IamA Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins Employee AMA!

I always do the survey on the receipt so I can get a free donut on my next visit. Do you guys see those surveys? I leave nice comments about whoever was at the drive thru window.

I normally drink a mocha swirl iced coffee. Are there any good combinations of flavors to try?

YOU ARE A GREAT PERSON. Seriously, it helps our store SO much to get those reviews. I try to encourage people to take them. We do see them and I always smile when I see a review with my name in it (the reason we have nametags) talking about how courteous and friendly I am :)

Combos to try: Caramel Mocha is my absolute favorite. (Although I don't drink them anymore) Coconut Caramel, Hazelnut Mocha (Nutella) and Raspberry Mocha (For lattes especially but also try a raspberry vanilla chai. It's amazing)

Why don't flavors of the month ever get sold in the pre-packaged quarts? That Oreo Cake Batter ice cream was the best thing you guys have ever made, I wanted to hoard it, but it was always gone.

That flavor was AMAZING. I totally agree. You can ask for a fresh packed Quart which is when we pack it ourselves. It's a tad more expensive because we do it ourselves, but only by a dollar or two. You can fresh pack any ice cream :)

Can you pack me a few quarts of black walnut, please.

That flavor hasn't been in our store in the past year :/

Why is cookie dough coffee going away!?

Cookie dough is part of the Summer "Ice Cream" collection. So now the Butter Pecan, Jamoca Almond Fudge and Cookie Dough is replaced with Pumpkin Spice and soon White Chocolate and Peppermint Mocha :) It's all seasonal.

I was crushed when brown sugar cinnamon went away :(

That was for January I believe. It didn't last long. Maybe 3 months :/

If there is anyway I can buy the cookie dough syrup let me know ASAP

Probably not :/ Call up your local Dunkin and ask them if they're willing to sell it to you. I know I would if we had any left.

Whoa whoa whoa there. Hold the presses. Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins shack up? OMG. Where can I get me some of this?

Yeah! Like KFC/ Taco Bell. It's like combined in one store. I know every Dunkin doesn't have a Baskin attached but every now and then you'll see one :)

What's the grossest thing you've ever seen put in a Dunkin' Donuts product?

For fast food, we have pretty fresh ingredients. But some of it is frozen. We have these pepperjack supreme bagels and it is literally a frozen "pepperjack puck" (as my coworkers and I like to call it) that you put on top of a plain bagel and bake. They look gross frozen.

Why does there have to be a separate register for ice cream and donuts?

Hahaha. My store realized that was stupid so when we renovated, we got rid of the ice cream register (we never used it anyway) and now just use the main one. Typically we get the ice cream first and then ring the customer up so we can add whatever toppings, etc. they got.

Follow up question. Why are there separate menus? A combined menu would be amazing.

The majority of customers would be completely annoyed and it would be pretty confusing haha the only thing that crosses over between DD and BR is a donut sundae and it's not even technically listed on the menu.

Please describe the donut sundae.....:)

Donut with ice cream in the hole, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry. Or you could always customize it to your desire. Just ask for it :)

Do you have a secret menu? What are your favorite "weird" things to make?

The great thing about Dunkin is you can literally customize anything. Blue raspberry/Strawberry coolata? Sure. Mocha Hot chocolate? We can do that. Bacon egg and cheese on a french roll with chipotle sauce? Of course. Just get creative. We can put things together however you'd like :) Well once someone asked for an Oreo milkshake with gummy bears blended in... the blender sounded like it was going to break but I tried some, and oh my gosh it tasted so good believe it or not. My coworker likes adding cherry juice (from the maraschino cherries at BR) to iced tea... I haven't tried that one yet. Haha

When I used to work there they had a bunch of blasts, sort of like milkshakes but with ice. One we didnt have on the menu was a mocha blast since it got discontinued, im assuming health reasons. If you asked for it we'd make it.

We have that on our menu and it's really popular.

Why is the pumpkin spice at dunks so addicting?

Oh my gosh, we just got our shipment Monday and people are CRAZY about it! I think it's one of those things that since it only comes around one time a year, it makes it more desirable. If it was a standard like caramel and mocha, people would get tired of it.

Is your right arm super stronger than your left arm due to scooping?

Hahahaha so many customers comment on this when I'm scooping ice cream. I have gotten muscle cramps maybe 3-4 times from scooping. It's awful haha but I have not noticed any change in muscle mass in my right arm :)

What's in the BR ice cream cake fudge that makes it so delicious (and do I want to know?)

