picked by a magical "sorting hat" to decide which of the school's four houses they belong to. This tradition is the inspiration behind this new Krispy Kreme collection.

Four of the new doughnuts honor the houses at Hogwarts — Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Each doughnut reflects each house's color scheme, and even includes an edible crest. The fifth doughnut — the Sorting Hat — rounds out the collection. The Kreme hidden within the Sorting Hat doughnut reflects one of the four house's color schemes, and is a complete mystery to the eater. When one takes a bite, the color revealed essentially tells the eater which house they belong to. To wash it all down is the Biscoff cookie topped Golden Snitch Latte, which is named after the super scoring catch that all the players in Quidditch ultimately seek. The latte comes in three forms — hot, iced, and frozen.

The Harry Potter: Houses of Hogwarts x Krispy Kreme Collection and lattes premiere at participating U.S. and Canadian locations of Krispy Kreme starting on August 18. The doughnuts will remain on sale for a limited time only, through September 14.

The doughnuts and lattes are available to order any time Krispy Kreme is open, while supplies last. Sometimes doughnuts will sell out for the day, and fresh batches will be released the following day. The doughnuts can be purchased in a variety of ways at Krispy Kreme — individually, or in a Harry Potter Specialty Box, which includes two of each House doughnut, as well as four original glazed doughnuts. The Sorting Hat doughnut can only be purchased by its lonesome, and comes decked out in its own limited-edition specialty box. The price for the à la carte House doughnuts near me was $2.99, and $4.39 for the sorting bag one. The speciality dozen retailed for $23.49, but there is also an even better box that includes the same dozen and The Sorting Hat doughnut, which retailed for $27.87. The lattes come in three sizes — small, medium, and large, and retailed from $4.09 to $4.99. Orders can be placed in-store at the counter, or in advance for pickup or delivery through the Krispy Kreme website and app. Fees may apply for delivery, or for orders placed through third-parties. Prices may vary per location.

Besides retail locations of Krispy Kreme, a Harry Potter Specialty six count Assorted Doughnuts will be available at select retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Stater Bros. and more stores. The doughnuts will also be available as loose doughnuts in select convenience stores.

It was a muggy day for this muggle when I hit up Krispy Kreme, so I wasn't too sad when I learned that the hot version of the Golden Snitch Latte wasn't currently available at my location. Instead, I was left with two seemingly identical drinks before me — an Iced and Frozen Golden Snitch Latte. Each had a smooth brown body, but all the attention was centered on the mountainous white peaked whipped cream top. It's there where the Biscoff cookie crumbles meet the golden crunchy sugar flakes, in a moment of still beauty. A whiff from the top smelled like a cool brown sugar cookie.

I started at the top, and instantly really enjoyed this texture combo where the Biscoff crumbles hang around with the golden sugar flakes. If you've flown on a plane ever in your life, you're probably already a Biscoff fan, so having them compete with sugar flakes for a crunch in your mouth is a pure delight to the drinker.

The latte brew aspect of both drinks had a nice smoothness to it. No bitter aftertaste, nor thankfully any trace of Butterbeer flavor, although there's no escaping how sweet these drinks are. Checking the stats, I wasn't so shocked to read my medium Iced Snitch contained 63 grams of sugar and the Frozen one 77. Yikes. Alas, I pressed on, and the more I did, the quicker I got filled up. I ordered mediums, but small servings will probably suffice for most drinkers. While the Iced one may be a hair less sweet and more drinkable for the long haul, I'd recommend the Frozen one, which seemed a broomstick wide longer in the magical taste department.

How could I possibly start chowing down on the House of Hogwarts doughnuts without letting The Sorting Hat doughnut do its job to tell me which House ... doughnut my mouth belongs to. And at over four bucks a pop, it better earn its keep or I'm sending it straight to detention! I hoped this one was truly a winner beyond its gimmick, as it resided in an adorable box that holds it and nothing else. The box is worthy of keeping long after the eating is done.

From the outside, the Sorting Hat Doughnut looked like an everyday chocolate topped, hole-less doughnut. This one, like all the others, had an edible candy piece, and this one graphically tried to sell what the actual Sorting Hat looks like. It looked more orange-tinted than what I remembered, but alas this detail doesn't matter. The doughnut is also outfitted with gold stars, which I'm sure are well deserved for all the hats work it has done over the years placing students in the house they belong to.

This doughnut outwardly didn't have much of a smell, just a hint of chocolate. I took a small taste of both the creme and glaze on top, and both were tasty as one would expect. I cut my doughnut in half, and as I separated it, I actually experienced a tinge of nervousness and excitement at the reveal of what house I belonged to. The creme color chosen for me was hot magenta, which I guess meant Gryffindor? There wasn't an indicator key to spell things out, so my guess is as good as my guess. Well, whatever house it was, the creme inside was shockingly repelling in taste. Not sure what flavor it was supposed to be, but not sure that house wanted to give off the taste of sugared battery acid.

