Dutch Bros — a drive-thru coffee franchise known for its unique drinks, perky “bro-istas” and cult-like following — first came to the KC area in 2021 and recently added a more accessible location in September of 2022. Lucky for me and my peers, I no longer have to drive 30 minutes on the highway to get my favorite drinks.
The chain started out in Oregon circa 1990 selling only coffee but expanded through the country, including a location in the Legends Outlet and another on Shawnee Mission Parkway just five miles from East. In the process, they also expanded their menu — adding frosts, freezes, smoothies, sodas and most notably their own Rebel Energy Drink.
As a self-proclaimed Dutch Bros aficionado and one of the first people at the Legends Outlet location on their opening day, I knew I had to ditch my regular order and try out the company’s secret menu items.
I made my way down to 11335 Shawnee Mission Pkwy in Shawnee. Most people use the drive-thru, but there’s also a walk-up window where customers can order and sit outside the blue-and-yellow building with their drinks. They don’t have an indoor seating area like most coffee chains so I chose the walk-up window mainly because I knew I’d have a large order and didn’t want to back up the drive-thru line that had already extended past the building into the parking lot.
The bro-ista at the walk-up window greeted me with a warm smile and friendly opening. I placed my overly large order of a Grand Canyon freeze, Banana Bread freeze, Toasted Mellow frost, Blended Shark Attack Rebel, Dino Egg Rebel and an Ocean Water soda. Unlike “secret menus” at other places, the workers here know all the names and ingredients for the drinks featured on this menu, found on the Dutch Bros app or websites such as Cosmopolitan.
First, I decided to try the Grand Canyon Freeze. My mouth was practically drooling after hearing about it — a blended latte with white chocolate, milk chocolate macadamia nut syrup and chocolate milk and caramel drizzled on top sounded like a dream. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the sweetness, and I loved how I could still taste a majority of the espresso in the drink, unlike other blended coffees I’ve tried. I didn’t get much of the macadamia flavor but I wasn’t complaining as the chocolate and caramel were still amazing flavors. This was easily my favorite drink that I tried.
I chose another blended latte, the Banana Bread Freeze. With hazelnut, creme de banana syrup and half-and-half cream substituted for milk, the drink was less sweet than the Grand Canyon Freeze and also had less of an espresso taste. It tasted mostly like burnt sugar, with a slight banana taste at first. The drink was largely overpowered by this burnt sugary taste and hazelnut flavor — needless to say, I didn’t taste the banana bread the drink was named after. I’d save the $3.50 and skip out on this secret menu item.
The next drink I tried was a Toasted Mellow Frost — Dutch Bros’ less sweet version of a milkshake. Toasted Mellow is made with vanilla and chocolate macadamia nut flavors, but I thought it was more similar to a vanilla milkshake rather than anything marshmallow. It felt like it was lacking something — possibly more flavor to it — but I still enjoyed the drink. While it wasn’t a bad choice, it felt bland compared to other drinks the coffee shop offers.
Then I moved on to the Rebels — Dutch’s own energy drink with 13 fewer mg of caffeine than their coffees. The first one I tried was the Dino Egg Rebel, which was their classic Blue Rebel made with blue raspberry and unicorn blood drizzle. It had a very similar taste to RedBull — sour yet somewhat sweet with a powerful bitter aftertaste — and a green apple flavor. It wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite drink.
The second Rebel was the Blended Shark Attack. The drink itself was a mix of blue raspberry, coconut and lime, topped with bright red pomegranate drizzle. Its texture was similar to a slushie and had an even balance of sweet and sour flavors. The base flavors mixed well together and I no longer got a Red Bull-like taste which I was grateful for. The pomegranate drizzle also mixed well with the drink and gave it a slightly sour taste. This was easily one of my favorites.
Finally, I had the ocean water Italian soda. It’s simply a Dutch soda — basically just fancy tonic water — with blue raspberry, coconut and lime. The coconut was slightly overpowering and I didn’t get as much of the other flavors as I would like. I still enjoyed the soda but I wouldn’t order it again.
The Dutch Bros secret menu has hits and misses but overall is full of fun, unique and delicious drinks to check out on your next visit.
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