# What's the deal with Tim Horton's?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 4, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869 "2005-03-04T05:29:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/1 "2005-03-04T05:29:32Z")
Inspired by [this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=305246)
It seems to me that it’s a bigger deal in the east than in the west. All the Newfies I’ve talked to (which makes up I’d say 70% of the non-inuit population here) are in love with frickin’ Tim Horton’s.
They sell doughnuts. And substandard coffee. Why is this a Canadian institution?
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/2 "2005-03-04T05:48:31Z")
Substandard?
SUBSTANDARD?
Tim Hortons’ coffee is MANNA. MANNA FROM THE GODS.
**Hook it to my veins!**
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### Author:  [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/3 "2005-03-04T07:07:28Z")
Tim Hortons, I assume make a a good profit on being Canadian and proud. (You should just SEE some of their commercials!) I have never had the coffee, but their flavoured cappuchinos and whatnot are very very good, and I love the doughnuts.
They have this new flavour, cappucino caramel; Its like a boston cream but with cappucino frosting and caramel inside. it makes my mouth feel…grrr…gahhh…yum.
Plus they have great lunch deals for a very decent price!
…no, I don’t work for Timmy hoes.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/4 "2005-03-04T13:13:45Z")
_squeaks!_
SUBSTANDARD?
Blasphemy! No!
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### Author:  [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/5 "2005-03-04T13:18:43Z")
Sorry, but Tim Horton’s coffee is not “substandard”. I love it. It’s every bit as good as my beloved Dunkin Donuts coffee.
That is why I welcome Tim Horton’s to New England. There is plenty of room here for Tim and Dunkie’s, and with any luck the two will be able to push out the vile and scabrous Krispy Kreme.
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### Author:  [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/6 "2005-03-04T13:28:14Z")
The wife and I talk about Timbits several years after the only time we ever had them. I wish I was eating them right now.
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### Author:  [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/7 "2005-03-04T13:37:30Z")
Maybe the only Tim’s I’ve ever been in was a substandard example, but it wasn’t notable competition for Dunkin’ Donuts. The doughnuts were comparable, but the coffee wasn’t as good.
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### Author:  [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/8 "2005-03-04T13:50:03Z")
No way the coffee’s substandard. It’s smooth and doesn’t make me crap my guts out like the bitter stuff that a lot of other coffee shops peddle.
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### Author:  [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/9 "2005-03-04T14:11:56Z")
MMMMMM Tim Horton’s.
Coffee with crack in it, donuts, and their fine charity work.
Ask a kid who has ever been to a Tim Horton’s Childrens Camp how much Timmy’s changed their young lives. Hell, ask me. I was one of them.
Of course, over the years, my donations to the camp box and support of their business probably paid for it many times over 🙂
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### Author:  [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/10 "2005-03-04T14:12:08Z")
I’m sorry you’ve never experienced good Tim’s. I import it (at great expense to Mom). I have never, ever had a better cup.
'Merican donut shops suck in comparison.
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### Author:  [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/11 "2005-03-04T15:05:24Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#):
>
> 'Merican donut shops suck in comparison.
Like they should, after all, coffee and donuts are two of the four Canadian food groups 😛
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### Author:  [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/12 "2005-03-04T15:13:32Z")
> [@detop](#):
>
> Like they should, after all, coffee and donuts are two of the four Canadian food groups 😛
The other two being moose meat and maple syrup?
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### Author:  [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/13 "2005-03-04T15:34:04Z")
No, beer and maple syrup.
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### Author:  [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/14 "2005-03-04T15:57:14Z")
Tim’s is yummy coffee goodness.
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### Author:  [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/15 "2005-03-04T16:13:36Z")
Hmm. I’m going to have to make a point of having some Tim Horton’s coffee when I go home for a visit in April. I haven’t had too much of it, but the last time I did have it I don’t remember it being anything special. But then again I like flavored coffee from little coffehouses.
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### Author:  [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/16 "2005-03-04T16:19:39Z")
For an honest answer-- Timmie’s is NOT a doughnut shop. It’s a diner in disguise as a doughnut shop.
Sometime in the past six months the Globe and Mail had a big spread on the collapse of Krispy Kreme, and how Tim’s is expanding throughout the U.S. IIRC, less than 10% of Timmie’s sales are doughnuts-- 40-50% of their take is coffee, and the rest is sandwiches, soup, chili… Simple food done well.
Being partnered with Wendy’s has also done wonders for the register-- you can now go to a Timmie’s for lunch with a friend, and he’ll stand in line to get his biggie with fries, while you pick up your “eat the bowl” mushroom soup.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/17 "2005-03-04T16:28:16Z")
Reporting in from South of the Border. I’ve been to Tim Horton’s a few times. Their doughnuts are ‘just okay’. They’re certainly not as good as Winchell’s or Spudnuts. I’ve only had their regular coffee. No flavours, no sugar, no cream. Black. It didn’t strike me as particularly good. I make better coffee at home, and I like 7-11 coffee on the road. IMO Tim Horton’s doughnuts and coffee aren’t _bad_; just not great.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/18 "2005-03-04T16:33:44Z")
Tim Horton’s is overrated. Yay, food. And Coffee-how exciting! :yawn:
Keep in mind that not all institutions are good ones. Case in point: McDonald’s.
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/19 "2005-03-04T16:49:58Z")
McDonald’s isn’t an institution; it’s a circle of Hell disguised as a last resort.
And Dunkin Donuts coffee is not potable. It isn’t. I can drink the vilest swill with enough milk and sugar; Dunkin Donuts coffee is the only coffee I have ever thrown away in disgust.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-tim-hortons/292869/20 "2005-03-04T17:38:49Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> Tim Horton’s is overrated. Yay, food. And Coffee-how exciting! :yawn:
>
> Keep in mind that not all institutions are good ones. Case in point: McDonald’s.
That was Airman. I respect Tim Horton’s. A lot. I wish we had one near us.
I do agree about McDonald’s, though.
Robin
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