qualin Senior Member Joined: 30 Jun 2012 Posts: 464 Location: Calgary, AB Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto 3 Grinder: Mazzer Mini Elect. Type A Vac Pot: Looking to buy Drip: Manual Roaster: Considering?
Posted Thu Dec 20, 2012, 11:56am Subject: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
I don't get it.
There are two Tim Hortons franchises where I live which are practically within a 20 minute walk from each other and less than a 5 minute drive away.
All morning and for a good chunk of the day, I see long long lineups of vehicles waiting to get their coffee through the drive through. God help you if you ask for a bagel, while holding up other peoples double-doubles.
I've had their coffee and it is OK, but I don't really get what is so special about it. It is just normal drip coffee, usually with cream and sugar added. Nothing special.
I've heard rumors that they put chocolate in with the grounds.. other people speculate they put in a little bit of cocaine, which judging from peoples need to have their Timmies in the morning, one has to wonder. :-) (I know I know.. they don't really...)
I just don't get it.. Have any seasoned coffee geeks been able to put a traditional cup of Timmies up against their own drip coffee and compare?
I know they just use traditional Bunn coffee brewing equipment, nothing special there.. Although, come to think of it, I've never seen them grind coffee.... Maybe I just haven't noticed.
redkiosk Senior Member Joined: 13 May 2012 Posts: 156 Location: Chicago Metro Area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Illy Francis-Francis X1 Grinder: Baratza Preciso w/ Esatto... Vac Pot: Someday, very intriguing Drip: Bunn Trifecta MB Roaster: A sure path to divorce!
Posted Thu Dec 20, 2012, 12:49pm Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
This past Labor Day weekend we visited some good friends in Grand Bend, ON. Every morning, they (and unfortunately anyone to happened to be visiting) would have to make the trek down to the local "Timmie's" for coffee. They had a Tim Horton coffee maker and a can of his coffee, sitting on their kitchen counter, but nooooo, we had to walk down there and join "Tim Horton's Coffee Circus". I was simply in awe at the lines and traffic jam around the building. We waited in line for 20 minutes for plain old drip coffee. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I'm sure I could have duplicated it with what they had sitting on their kitchen counter. I don't get it either and second the idea that they must put cocaine in what they brew at the store. Luckily my withdrawal symptoms were minimal and I can attest to being Tim Horton's clean ever since. Take care!
Jim
The pathologically precise are annoying, but right!
Posted Thu Dec 20, 2012, 1:20pm Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
Tim Horton's.
Average brewed strength approximately 0.9%
Decent and nondescript. Though they claim to be a blend from all over, I believe it's primarily South American (my guess Brazil) with maybe some central. It's been months, but last time I saw some of their whole-bean coffee, there was none of the characteristic small-sized beans from Africa (like Yemen/Ethiopia/some Tanzanian etc.) and also very little fruit in the cup.
I think the best thing is that they guarantee it's freshly brewed. 20minutes and anything left is tossed. That's not a lot of time to burn on a burner or sit in an airpot converting CGA into bitter substances.
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,722 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Thu Dec 20, 2012, 4:00pm Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
My first thought was...Who the f#%k is Tim Horton?
Ok so I see it's some coffee house sort of franchise. Why did people in LA get up at 5am to get in line for Krispy Kreme? It's just a freakin' donut for christs sake!
In my world a double-double is a cheeseburger...and has been since I was a little kid. For the Californians...I grew up less than a mile from in-n-out back when they were pretty scarce.
diggi Senior Member Joined: 28 Nov 2011 Posts: 382 Location: Halifax, NS Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Spaz vivaldi S1 V2 Grinder: B Vario, OE LIDO Drip: Chemex, Espro Press,... Roaster: Poppery I
Posted Thu Dec 20, 2012, 6:24pm Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
I remember an interview on CBC a few years back with one of the marketing guru's with Tim Horton's. I remember something along the lines of, 'well we knew we didn't have a really great product, but we had to find something that made it appealing to all Canadians'. And that's what they did; they've somehow managed to convince Canadians that we can take pride in sharing this brand together coast to coast. It is not about the product. It is a deep seeded notion that this is what Canadians do. And, although the brand has expanded to some extent south of the border, they don't have this nationalistic element to draw from. It is only about the crappy product that they offer, and that is a difficult mountain to climb as they don't really have a 'hook' in the US as in Canada. I find the above posts a bit overly complimentary for this brand. I find their product absolutely undrinkable. As a business, they have done an incredible job of turning profits; but as a product, no thank you. I have had several free cups thrust in my hands, and will pass it to someone else, or try to abstain politely. Very sour and just not pleasant at all.
