By: Angelina Cordova
OwlFeed Journalist

I decided to write about coffee for my first writing piece in my section. The first two that I thought of were Dutch Bros. and Starbucks. I chose these two because they were the most popular at my school and I wanted to compare and make a final decision on which one is better.  

I’ve asked students around the school which coffee shop they would prefer, Starbucks or Dutch Bros. I received a higher number of votes for Dutch Bros. I also did a bit of research online, looking at reviews and ratings and from what I saw they were both rated pretty high, however, Dutch Bros. still came out on top. So to find out first hand I decided to go to both places and compare.

The first thing I compared was the time spent waiting. I went through the drive through at both places around the same time, somewhere between 2 and 3 o’ clock. At Dutch Bros. I spent about 15 minutes in line, from when I entered the drive through up until they handed me my drink. Personally, I thought this was too long of a wait for a cup of coffee, but this makes sense considering how popular it is. At Starbucks I waited around 4 minutes, which is definitely a reasonable time to wait and great if you’re in a rush.

Next, I compared prices and amount of product. I got a medium from Dutch Bros. and a grande from Starbucks — the equivalent of a medium on their menu. The prices were about the same, $4.75 for Dutch Bros and five cents more for Starbucks. Dutch Bros. gave 24 ounces for this price while Starbucks only gave 16 ounces. Dutch Bros. clearly wins in this department, giving an extra eight ounces for the same price.

The next thing I compared was the employees and how they treated their customers. They were nice both places. They smiled and told me to have a great day, the behavior you would expect from any place. But the employees at Dutch Bros. might have been too nice.

As soon as I pulled up to the window, I was bombarded with questions. I understand that this is their job and they’re required to act like this but it just made me feel awkward. I can get why people like this, it can make some them happy and feel welcomed. But with their fake voices and forced smiles it was clear that what they were saying wasn’t genuine.

The last thing I compared, which is the most important to me personally, is quality and flavor. I ordered an iced vanilla latte from both places. The coffee from Dutch Bros. was watery and didn’t have much flavor, it tasted like coffee but had no vanilla flavoring at all. The flavoring at Starbucks was good, it tasted exactly how you would expect it to. The vanilla flavor made it sweet but still had the coffee bitterness to it.

In my opinion, Dutch Bros. is overrated. It’s bad quality and not worth the long wait. Starbucks is a bit more expensive but I would choose it over Dutch Bros. any day.