THE GREAT COFFEE DEBATE

Eli Rankin | The Advocate

IT’S MORE THAN JUST THE SUM OF ITS COFFEE

Comparing Dutch Bros. to other competitors such as Starbucks and Black Rock and Barney’s Café is an insult to Dutch Bros. Contrary to their competitors, Dutch focuses on having a tighter selection of great coffee products and excellent coffee alternatives while still having an emphasis on customer experience – especially the little things, is what makes it superior.

Sometimes a coffee is just not what we’re in the mood for, no matter how good the coffee is. In the middle of a sweet tooth craving?  Dutch Bros has your back, with its sodas. Need an energy drink as a pick-me-up? Dutch has the Rebel energy drinks, for which Starbucks, Black Rock and Barney’s have no comparison. How about dessert? Dutch also has smoothies. While its coffee selection is smaller than, say, Starbucks, it is also a blessing in disguise as you don’t have to worry about being paralyzed when making a choice of drink.

What also sets Dutch apart from its variety of drinks is that the company is more focused on giving you a superior experience. The rewards program is superior, with its 10 stamps/11th free card. The atmosphere is also more energetic than at its competitors. Employees are often dancing to music while making your drinks, which is infectious to the attitude of every customer that comes by, and it shows.

Lastly, it’s the little things that make Dutch better than others. For example, its cups are larger, for more drinks, for the dollar you spend.  In fact, have you noticed that the iced drinks have larger cups than the hot drinks?  That’s to accommodate the ice that’s put in the drinks, so there’s more coffee equality between hot and cold beverages.

Overall, a coffee shop is more than just the sum of its coffee. Dutch Bros continues to make drinks for all people and is focused on the experience of you, just as much as their own coffee. Ultimately, whether Dutch is the best coffee shop is an insulting topic, because, without a doubt, they are better than their competitors for the prices they hold.

STARBUCKS: LOVE COMES IN ALL SIZES

The original Starbucks is located right at the famous Pike Place Market in Seattle, dating back to the company’s start in 1971. I’ve been to the coffee shop at Pike Place three times, and it is a busy and nonstop place.

The line is very long because it is the first Starbucks, after all, and all of the Seattle tourists such as myself love to go check it out.

Starbucks doesn’t do the typical “small,” “medium,” and “large” sizes, but instead calls its drinks a short (extra small), tall (small), grande (medium), venti (large), and trenta (extra large). The chain’s tall, grande, and venti cups are the most popular sizes, as the short and trenta are only for specific drinks.

I’ve had Starbucks for as long as I can remember. When I was 2 years old, my dad and I went to Starbucks and we would get a coffee Frappuccino; he had a venti and I had a tall. Obviously, I was young and don’t remember any of this, but my dad told me I always stole his drink.

I’ve been a Starbucks girl almost since birth. Out of all of the coffee places in the world, whether they are fancy or small, Starbucks has always been my favorite. 

I’ve been working at a Starbucks for two months now, and I love my job. I love studying the drinks, the ongoing history of Starbucks, and taste testing the drinks. Starbucks makes a variety of drinks, whether they be very strong or very sweet.

And let me tell you, Starbucks has stepped it up this holiday season: It has the cutest cup designs for buying coffee on the go and for its coffee mugs.

Starbucks always has a variety to choose from, whether it is coffee (hot, iced, blended from strong or sweet), refreshers, holiday drinks, custom drinks, food, merchandise, and more. Starbucks also has amazing syrups for its lattes and Frappuccinos, which because of their sweetness, never disappoint.

Don’t get me wrong, Starbucks can get expensive. But one of its customer perks is the Stars Rewards program: After you get so many stars, you can earn free drinks and food. Also, on your birthday, you can get a free drink. 

People love Starbucks a lot and not only because of the famous coffee. The company gives back to the community and strives to be successful within its huge footprint. For all of this, I will always love Starbucks. 

BLACK ROCK: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

As childhood legend Hannah Montana would say, “You get the best of both worlds” with the Black Rock Coffee Bar. 

Unlike other contenders, you get the absolute best of one side of the coin, being classic hot coffee; plus the side of new age caffeine roller coasters, like Dutch Bros.’ Rebel line and coffee that is one shot of whipped cream short of being a milkshake, the Starbucks  Frappuccino.

