Dutch Bros Coffee — Restaurant in Grass Valley

I've probably smoked valleys full of grass but I'd never been to Grass Valley...until the NEED for COTS (coffee other than starbux) arose in the early hours of a recent drive home from Reno. A wind-y, but beautiful 30 minute detour from the I80 leads to the town where the Dutch Bros have set up a shop.

I'd had their coffee before, but had never been there, so I was a bit unprepared for the long drive thru line (I parked and got out) and the menu/ordering/options involved in getting a coffee with steamed milk, which, for non-coffee heads, is a latte. Size matters of course and seeing I took a detour and all and have another couple of hours to home, I requested the giantest size. Then came the hot-cold option-easy-extra hot-followed by some confusing options for desired level of sweetener. Huh? I drink coffee and milk but don't add sugar, so I opted outta that noise - to wit the young lady taking the order did a double take, like I was some kinda oddity from space. A space oddity. Suddenly overcome by a desire to hide my true origins, I quickly added a large iced Cocomo, just to appear 'normal' again. This seemed to calm her 'concern' and I paid and matched away to wait and mindlessly switch between gazing at my phone and the little window where my drinks would magically appear. After a while they did.

They didn't call a name or look at me, they announced my order "large, extra-hot, unsweetened latte, large Cocomo!!" I felt the looks, the judgement from the assembled trucker hat wearing, diesel dualie driving crowd drilling into me, which was fine cuz apparently I had already done some judging of my own. Got my drinks, walked to my car, got in, started drinkin.

Immediately upon first pull on the latte, I knew it was not the same as my first DB latte. The first one had some sweetener and had hit the tongue and brain as "yum" and "good". This one was good too-hot coffee. I was like alright let's head down to Cocomo... I guess it's a coconut mocha latte and that's pretty much the flavors you eventually realize after the weapons of mass sweetener decay away. Through subsequent straw sucking of the giant plastic tub, I just kept thinking 'this can't be healthy', but goddam it's delicious.

The road out of Grass Valley was less picturesque as the one coming in. Nothing to do with the coffee, just an opinion on the visual appeal of the Grass Valley to Colfax corridor. Anywho, I like Dutch Bros Coffee. With or without McSugar America, their coffee and milk tastes...

I have officially decided that I will no longer visit this Dutch Bros. They have made significant changes to how they prepare their Breezes, resulting in drinks that are no longer smooth. In my last four or five visits, I encountered icy drinks instead of the blended coffee beverages I expected. When I brought this up during a recent visit, I was told to ask for my drink to be hand-blended. Even after doing this, the drinks still resemble icees rather than the quality I used to enjoy.

On my most recent visit, I documented the issue with pictures. When I returned the drink to show the baristas the noticeable separation and problems, one barista claimed she didn’t see any difference. This response is unacceptable. I couldn’t even drink my beverage because it was just a cup of ice.

How can they look at the side-by-side photos I took and insist that these drinks are the same? It’s clear they are not, especially given that they were supposed to be hand-blended. I am extremely disappointed with the quality of what is labeled as “Breezes,” and the staff's inability to acknowledge the subpar nature of the product is quite troubling.

I will not return to this Dutch Bros, and I will reconsider my loyalty to any other locations. We have spent a considerable amount of money here after switching from a different coffee franchise, but now I have serious doubts about the quality of what I’m receiving.

Also, since there is zero accountability or ownership from the owner, I've already sent a letter to the company since I can not imagine any changes will be made just because of a review. Especially being read by baristas who can look at the two drinks and can't see any differences. After reading other reviews I noticed they just refer people to contact Customer Service without seeking out ways to improve their store and their failures.

**Update: Your copy & pasted reply lacks originality, it is empty and void of any sense of compassion we won't be back. We will go to Caroline's Coffee Roasters or back...

Great coffee, bad ordering experiences. Tired of line cutting and the dismissiveness from the employees ( select few individuals) When you bring a problem to the attention of the barista, they dismiss you like how dare you say something. I am a regular customer daily if not twice a day. So much so they know my order. But I am tired of waiting additional time because of the lack of following through with their procedures consistently. Then when bringing it to their attention as I'm watching someone violate their procedures after the procedures were explained to me. It is sad to see that profits mean more than customers. When customers are your profits. The review before mine explains it perfectly the same situation just different day. This store used to be on it they used to be great they used to be thoughtful and considerate. But it seems as though through the last year they just got sloppy lazy and expecting. There are multiple other local owned businesses that serve great coffee. Dollars do you speak. And we are in a small town there's only so much...