As we all know Dutch bros has arrived in Wilsonville, (No more treks to Tualatin to get your morning coffee YAY!) you’ll also notice a familiar Wildcat making your drink if you go visit. Dutch bros was founded in Grants Pass, Oregon in 1922 by dairy farmers, Dane and Travis Boersma who started selling coffee using a single espresso pushcart. They were pretty excited to transition from the dairy business to the coffee business and to smelling yummy coffee beans instead of cow manure all day. The company is unique in that each location is locally owned and operated and each employee is instilled with outstanding customer service, (to the point where you feel they may want to jump in your car and join you) there’s always awesome music blasting through the windows, and they support local charities. Not to mention they make pretty cool drinks; coffee, smoothies, freezes, teas, Rebels, and they have inspirational lids! After starting from humble beginnings Dutch now has 400+ locations and there’s also a few myths surrounding the Dutch Mafia such as the “straw code” in which Bro-istas give customers different colored straws based on what they think of them. According to The Odyssey the straws meanings go as follows: Green=Unsightly (Ouch), Orange=Mysterious, Yellow=Average, Blue=Rude and of course the coveted Pink straw=your hot. Who knows if this myth is true but to find out I decided to interview Colby Guenther, a Dutch Bro-Ista and Wilsonville Senior, who started working at the Wilsonville Dutch Bros in October. 

What is your favorite drink at dutch? 

“I like to get a medium hand blended eclipse rebel and it is also my favorite to make.” 

What is the most special thing about working at dutch?

“Definitely the coolest part about Dutch is that everyone gets along, you are friends with all your coworkers and work doesn’t really feel like work. Also everything is free!”

How long did it take you to learn how to make all the drinks?

“I was in training for about two weeks, after the first few days I felt comfortable with the basics, I felt fully comfortable after about three weeks and didn’t need to ask any more questions.”

What’s special about dutch that you can’t find at any other coffee company?

“Our owners genuinely care about us, they always check in on us, make sure we’re doing good and always try to help us expand whether it’s in the company or just in regular life. They want what’s best for us.”

Why would you recommend working at dutch?

“It’s definitely a really fun job and awesome during high school. They accommodate school hours and you get to hang out with a bunch of your friends and make drinks while being hyped up on caffeine. It’s honestly pretty fun.”

What is the hardest drink to make and easiest?

“The hardest drink to make is either a carburetor or an extra thick rebel, if you get an extra thick rebel I don’t like you. They always get stuck in the blender. The easiest is probably an iced rebel or an iced coffee, most drinks are pretty easy and you can make them in about 30 seconds.”

Do you guys get offended when people don’t tip?

“No I don’t get offended, we always understand that people are always at a different spot financially and that’s totally okay, but is definitely really appreciated.”

What is the biggest goof you’ve had while making or ordering drinks?

“Every now and then I have a little goof and accidently make a hot drink iced but normally we catch it, the only real bad thing that happens every now and then is I’ll just completely give someone the wrong drink and they don’t say anything about it and just leave.”

What’s your favorite dutch apparel you wear?

“Easily my favorite thing to wear is my dutch basketball jersey. It’s really nice especially during the summer, I also like this green sweatshirt they gave us that’s like an Oregon State sweatshirt.”

Is there competition between different dutch locations like tualatin v Wilsonville?

“Sometimes we see who can sell the most bags of coffee during Christmas time but every now and then we like to tease each other about who has faster average times. Tualatin always says that they’re faster. They’re not.”

What’s the weirdest drink you’ve been asked to make?

“Someone asked me to put lemonade and a coffee, gross.”

What’s the best customer story you have had?

“We had a guy come through one day, he was one of our regulars, but when he took his order he said he’s going to pay for the next 15 cars behind him. It ended up being like 200 bucks or something it was crazy.”

What’s the worst customer story you have had?

 “We had a customer come one time, he had to have been drunk, who started yelling at everybody and beating on cars. I had to kick him out, he came back and we had to call the cops.”

Why is dutch better than Starbucks?

“No comment, but they coffee burnt.”

Is the “straw code” a thing?

“Honestly no, especially during a rush. I’m just trying to give straws out  and I don’t really look at them, unless there’s a really hot mom, then she gets a pink straw.”