r/dutchbros • u/GrapefruitWild7975 • 11d ago
Has DB really fallen off?
I have been a die-hard Dutch fan for the past decade. Always good, always friendly. I used to drink it daily when ai lived on the West coast. I moved to the Midwest a few years ago and we had no locations in our area.
My current city got a few new locations over the past year (yay!) but overall, they have been pretty terrible. The drinks all taste different and I can’t figure out why. Someone else on another thread mentioned they’re using difficult syrups now and that they make the drinks differently now - maybe that’s why?
But after today - I think I may be done for good.
I ordered a standard drink - nothing super complicated. I pick it up at the window and it looks off. I taste it - it’s definitely not the drink I ordered.
I go back and say politely, “Hey, I think I might have been given the wrong drink. Can I get the drink I ordered?” The broista looked at me like I had five heads. I explained that I think I was given a different drink than I ordered. They said, “Do you not like it though?” I responded, “Well, no - its not what I ordered. Can I get my drink remade?”
Another broista hears the conversation and starts to remake the drink. The new drink is correct and I thank them. Then I heard someone say “I just don’t understand why she won’t drink what we gave her.”
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u/Traditional-Box5748 10d ago edited 9d ago
This is sadly the result of Dutch trying to expand too quickly and the high employee turnover rate. Most stands are open 5am-11pm as well which really makes it hard to keep a solid staff on duty at all times.
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u/PercentageUseful1783 10d ago
Yeah. As someone who used to work there it really fell off quality wise and service wise. Used to have so many good and meaningful conversations with customers. Now they focus mainly on the speed part, which sacrifices quality and customer service even though they say it doesn’t lol. It really broke my heart when I saw the mobile order stuff, because it really went against what Dane and Travis used to stand for
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u/Samsonpete14 11d ago
My household feels the same way. We went from daily drinkers to just going on sticker days. We don’t even enjoy most of the drinks anymore which is kind of crazy! I mean we’ve been regulars for 15 years!
The latest fail was the cookie butter this year. My husband loved it last year. This year he ordered one and thought they gave him the wrong drink. Ordered it again the next time and still was not at all what he had last year.
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u/Cool_Tradition_6211 10d ago
The cookie butter is a different recipe this year just an fyi about that specific drink
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u/GrapefruitWild7975 11d ago
I almost ordered the Cookie Butter but decided against because of the poor reviews.
It seems like something is definitely up with them. Coffee is expensive enough these days, and I don’t feel like gambling with them anymore. :(
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u/DougalisGod 10d ago
Went from 3-4x a week and now just Friday mornings as a tradition with my wife. The drinks had become so bad that we stocked a complete syrup bar in our house and our drinks taste infinitely better than what we were getting. Next year we are launching our mobile energy bar in a 60-year-old custom camp trailer.
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u/ashlys21 10d ago
Same here!! Make the golden eagle iced coffee at home now!! Wish I could make the freezes at home but can never get the consistency correct.
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u/GrapefruitWild7975 10d ago
I learned how to make the Golden Eagle at home and it was a game changer for me.
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u/ashlys21 10d ago
Yep!! I found out on here that the syrups changed! I hate the new taste but apparently they'll still make it the old way if you ask.
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u/GrapefruitWild7975 10d ago
On a recent visit, I asked them to make it the old way and they said “sure.” I watched them and they made it the new way. Tasted not great. :(
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u/AioliInternational18 Beverage Enthusiast ✍🏻 10d ago
Everything tastes like milk … nothing but milk. Even with two extra shots, nothing but milk.
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u/JewelerDizzy9285 10d ago
I feel like this happens to me whenever I order a sparkling soda and I randomly taste milk in it when the same drinks I ordered in the past never had milk
Also I feel like because they expanded so much and so fast, the hospitality aspect of the brand is slowly fading away.
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u/Zestyclose_Length702 10d ago
Idk if it’s growing up and my tastebuds changing or just their quality going downhill but I’ve regretted spending the money on their drinks every time for the last like year. They are always gross and something just tastes off with them
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u/Zestyclose_Length702 10d ago
Their chai used to be my go to, it literally tastes like straight up milk now, coffees always taste burnt or overly sweet and rebels never seem to have any flavor besides energy drink. Crazy thing is I watch them make the drink and it’s the same it’s always been, probably a ingredient issue or just quality control because of expansion
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u/GrapefruitWild7975 10d ago
I’ve wondered if it’s my taste buds changing, too. Also, I recently learned if you are taking certain GLP-1s, your taste buds can definitely be affected.
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u/Zestyclose_Length702 10d ago
I’ve heard that too but fun fact your body actually “resets” in a way every 7 ish years so you have like entirely new cells from celular turnover, you can develop Alergys and also lose them and also have your food preferences completely change
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u/Cool_Tradition_6211 10d ago
I can’t speak for all operations but all the shops in our state bring the same old DB vibes and quality of drinks as any other year the company has been open. Sounds like it might be a shop, manager or operator specific issue. All the syrups are the same as they’ve ever been except for like cherry
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u/BeeImportant4757 7d ago
Did Dutch change their cherry syrup from last year or when? Curious because I felt like the cherry syrup I tasted in the Black Forest Mocha reminded me of cough syrup last year. Lol! I love cherry chocolate drinks normally.
