For The Canadians Out There, How Do You Take Your Tim Horton's?

Not a personal fan of Tim Horton's. I prefer to make my own coffee at home, and I drink it black. That being said, if I am meeting people at Timmy's I'll get a large black coffee. I try to stay away from the XL.

He he he, you've opened a can of worms with this one and fellow member Pruss! I myself

Am not a big fan of Tim Hortons coffee, some of their teas are OK, but the coffee is very bitter bitter to my tastes. However after spending any time in the States it's always nice to get back to some real coffee vs the watered down crap they serve south of the border. Don't even get me started on what they call beer! :nana:

For The Canadians Out There, How Do You Take Your Tim Horton's?

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With two strong guys restraining me, a third forcing my mouth open and the fourth person pouring the stuff down my open throat while I scream. I guess we'd call that a "quad"?
Okay that might have been a bit much. But there is MUCH better coffee to be found elsewhere in Canada. No other coffee retailer is as convenient as a Tim's. The latest research says that Tim's owns 80% of ALL coffee consuming occasions in Canada (yes that includes 'at home' people). But as a coffee professional working in Canada I'd argue that McDonalds is giving Tim's a run for their money with regards to a viable coffee program in the fast-food segment of the food industry. Given the two brands side-by-side I'd pull into the golden arches for coffee today versus Tim's, and I drink coffee for a living.
EDIT - @brdavidson at least I'm consistent...
-- Pat

It's like you have a radar for anything coffee related! I was timing to see how long it would take you to respond. I too much prefer McDonald's coffee in the fast food segment. And I'm not just saying this cause Pat is my friend, but the best coffee I've ever had in my life was from Second Cup.

Can you give me a couple recommendations to a coffee that I could, say pick up at a supermarket, just to give something different a shot?

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I sure can. This depends, of course, on where you are. If you're in Canada and are buying groceries at any of the major national chains then you will have access to the following:

- Kicking Horse

- President's Choice Organics

- My Company's Coffee which I'm not gonna name 'cause that's against forum rules
These coffees are all roasted whole bean coffees, but both PC and My Company's coffee are also available in a pre-ground option.
I'd highly recommend buying whole bean coffee, and grinding it at home just before brewing. If that isn't an option, that's okay, but don't buy huge volumes of it. In fact, no matter what kind of coffee you buy, only buy as much as you're going to use in a week. Coffee flavour is in its shelf-life and the closer it is to roast the tastier it will be.
The BIGGEST deal in getting the best flavour in your coffee is in how much coffee you use in relationship to the amount of water you use when brewing. A good rule of thumb is to use two measured (heaping if you're brave) tablespoons of ground coffee for every "cup" of water in the pot you're brewing. You'll notice I used "" around the word cup. This is because every coffee brewer manufacturer has a different definition for "cup". Some use a standard 250ml measure, others use 200ml, others go to 275ml... basically they're jerks (okay not really) and you'll want to start with a measured volume of coffee per "cup" to start brewing. If you use 2tbsp per cup and it tastes too strong, then cut back to 1.5 and try again. Do this until you find your sweetspot.
The other two things you can do instantly to start brewing better coffee is to store your coffee in an air-tight/light-tight canister at room temperature, and use filtered water to brew your coffee. If you can do these two things, with fresher coffee, at 2tbsp/cup you'll get better coffee at home, even if you're using Tim's.

And I'm not just saying this cause Pat is my friend, but the best coffee I've ever had in my life was from Second Cup.

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You're sweet like candy.
-- Pat

The only thing I'll ever get at Tim's is the Iced Capp, and only as a means to stay awake if I'm on a 401 drive for work or whatever. Merely a sugar/caffeine delivery system.

The only thing I'll ever get at Tim's is the Iced Capp

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You're a good egg, Matt.
There is too much good coffee available in the National Capital Region for you to have to drink that stuff.
The last "awesome" cup of Tim's I had was at the Tim Hortons on the 401 near Napanee on my way to Ottawa. It was reasonably well brewed, must have been in a brand-new pot, and I could taste some of the origin characteristics of the coffees in the blend. Scared the bejeezus out of me.
-- Pat

The only thing I like from Tim's is the bagels. Their coffee is not for me. My preference is for fresh ground beans from the Italian deli, run through my espresso machine. Second Cup if I'm on the go.

I take a medium double double if I end up at Timmies. I prefer McDonald's coffee though, as it tends to be easier on me.

The last time I was happy to see a Tim's was near the end of a particularly long drive on Hwy 17 coming back from Sudbury to Ottawa, and it was more relief to see something resembling civilization. That, my friends, is a miserable drive.

I don't live there. I work there a lot during the year. My contact invariably starts an early morning by driving over to park in the Tim Horton's line. Ahead of us all I hear is "double-double, double-double, double-double." My turn comes -- "Black." Then they wait to see if I meant that.
I think I give my nationality (or my age?) away every time that happens.
Down here at Starbuck's, though, same thing. I'm not sure they're used to serving coffee. Coffee is a condiment for something milk-based. And here in Minnesota -- it's Caribou. I'll ask for a small coffee, black -- and the clerk sighs and looks bored at me.

You all can keep the coffee/tea/whatever (liquid) at Tim Hortons, but don't you try to pull a doughnut out of my hands. You'll draw back a nub. I never miss a chance at TH when I'm North of the Border.
::

@pipenscotch - Now you've done it. I'm hungry. And the nearest Tim Hortons is about 10 hours away. Bummer... ::

Myself, I really don't care all that much for Tims. I'll drink it if there's nothing else but it wouldn't be first choice. MacDonald's really does have excellent coffee now, one of the best drive-thru coffees going. Robins also makes a pretty decent cup too. It's still hard to beat the selection of coffee's available to the Keurig brewers though.

I take mine begrudgingly. I'm more likely to stop at 7-11 or a gas station before heading to Tims. As a west coast boy my first choice would be JJ Beans but I will settle for Starbucks.

Report from "South of the Border" - I'll give high marks for the donuts & bagels. :clap: I'm not much of a coffee drinker so I'll pass on that. Everything else I've tried on the menu was OK but nothing was outstanding.
ghost - that is a long haul but it's way better if you do it on a Harley. And you throw in riding through a thunder storms with measured hurricane force winds. We did that stretch in the reverse on a trip that took us all the way to Vancouver. Spent 5 days just running around your Rockies. Great trip! 8)