Joe Maxx Coffee surprised to win Cleveland Donut Fest on first try

by John Benson

Less than a year after the Joe Maxx Coffee Company took over the former Brecksville Doughnuts & Coffee Shoppe on Chippewa Road, owners Jeanne McCarthy-Caparso and her husband Frank Caparso have won the 2019 Cleveland Donut Fest Judge’s Choice award for their blueberry donut, which also took home the Best Classic Donut award.

“We’ve been going to the Cleveland Donut Fest for a couple of years with our coffee, so this year we decided to throw our hat in the ring for the donuts,” said Frank. “But it’s what happened leading up to Donut Fest that made the entire experience funny and unbelievable.”

Brecksville’s Joe Maxx Coffee Company, which opened last summer, also has locations at Cleveland State University and Public Square. It has employed numerous bakers, however, the week leading up to the Cleveland Donut Fest, the owners found themselves without a baker.

That’s when the Brecksville family came to the rescue. The night before the contest, Frank was mixing, and McCarthy-Caparso was frying, while their son Dominic and employee Jack Kelley cut up more than 300 donuts into quarters for the judges and the public at the Feb. 9 event at Red Space in Cleveland.

“We also had to make 15-16 dozen donuts for the next day at the shop,” McCarthy-Caparso said. “When we were down to one baker, I decided we better learn how to make the donuts. So we were going through the process a couple of times ourselves. While it wasn’t our very first time making the donuts, we literally had only been making them for maybe two weeks.”

The festival, which this year was a fundraiser for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, featured 11 high-profile competitors, including Jack Frost Donuts, Peace, Love & Little Donuts and Duck Donuts.

With this being Joe Maxx’s first time presenting a signature donut – a slightly tweaked Brecksville Doughnuts recipe – Frank said soon after arriving, they felt overwhelmed and underprepared.

“We got down there, and you have these major donut players with elaborate displays and balloons,” he said. “We came in with a table and a couple of serving platters.”

Added McCarthy-Caparso, “It was like, there’s no way we’re winning this. We felt like the orphan stepchild. So we looked at each other and said, we’re not going to win, but it’s a good experience and good exposure to get our name out.”

As the event progressed, both owners noticed that they were getting some good feedback.

“While we were there, the guy who ran the building said he heard these were the donuts to get,” Frank said.

“Then, we started getting people from the other donut places,” McCarthy-Caparso said. “It was just kind of weird.”

Nevertheless, both owners were shocked to not only win the coveted 2019 Judge’s Choice trophy but also the smaller Best Classic hardware.

In light of Joe Maxx’s success, will it return next year to Cleveland Donut Fest to defend its title?

“We’ve been talking about that,” Frank said. “I don’t know. Should we attend since we won first prize? We’ll see.”

Featured image photo caption: From l-r, Dominic Caparso, Jack Kelley, Jeanne McCarthy-Caparso and Frank Caparso of Joe Maxx Coffee Company in Brecksville celebrate their wins at Cleveland Donut Fest.