Somehow over the years I have developed a love for coffee. I always found this so interesting considering that I when I was a younger I loved the smell of the grounds, but hated how it tasted completely different than the aroma would have let me to believe in all of it's seductive beauty and dark mysteries.
I love the culture, I love he smell, I love the preparation, I love the sound of my coffee maker as it brews it in it's quiet dance of infusing the water with the grounds. Coffee, much like tea, is one of the beauties in the world. It may not hold as many of the exotic flavors and fragrances that tea does for me. But there is something about it that appeals to me.....
My favorite coffee stand, is Dutch Bros., which is a franchise that has stretched well beyond it's original Southern Oregon Boarders. I love the energy of the employees who work there as well as all that they do for the community and other altuistic work. Such as, when police office Chris Kilcullen was killed in the line of duty, there was a fundraiser that was done through dutch bros to raise money for a college fund for his kids. It raised a good amount of money. They also, on valentine's day have a food drive where you can donate 3 cans of food to Food for Lane County for a drink. They also do a fundraiser for the MDA and Relay for Life, which brings me to the annual $1 day.
Every drink, ever size if $1, and a 100% of that dollar goes to the Relay for Life. I'm not sure if it's the same organization every year, but $1 is once a year every year and is always for charity. They also were all dressed up for an 80's theme. I wish I had had my camera because the outfits were amazing as they were making coffee and rocking out to "living on a prayer".
I guess the other reason I love DB, is because there have been the few occasions when I get there and realize that I don't have my money, or I had forgotten my purse, and they end up giving me my drink, and tell me to just pay them back next time. Which I always do. They don't have to do that, it is perfectly understandable that they wouldn't, since they are a business. But it is something that is a little extra at times.
I guess my best experience at Dutch Bros was last summer. I was going through the break up with my baby's daddy, and it was a very hard and stressful time. I also managed to mess up my finances by paying too much on one of my bills and everything went haywire. I was hanging out with Carson, who was living downtown by the Olive St. DB at the time. We went down there and I didn't have any money, just a stamp card that had 9 of the needed 10 stamps to get a free drink. It was a VERY bad day that day and I explained to the guy that was working that I'd understand if the answer was no, but I was wondering if there was any chance that he would accept the card even though it was missing one stamp. He just said, "hey, I'll take care of ya" he stamped my card and then made me my drink. It really made my day. I felt really bad that I didn't even have any money to give him a tip. 
I did however square that up with him. I ended up giving him like 5 dollars later on when I had money, and I explained to him that he had really made my day and I had really appreciated it cause I knew that he didn't have to. He was a tall and well built guy with tatoos all over his arms, and for some reason I find it extra awesome when they seem touched by it. Which he did. I know it's just a coffee place and they are employees just doing their job. But for the most part, the people who end up working there are just fantastic, and actually seem to enjoy it. I have a cousin who works for DB in Southern Oregon, and she seems to really like it.
So thank you Dutch Bros, even if I have spent way too much money there at times, but you make a great product and have some of the most amazing employees I've ever had the pleasure to be a customer for. :)
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