Naturally, the Gryffindor Doughnut had one of the most appealing appearances out of all the doughnuts in the collection, as it represents such illustrious alums as Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, The Weasleys, Hermione, and our man Harry. Half of it looked like a strawberry croissant, with alternating colors. In the middle lies the house's crest, with the house-tailed creature with its hands and feet forever in motion. The other half was a dirt mound of Biscoff crumbles, more finely ground than the pieces that adorned the Snitch Lattes. I leaned in for a smell and it kind of gave off apple pie vibes to my knowing nostrils.

I was scared the pinkish-red glaze would match the unattractive taste of the creme residing in the Sorting Hat Doughnut, but alas, dodged a bullet as it had a more straightforward sugar glazed flavor. I cut the doughnut in two and the creme filling was less colorful in nature, but flavorful in its sticky delivery. The creme is cookie butter, and it's like an oozy version of Oreo stuffing, with a hint of cookie taste. Taking a bite as a whole, it makes for a completely solid doughnut, but the details like the Biscoff dust seemed to get lost in the shuffle. I wish the Biscoff pieces were more like the ones that were meshed in the Latte's whipped cream, or perhaps webbed within this doughnut's interior creme.

Without ever knowing what any doughnut in this Harry Potter x Krispy Kreme collection was to look like, if you asked me to imagine what a Harry Potter doughnut would look like, the Hufflepuff one would probably fit the bill. This one is perhaps a more beautiful sight over the Gryffindor one — with a golden yellow glazed top, array of large cookie crumbles (that sort of looked like broken oyster crackers), thin stripes of black chocolate drizzle, and a badger-like creature waving on the crest piece. The yellowness instantly reminded me of Butterbeer, but after trying so many sickly Butterbeer flavored foods over the past year, I was praying this one wouldn't be like all those others.

Cut in half, the interior creme of the Hufflepuff doughnut looked like it sounds — butter toffee flavored custard. It certainly was echoing similar Butterbeer flavoring that other products have delivered, but this one was perhaps not as saccharine, making it more approachable. The sweetness is subdued a bit when eaten in conjunction with the rest of the doughnut, which turned out to be not so flavorful. Not even the cookie pieces made much of a mark. They had no real seasoning to them, nor crunch, rendering their purpose for being there on top kind of questionable. Not sure alum Newton Scamander or Cedric Diggory would be proud, but they certainly wouldn't be insulted either by this puffy huffle of a doughnut.

With a dark name, an ominous winged creature as its symbol, and oddball characters like Moaning Myrtle and Luna Lovegood sorted into its house, Ravenclaw seems almost as sinister as the darkness that fills the house of Slytherin. This doughnut was primarily dark blue, but was perked up with a variety of lighter blue sprinkles decorating the top. Taking a quick whiff, the blue not so surprisingly gave off the essence of blueberries.

After experiencing a mixed-bag of creme fillings, the slimmer, non-filled Ravenclaw doughnut was almost a relief to encounter and dig into. The flavor matched its smell, although the blueberry flavoring was rather artificial tasting. I kind of wish the icing was plain vanilla (but remained blue in color), and there were actual blueberry pieces lining the interior of the dough. That would have been a bit more magical, and caused a little less moaning from me.

It almost seems like a dare to try the Slytherin Doughnut. It had a dreary, super brooding look to it, not at all different from the moody scowls that scamps like Voldemort, Snape, and the Malfoy clan often sport. The slithery snake that almost looks camouflaged on its crest set the tone for how the actual doughnut looked. It had a sea of chocolate creme, covered in a darker, grainier chocolate cookie sugar confection, which is then finished off with a green buttercream spiral. It almost sort of looked like the Auryn medallion that is the symbol of "The NeverEnding Story," which in my opinion, is a better tale of fantasy and magic.

This one smelled straight up like a regular chocolate doughnut. That turned out to be a good sign of bites to come. Sinister looks aside, the Slytherin Doughnut's simple chocolaty taste delivered the best doughnut of the entire collection. It worked so well because it didn't try to overdo it. Apparently its evil sin is just trying to be a normal doughnut, and not one trying to cast some loud and showy spell.

This wide-ranging collection of doughnuts is certainly a magical delight, mostly in the visual sense. These beautifully designed treats hit a home run in the fan service department, especially for all the Harry Potter lovers out there looking for the latest and perhaps greatest collaboration that they can literally get their hands around and eat. Like many other officially Harry Potter-sanctioned foods and drinks, the doughnuts and lattes in this collection deliver the same overload of sweetness one would expect from the brand. For us muggles who are perhaps more casual Harry Potter fans, I'm personally starting to tire of this endless sugar rush in the name of Hogwarts. I may be alone in this belief, but isn't anyone in the Wizarding World interested in trying something a bit more savory? Still, if you have to try one thing, I'd reach for the Iced Latte. It's a drink that meets in the middle as part wizard, part muggle, and overall is very enjoyable.

Still, there is something quite arresting about this doughnut collection beyond the powerfully rich sweet flavor. While I was repelled by the flavor of the creme ingrained in my Sorting Hat doughnut, my creative spirits truly appreciated its surprise nature. If anyone wants to dip their toes into this collection without going all in, the Sorting Hat one is calling your name, and after your house has been chosen for you, order that one and call it a day. While you may not want to be pegged as Slytherin, you'll at least have a tasty doughnut to munch on while you ponder your future place at Hogwarts.