With the holiday season approaching quicker than can be, every coffee shop has started pushing out their holiday menus for the masses to drink. Dutch Bros, and Starbucks being the two main drink chains, I decided to put them to the test.
Starbucks came about in 1971 on the great streets of Seattle, Washington and has since spread to be a worldwide company with 30,038 locations spanning across 86 countries. Starbucks is a staple serving coffee, other drinks, bakery items, and snacks to millions of customers every day.
Dutch Bros is a newer franchise as it began in 1992 in Grants Pass, Oregon. Dutch Bros has around 950 locations spanning across 18 American states. Dutch Bros is a much smaller franchise but is rapidly booming their expansions day by day.
Both locations have unveiled their holiday menus and I got to try them. I decided to order an iced chestnut praline latte from Starbucks, and an iced hazelnut truffle mocha from Dutch Bros. I will be grading the two drinks on price, holiday feel, overall taste, and service.
Starting with Starbucks, I ordered a grande iced chestnut praline latte as that was their medium size and it costs $6.45. I ordered ahead and went through the drive through to receive my drink. The woman at the window was very nice however the drive through line was incredibly long. Upon first taste of the drink its flavor reminded me exactly of the holiday season as it featured a lot of holiday spices. The drink also genuinely did taste great and I really enjoyed its flavor.
I went to Dutch Bros and ordered a medium iced hazelnut truffle mocha which costs $5.95. The flavor definitely really did not give that holiday season vibe but still is a drink I would most definitely order again as it was delicious. The drive through was fairly long, however went very quick thanks to Dutch Bros system of sending people to your car.
First off, in the price category, as I got the medium sized drink at both locations Dutch Bros was cheaper and quite a bit bigger. Dutch Bros offers a 24oz cup for their medium size where Starbucks only offers a 16oz cup for their grande size. Even a venti which is their largest size would still only be 20oz. In my opinion, for the price Dutch Bros takes the cake as you get more drink for less money.
Next up, for the holiday feel factor Starbucks delivered by far. My first thought when drinking the Starbucks drink was that its taste reminded me of Christmas time where Dutch Bros was just another coffee.
As far as the overall flavor would go, I enjoyed both drinks about the same as both had very good flavor and were truly delicious. The Starbucks drink was incredibly enjoyable as it had a great blend of flavors and wasn’t overly sweet. The Dutch Bros drink was also quite delicious as the chocolate milk flavor really came through making for a delicious treat. Due to the fact that I wouldn’t hesitate to go back for either drink, I would rate this category a tie.
Service however Dutch Bros won by a mile. While I do think that this is just the way the two businesses run, the drive through time at Dutch Bros was way shorter than Starbucks even though the line had more cars in it. This could be a fluke, or not always the case, but for my experience I would just have to give Dutch Bros the edge. I really don’t think that there was a bad option here, as both places offered a wonderful product. That being said, I would have to say Dutch Bros won my vote on this one.