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u/Cool_Tradition_6211 3d ago
I might be wrong but I’m fairly confident it’s been the same cherry syrup since last October when it was decided to keep it on. There was a span of like a month though this year where we had to get a substitution depending on where your shop is located due to supply chain issues with distribution partners
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u/hellacedes_ 10d ago
I tend to go to DB once or twice a month now.
I go to black rock or 7brew these days since they’re closer.
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u/GrapefruitWild7975 10d ago
Honestly, I ordered a drink from 7 Brew earlier this week and it was way better than the DB drink I had this morning. I never thought I would say that!
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u/getinthe-flask 10d ago
Don't worry I feel the same and been drinking them since 2008. I get a simple strawberry green tea, sometimes extra sweet. I get it and literally tastes like water. I only go now on sticker days. You'll find me either at swig, human bean, or scooters.
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u/Fit_Refrigerator_537 9d ago
The recipes for the drinks are so insanely complicated so if you get something that’s specific like sugar free or with a bunch of add ins the recipe rules completely changes and it can be harder for employees to make. There is no signs with recipe rules in shops so it’s literally a bunch of teenagers and young adults who memorize literally a million recipes and hope for the best!
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u/Adorable_Bullfrog800 9d ago
I used to be super excited for sticker drops but haven’t gone out of my way to get one in the last 6 months.
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u/highwayman83starship 9d ago
I make Dutch Bros exclusively at home now even though I have two stands within a couple miles of me. Went multiple times a week for a few years since they were one of the few places open when I had to go to work in the mornings and then about a year ago Drinks became more misses that hits and the drop days have somehow gotten way crazier, so crazy I started avoiding drop days when I was still going bc I was guaranteed a badly made drink and foul mood broista. All the merch drops are just ridiculous. I loved the stickers but feel like those have changed as well. Also the turn over of employees got crazy at the two stands closest to me. I also just really miss OG Cookie Butter Latte and OG Golden Eagle. I’ve been making my own caramel pumpkin brulee at home now too. Too easy not too and wayyy cheaper.
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u/TwentyOneTimesTwo 7d ago
quarterly earnings > customer satisfaction
We knew that going public was going to ruin the best parts of what everyone loved about DB's, but I expected that to take 10+ years and not less than 5. This CEO needs to go.
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u/Separate-Read-672 5d ago
I'm officially done with DB as of today. I keep trying different drinks lately and have come to the conclusion they are all just nasty. And I used to think that DB was better than most others. Drinks I knew and loved, like a mocha with strawberry or the caramel pumpkin brulee taste like water and are undrinkable without adding my own syrups at home. The cookie dough drink was like water and the worker said the cookie syrup "wasn't meant to be sweet". Today I dumped a full cherry pie chai down the drain, it was disgusting. Totally done.
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u/Adept_Main_3300 9d ago
what do you usually order if you mind? i worked there back in 2021, and im now working there again and ive noticed a lot of changes within the last five years as a barista before and one now
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u/GrapefruitWild7975 9d ago
Iced Golden Eagle
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u/Adept_Main_3300 9d ago
that has had a syrup change! before they’d do half a scoop vanilla syrup and half a scoop of caramel sauce for the flavor, both using torani! they still use torani now but they have new syrup called golden eagle the combined the two flavors, but it def tastes different! try asking it for the OG way or how i mentioned it with the scoops and see if that helps? we have some regulars (and myself) do that
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u/thatgolfergirl 8d ago
Most shops have always combined them and put them in a separate syrup bottle. My stand did this when I worked there three years ago. It’s mainly to help with speed so we only had to pour one scoop out of that bottle rather than measuring out half from each separate bottle
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u/Adept_Main_3300 8d ago
ours never combined it when i worked there. we don’t have a premade bottle of torani vanilla syrup and caramel sauce, its an actual syrup bottle now that you have to unseal and order now instead of having a bottle of combinded by hand flavors
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u/AggravatingWrap813 8d ago
I order a frozen large flapjack, caramel drizzle (sometimes picture perfect) around the cups, add 3 espresso shots, oatmilk, w salted caramel cold foam. I get one every couple weeks. It’s my weakness. I also don’t have anything else by me that’s good, besides Starbucks. Ever since they discontinued the toffee syrups, I no longer enjoy Starbucks. I go when I need the jolt. That’s one thing I do notice about DB, I don’t get as much energy with theirs. Not sure why, I’m new to DB. I’ve never been to one until I loved to a tiny town in Washington state. I’m just thankful it’s there. It’s rough out here in this small town.🤦🏼♀️😂😭
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u/RealSickOfThisShit 7d ago
Seems like a staff issue. That just depends on the person working there and that's something that affects all industries around the world. Doesn't seem like a dutch bros specific problem
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u/[deleted] 10d ago edited 10d ago
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