I’m sure most of you have experienced both sides of the coin – from the horrors of the evil, red Folgers can, to the sugary sweetness of a Frappuccino, to the energy-drink style kick of a Rebel.

The only question is, is there a stand where I can get one of each, and have all of them taste like magic?

I’m here to say, without any doubt, that there is: Black Rock is that coffee stand, with its intense, flavor-packed caffeine sledgehammer, taking the form of a fuel smoothie; the smooth, sugary milkshake taste of its chillers; and even the classic delight of a hot coffee.  

You can get a blended Oreo milkshake coffee Frankenstein, with a spice of childhood wonder in the form of an Oreo chiller, a smoothie with a Black Rock brand energy drink mixed in. Or you could opt for my favorite, the Blackout, or as I like to call it, “nutella in a mocha” – a smooth, strong and flavorful hazelnut mocha. You can even get a cold brew coffee.  

I know you’re thinking, isn’t Starbucks the overlord of hot coffee? Yes, it has some good hot coffee, is one of the few places with a cold brew, and where I can buy a Frappuccino, an amazing cold brew or a seasonal pumpkin spice latte. But I can’t buy a Rebel, if I’m in the mood. And if I’m being honest, my favorite coffee there, pumpkin spice, is seasonal. That loses massive points in my book. Lastly, Starbucks has a mega-corporation feel, and it’s noticeable. It is sort of the Red Robin of coffee: locations nationwide, all of which carry good food and drink, but under the pretty atmosphere its stands feel sort of empty. 

Sure, I can get a Rebel from Dutch. But we live in a frigid state, I cannot have an ice-cold coffee drinks year-round. They do have classic coffee, but it’s not the best, by any means. And, while the Rebels are very tasty they are filled with ludicrous amounts of sugar, and will have you crash an hour or so later.

I always regard a coffee shop’s quality by its selection. No matter how you frame it, Black Rock has a massive leg up on the competition. They still have that small-company flare, and they serve a broad range of all the best coffee in town.

Black Rock, you’re killing it. Never change!

BARNEYS BOOKSTORE CAFE: YOUR DAILY MORNING BREW

The Mt. Hood Bookstore is a great resource for students, as there are textbooks for various classes and many other school items that are available for purchase; but another thing that makes the it a uniquely versatile spot on campus is Barney’s Bookstore Cafe. 

I recently got the opportunity to try a small mocha coffee there on my way home from school last week; I haven’t really tried too many different types of coffee, especially at Mt. Hood, so this was a pretty cool experience. It’s pretty nice to have a place to go for warm drinks, especially in the winter; having these types of locations on campus makes it feel more at home.

When I was younger, I would always order hot chocolate on coffee runs with my mom, whether it be at a Starbucks in Safeway or at an airport cafe. I always enjoyed doing this, especially in the winter. A few years ago, I tried coffee, and I now drink it more often when going to a coffee shop, although I still drink hot chocolate every morning.

Now I see that coffee is pretty essential to college students, particularly here at Mt. Hood. I usually see a line for coffee each morning at the cafés on campus.

I think Barney’s Bookstore Café is really convenient for students, as it is right in the Academic Center by the other heavily used buildings and main parking lots. This makes it easier for students to arrive in the morning and get their drinks on their way to class, or between classes. This is an amazing quality of this café, as students may not travel as far to purchase drinks.

For my mocha, there was whipped cream on top, which was really tasty and sweet. The coffee also stayed hot for a while, even though I walked outside for a bit afterward. It stayed hot for at least half an hour.

The drink was really sweet and rich, which I enjoyed. The milk also stayed warm and blended well with the coffee and whipped cream.

Even though I ordered the small size, the cup was wide and decent-sized; another thing I enjoy about the Bookstore Café is that it sells snacks and other types as food, which is convenient for students on the go.

I would definitely recommend the bookstore’s coffee, although I’ve only tried the mocha from there. At $3.25, it had an amazing taste and I think it was worth it. 

Each of the three other coffee stores (Starbucks, Dutch Bros., Black Rock) also have amazing qualities, to be sure.