What To Know About Dutch Bros' Most Popular Drink

It's quite possible that no other coffee chain has a menu as complex and ever-changing as Dutch Bros. With rotating monthly specials, a huge catalog of secret menu drinks, and the ability to modify nearly every aspect of any drink to your liking, anyone's first trip to the famed West Coast coffee chain is likely fraught with a little bit of decision paralysis. To be fair, any of the famously upbeat employees will explain it to you and gladly give catered recommendations if you ask. But if you're really looking to make your first taste of Dutch Bros a great one (or if you're a regular who wants to switch up your order), try ordering the fan-favorite Golden Eagle for a caffeinated, creamy caramel drink that the company advertises as "the most popular drink on the menu."

The Golden Eagle can be ordered hot or iced, and combines espresso, half-and-half, and caramel and vanilla flavorings with a caramel drizzle. You can also request it with whipped cream or Dutch Bros' very-own Soft Top, a version of velvety cold foam or cream foam, swap the milk type for a non-dairy option, add sprinkles ... you get the picture. If you can dream it, Dutch Bros will do it, not resting until they formulate a truly to-your-liking (if a little aggressively sweet) morning pick-me-up.

Even if Dutch Bros is all about customization, for a newbie, the seemingly endless possibilities that come with that flexibility can be overwhelming. So here's a few of the most-recommended changes from seasoned pros — aka customers who shared their ideas on a Reddit thread. One comment reminded people that any Dutch drink can be ordered half sweet, quarter sweet, or extra sweet to tone it up and down for your liking. If you're also craving a little more coffee flavor, you can do the same as many of the highly caffeinated by requesting an extra shot of espresso.

Many of the comments also addressed a change in the recipe for the drink, which bro-istas confirmed meant swapping from manually adding both vanilla and caramel Torani syrup flavors to simply adding a premade mix of the two flavors. The change was made to streamline the process of making the popular drink, but some people aren't fans. If that's you, try ordering your Golden Eagle "OG style," or, put more simply, asking for the vanilla and caramel syrups to be added separately. Don't feel bad about making mods; the coffee chain that's redefining friendly service is more than happy to adjust. But if all this asking and adjusting is just too much for your social anxiety, the Golden Eagle is possible to make at home (much like another chain's fan-favorite drink, the Starbucks Medicine Ball) — all you need is caramel and vanilla Torani syrups, two to four shots of espresso, and half and half.