A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men. – Nagarjuna
Genius creates, and taste preserves. Taste is the good sense of genius; without taste, genius is only sublime folly. -- Chateaubriand
Introduction
My current trip to Canada has been so eventful. I am really happy these days. Believe it or not, one reason why I am happy is that I have found a perfect place for the best coffee in the world. Since I am from South India, I am a coffee aficionado (which is quite natural with many southerners) who has tasted almost all kinds of coffee varieties be it filter-coffee or instant coffee, be it chicory rich or 100% coffee, Be it hot or Cold, be it with skimmed or foamed milk or black coffee, Be it caffeinated or decaffeinated or quadruple shot of espresso (Believe me I tried it, much to the disbelief of the clerk and my friends at SBs, cracking up my taste buds), be it latte or plain old good coffee with milk. I have tried it all. Till now, I was ranking the filter coffee and good old Bru instant as the best with Starbuck café latte coming in at no.2.
Tim Hortons has changed all that. It has changed my thinking about fast food. It has changed my opinions about many fast food chains. It has thrown some good light on me about what a good coffee is all about. The fame of Canada is not Ice Hockey or Lacrosse or Curling or CN Tower or Niagara falls alone. I will add TH to the list for it is in every nook and corner of Canada. I was thrilled and awed to see why there were at least 50 people standing in a queue to get a morning breakfast amidst some 40 odd restaurants in the Montreal’s Gare Centrale station. I tried it once and knew the answer immediately for I am hooked.
BTW, do not think this is a biased opinion, for it is not. Let me delve into my review in detail.
History of TH
Tim Horton's was a famous ice-hockey star who played for Toronto Mapleleafs. He was famous in Ontario where the first TH was started in Ottawa Street in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964. The current Chairman of Tim Horton Children's Foundation and co-founder, Ron Joyce was the first franchisee in 1967. It grew leaps and bounds over the years (You will know why at the end). Wendy’s International Inc, which owns TH, has over 2,200 stores in Canada and approximately 160 in the United States (Starbucks needs to watch out, albeit being market leader). It employs over 55000 employees worldwide. Traditionally a coffee house, it started its dramatic growth after the introduction of phenomenally successful, TIMBIT in 1976 (I just love it. You get 20 for $2.50). Today TH is more than just a plain coffee house. It is a wonderful restaurant offering great, quality food day in and day out. (At least in the franchises I have tasted so far. Not a single one is having a quality level less than outstanding!!)
Menu
— Regular & Decaffeinated coffee
— Flavored cappuccinos; Café Mocha; Iced Cappuccino (This is my favorite along with French Vanilla)
— DONUTS in about 59 varieties – favorites being Apple Fritter (contains apple and cinnamon) (Mine too), Dutchie (with raisins), Boston Cream and Chocolate Dip
— TIMBITS – Donut holes that are simply great
— MUFFINS – about 41 varieties
— Cookies – about 28 varieties
— Bagels in 12 varieties (my favorite one being multigrain)
— Tim’s Own sandwiches (6 famous one’s albeit being costly for quality reasons)
— Cakes and Juices (My wife’s favorites)
— Other favorites such as Croissants, Tea Biscuits
My analysis
Continuing where I left off, Tim Horton’s is just a wonderful place to be, full of choices. I got to know about this place due to my coffee addiction, yet I have found this to be a place of innumerable good fast food item offers.
In couple of months, I have become so glued to this place; it has easily become my favorite fast-food chain in the world. Truly speaking, Starbucks is a very far loser, when it comes to coffee taste and offering it has compared to TH’s wonderful coffee. The cost factor of Starbucks versus TH is also a consideration. It falls well beyond my expectations. Being a SBs aficionado for a while for it’s latte, I can easily compare these two and TH beats SBs in all departments’ thumbs down, as far as I am concerned.
The taste of French vanilla cappuccino or café mocha or iced cappuccino is the best I have tasted and my taste buds where titillating in joyful sensation when I tasted each of them. Not to mention their regular coffee and the 18% (fat) milk they offer, this is a super duper place for coffee lovers.
As far as the eatables are concerned, I just love their bagels and donuts. As I mentioned in the menu, I love their multigrain bagels and the Apple fritters. I need to mention specially about TIMBITS, their reason for success. It is just wonderful and it was excellent as far as I am concerned. My taste buds were not as joyous as they were when I tasted their coffee, yet it was good.
They can certainly concentrate more on the eatables department with many choices and some combination deals. The combo deals can certainly push them to some more customers to become the undisputed monarch from an undisputed king status. TH is like McDonalds of USA. The beauty of TH compared to McD is that the quality of TH is so very superior. I have tasted bagels in quite a few places and so are donuts. While Krispy Kreme takes away the title for donuts, TH is holding the second place, in my opinion, for taste. When it comes to Bagels, it definitely takes away the first place, as I am not really into fancy bagels but regular kinds. Their muffins are also excellent.
I haven’t tried their sandwich for all of them being non-veg. From my experiences, I can certainly vouch that they will be excellent. I never tried TH whilst I was in US for I didn’t give it a deep thinking for fear of the unknown took control of me. (I am always skeptical on spending hard-earned money in unknown restaurants, unless I get some valid feedback).
I love Tim Horton’s and I will rate it at the best rating possible. I recommend TH to people of all ages and sizes. It is a good hangout spot (I saw quite a few students doing their work in the restaurants), depending on the number of people present; it can be noisy at times. Visit this place, even if you are not a coffee fan, for TH has many items to suit your needs.
My Ratings
Menu
Coffee stars
Cappuccinos stars
Donuts Stars
Bagels stars
Cake stars
TIMBITS stars
Muffins stars
General
Customer Service stars
Ambience and Décor stars
Value for Money stars
Quality stars
Healthiness stars
Conclusion
My first comment can be changed to companies. Tim Horton’s is an accomplished company. It is a true wonder as far as Canada is concerned. I shall write some more reviews soon (Montreal after completion of few more trips, Toronto after my paid vacation-training-tour and Quebec), enjoying my TH coffees, donuts and bagels. Do RRC them too.
If you see a TH, RUN to that place, today…
I Hope you liked my review. Do comment, if time permits
KALIL
All sin tends to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation. - Auden, W. H. ( I am least bothered about MS and coffee addictions)