It's the hot fudge (what we use for ice cream sundaes) with the "crunch pieces". That's literally it haha sometimes I just eat it plain if I want.

How does DD always put in the perfect amount if cream / sugar in my coffee?

It's what we do! Obviously we have to keep the customers coming back somehow :)

1. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
2. Why do all DD not carry the sprinkled ones when they are the best damn type of Munchkin?!?

Of our standard flavors, Pralines and Cream. I typically don't like nuts in my ice cream, but the pecans are candy coated so it's 10000x better. The Oreo Cake Batter as previously mentioned is now on my mind and that was heaven. And I have never heard of a sprinkled munchkin... all I can say is it must not be high in demand :/

I have been disappointed with dunkin lately. They coffee is very inconsistent. Half the time delicious and the other half I can't even choke it down, it's like drinking luke warm mop water. I imagine that making coffee is pretty standardized, why/how are there inconsistencies?

From my experience, they probably just hired new people. I don't blame them, because they don't know any better yet but it's horrible when they mess up and the customers have to take the fall :/

How come I can order the same drink at two different Dunkin Donuts and the drinks will be completely different? Do you guys have recipes you follow, or do you just wing it? I would think an Iced Vanilla Latte wouldn't be to hard to mess up but apparently it is.

There's a sweetened french vanilla syrup and an unsweetened vanilla flavor shot. If you ask for sugar, adding it to the unsweetened one would taste different. Plus, the amount of ice the employee fills the cup up with, how well they stir it, etc. will matter in the end. I always ask for less ice in my iced lattes because it tastes a lot better and not watered down.

What happens to all the old/spare donuts at the end of a day?

They are either thrown out or donated to charity depending on the offers we get. Or taken home to employee's families or friends.

What is the craziest thing you've seen at the register/drive-thru?

I'm thinking back to two days ago when this lady got mad in drive through because i gave her the wrong donuts. She asked for "four cake donuts" and I verified with her: "you mean old fashioned?" and she said yes. When I handed them to her, she yelled at me saying they were wrong and she wanted, what I figured out, CHOCOLATE GLAZED. Completely different. I can't read your mind, lady. And she proceeded to chuck the donuts at me and drove away while I was trying to rationalize with her. I even gave her extra donuts to try to be nice :(

So I live in the middle of the country, and here Starbucks (and recently Carbibou Coffee) seem to rule the land. I barely even knew about the popularity of Dunkin Donuts until I traveled to the East Coast and saw them on the every corner. My question is, how big your rivalry with fellow coffee shops?

Dunkin is more of an East Coast thing. It originated in Massachusetts. In my area, there is no other coffee chains around so no competition :) we do sell "Friends don't let other friends drink Starbucks" tee shirts which I think is the sassiest thing Dunkin has done yet haha.

Do you ever mess with people who are rude? Like giving them decaf instead of regular?

The way I mess with rude people is to be obnoxiously nice to them and make them feel stupid for being so mean... haha kill em with kindness.

have you ever thought about managing one? or owning your own dunkin donuts franchise?

I have. The owner of my store is pretty rich. I'm much more interested in opening my own private coffee shop though if I decide to major in business after I get my gen eds.

Do you ever just sneak a munchkin? Just one? Maybe another?

Everyone does haha but not anymore because I am so sick of donuts. I don't have any desire to eat them.

If I ask, can I get a freshly made donut? Cuz fresh ones are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good

Just ask us to heat it up for 10 seconds under "pastry" in the oven if you don't feel like coming into Dunkin at 5 am :)

Do the employees usually gain weight when they start working there? And also, if you were in charge what would you change about your workplace?

At first yes. But you get sick of the food and the pounds shed right off :) I just recently lost the 10 pounds I gained while working here. I'd change the music soundtrack. It plays the same songs over and over and over. I told my owner and he said he'd change the soundtrack but he never did :( I know we can't play rap because elders/little kids but maybe some blink 182 or green day every now and then would be nice.

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Yes. sighs

What is the most popular doughnut sold? It better be maple bars...

Top 6 are glazed, boston kreme, chocolate frosted and all three sprinkled ones (Rainbow Sprinkles, Strawberry Frosted, and Vanilla Frosted). It's hard to tell between those but Chocolate Frosted and Boston Kreme are close competitors for number one :)

A friend told me that they double brew their coffee to make iced coffees. Is that true? Is that why they taste so robust?