Posted Fri Dec 21, 2012, 7:07am Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
diggi Said:
I remember an interview on CBC a few years back with one of the marketing guru's with Tim Horton's. I remember something along the lines of, 'well we knew we didn't have a really great product, but we had to find something that made it appealing to all Canadians'. And that's what they did; they've somehow managed to convince Canadians that we can take pride in sharing this brand together coast to coast. It is not about the product. It is a deep seeded notion that this is what Canadians do. And, although the brand has expanded to some extent south of the border, they don't have this nationalistic element to draw from. It is only about the crappy product that they offer, and that is a difficult mountain to climb as they don't really have a 'hook' in the US as in Canada. I find the above posts a bit overly complimentary for this brand. I find their product absolutely undrinkable. As a business, they have done an incredible job of turning profits; but as a product, no thank you. I have had several free cups thrust in my hands, and will pass it to someone else, or try to abstain politely. Very sour and just not pleasant at all.
Oh, I've had cups of that too. If it is whole bean, ground and brewed at home, it's actually pretty drinkable. If you get them in the heat of the battle (i.e. in the morning), they will short-pull pots to get coffee served. Their equipment (Bunn, IIRC) is very sensitive to the heating cycle, so the reservoir doesn't get hot enough if they're trying to do pots every 8 minutes at rush.
I actually just had a "coffee situation" at McDonalds - I ordered a coffee, they informed me they would have to brew a pot. I said, "fine". At least it's fresh, and it's not bad when it's freshly brewed - and the fact that they didn't have one on hand meant the brewer reservoir was up to temperature. They underdose, but enh, it's a buck and I'm not near my CCD...
I got the coffee and tasted it, and immediately knew they had short pulled and brewed the coffee "tailings" into my cup. I said, "this crap is undrinkable. Who made my coffee?"
They brought the young kid over, and I asked him: "did you pull the pot before the brew cycle was over?"
"Well, you looked like you had been waiting a while."
"I was waiting for a brewed cup of coffee. You pulled the pot and brewed directly into my cup, didn't you?"
"Well... ah... I thought it would be 'fresher' that way, nice and hot."
I took the time to tell him AND show him the result. I had him pour me some from the pot, and compared the two - you could SEE the difference in strength. I explained that all of the coffee is necessary to make a correct pot - these "tailings" balance out the pH and fill out the entire flavor profile - but by themselves are quite sour and weak. He offered to make a new pot - and I explained that if there is a brew light on the brewer, you MUST wait for it to indicate the brewer is ready to brew again, otherwise you'll get off-flavor coffee because the temperature will be too low.
The manager listened to all of this, and then she said, "well, sometimes people complain about the coffee in the morning, I didn't think that the way we brew it had an effect. I thought that it was just a bad batch or something..."
LOL
I've seen them do this same thing at Timmy-ho's. They'll brew a pot, then when it's half done, they'll grab a second empty pot and "swap" the pots, and serve the first half. Sometimes they pour it back, sometimes there's just too many customers and it's gone. The second half of the pot is pretty sour, but the first half can be overly strong and sometimes bitter. Keep in mind, this is just during the morning rush and sometimes at the lunch rush.
Brewing doesn't take a LOT of precision, but it does take following a procedure.
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
Posted Fri Dec 21, 2012, 8:33am Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
Tim Horton's is a Canadian chain.
I find their coffee to be usually fresh, drinkable and not fantastic but at least consistent. I believe they use 18% cream to improve it (?).
Their donuts are excellent. I particularly like their apple-fritters and blueberry fritters and honey crullers. Their 'Tim-Bits' (...holes from the donuts) are a big hit with the kids.
A few years ago they recognized that folks were staying away from donuts for health reasons. They launched bagels and made 'bagel' a household word all across Canada.
They regularly come out with new products and their coffee-shops are crowded at lunch time. I particularly remember their 'Chilli-In-A-Bread-Bowl' that went well for a couple of years.
You have to remember that ...it's not about the coffee ...it's about making money.
Posted Fri Dec 21, 2012, 8:04pm Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
Tim Horton bought out the old Bess Eaton chain here in New England back in 2004 & tried to compete with Dunkin Donuts. By 2010 they'd given up & closed about 35 stores. Nothing great about DD's coffee either but some folks love it. They do make the best chocolate glazed donut though.
marlap Senior Member Joined: 5 May 2012 Posts: 49 Location: Montreal Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Starbucks Barista Athena Grinder: Braun KM 30 (modded)
Posted Fri Dec 21, 2012, 8:35pm Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
emradguy Said:
My first thought was...Who the f#%k is Tim Horton?
Ok so I see it's some coffee house sort of franchise. Why did people in LA get up at 5am to get in line for Krispy Kreme? It's just a freakin' donut for christs sake!
In my world a double-double is a cheeseburger...and has been since I was a little kid. For the Californians...I grew up less than a mile from in-n-out back when they were pretty scarce.
Tim Horton was a Hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise, who later opened up a coffee shop named after himself. The rest as they say is history.
Posted Fri Dec 21, 2012, 9:16pm Subject: Re: What's the deal with Tim Hortons coffee?
Wow, a Tim Horton's thread and not a peep from my bud CraigA. :>D Must be having a beer... A Belated Happy Hanukkah and a future merry Christmas to all...and to all a good-night!
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