This is true :) Because no one likes watered down coffee.

What determines if you get strawberry jelly donuts or raspberry/apple jelly donuts?

My store always carries strawberry and raspberry filled (jelly) donuts every day. The strawberry filled is a powdered shell and the jelly is a sugar raised.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Pralines and Cream

Is there such thing as free ice-cream day?

Every day! Just ask for a sample of whatever suits your fancy ;)

What's the nastiest thing you've noticed in your place of work?

We used to have a rodent problem for about 2 weeks in the winter (like any other functioning restaurant) but it quickly went away once we took care of it and now we make sure to keep the store extra sterile and I haven't seen a mouse since.

Two part question:

Have you made creative concoctions with different flavors, and if so what should I order next time?

1. Raspberry Mocha (dark choc. raspberry)
2. Caramel Mocha
3. Hazelnut Mocha (nutella)
4. Caramel Coconut (german choc. cake)
5. French Vanilla Toasted Almond Adding more than 2 flavors is pushing it. It will become gross.

How come every time i say "ham egg and cheese breakfast sandwich" at the drive thru, i'm always handed one of those ham cheese and mustard lunch crap sammiches?

You want the one on the english muffin right? Not the french roll? Literally just tell them exactly what you want: "ham egg and cheese on an english muffin with no sauce" I know it's frustrating over drive through when you can't see the person face to face.

You have doughnuts in your store and ice cream... why no doughnut ice cream flavor?

I blended a glazed donut in a milkshake before. I just about threw up.

Would you rather open, or close?

Close. Coming into work at 4:30 am? No thank you.

Do you put cocaine in your coffee? No but really wtf is up with your coffee

Caffeine is a stimulant and considered a drug, my friend :)

Are there adults with families that work with you? Can they afford to live on just $7.75?

Yes. Morning shift has about four adults with families. They get paid more than $7.75 though. That's just my wage being so young. We actually have two pregnant workers right now... haha. They seem to be doing just fine though and never complain that they are struggling.

Do you ever get performance reviews? I've only been working nine months but I got a review a month ago and got a bump to $8.50/hr.

No but yesterday at work, I was done ringing up this guy and my manager walked over to do something on the register and the customer goes "she is a very pleasant worker. You should give her a raise" and my manager just laughs and said "That's why I just did give her a raise" haha

I was very, very disappointed to hear that Dunkin Donuts doesn't make their original donuts in house. I was surprised to hear that the donuts come frozen-not fresh. Does this happen at all Dunkin Donuts? Are there any Dunkin Donuts that sell freshly made donuts?

It depends how small the store is. We get them delivered every morning from a store about 20 minutes away. THEY make them in house. If you saw how small our kitchen was, you would understand why we can't make them on location :/ We have frozen "shells" (yeast donut) that we can decorate however we want (choc. frosted, strawberry frosted w/ sprinkles, etc.) just in case we run out since we have an oven, frosting, and sprinkles :)

Dunking donuts and Baskin Robbins got married? When did that happen? We've only ever had the latter here.

In Maryland, they're everywhere.

Do you really make your coffee out of meth and coca-cola?

No but I have always wanted to try Walter White and Gale's amazing coffee concoction they created in their meth lab. This is very unrelated but still... haha

Why is the toast never toasted and just wet?

Like the bread we use for the texas toast grilled cheese? I've never had this problem. I've always had to watch so it doesn't burn if anything. It always comes out crispy.

where can i buy DD coffee creamer?

They released a new line of them in grocery stores. There's "regular", "unsweeted" and "extra extra" :) It's relatively new, so it might have not hit your local grocery store yet.

Love the iced coffee, any secret menu items I could order to make it even more delicious? (flavorings/combinations in the coffee)

Any I mentioned earlier :) Maybe ask for whipped cream on top if you want to indulge?

will you pls tell corporate to bring back Cookie Dough and Mint Chocolate chip coffee to year round instead of seasonal? Those are pretty much the only flavors of coffee i drink and my stores ran out at this point. :(

It's really hard to get the message across by just one person. If enough customers suggest it, there's a better chance it'll happen. That's why we're bringing back Dark Roast for our special promotion soon :) Employees get sweet new shirts too :)