(Canada's) Tim Hortons doughnuts -- I finally tasted some (about a month ago).
I was near Buffalo, NY, and took a quick day-trip to Canada; and went to a Tim Hortons near St. Catherines, Ontario.
There are a LOT of Tim Hortons in Canada.
(From their website) :
The chain's focus on top quality, always fresh product and friendly, efficient customer service has helped make Tim Hortons one of North America's largest coffee and fresh baked goods chains. Today, Tim Hortons has more than 2,350 stores across Canada and a steadily growing base of 228 locations in key markets within the United States.
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I ordered a dozen, consisting of four types :
glazed with chocolate topping
glazed with maple topping
powdered sugar covered, blueberry filled
buttermilk or sour cream (I cannot remember which it was called)
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Comments on the box and the plastic bag :
The box (for a dozen) was the horizontal kind (like the KKD one) (and NOT like the old Dunkin Donuts one) (although, I believe Dunkin Donuts has "come around" and copied the KKD type box)
The box had cute pictures and graphics on it (things like old historical photos).
But, as soon as they handed me the box, I thought : "Gee, this sure does not feel very sturdy."
I asked for a plastic bag.
They gave me a fairly small, flimsy white plastic bag (that did not look like it had been designed for carrying a big box).
The bag did not have any carrying handles on it; so after I loaded the box inside (it did not fit 100% inside), I was fumbling around with the bag, and (without thinking) started carrying it in the vertical position.
This, of course, made all of the doughnuts slide together toward the bottom.
I felt them go "klunk," and then started carrying the bag in the horizontal position.
This did not work well either.
Luckily, on my way up to St. Catherines, I had also bought some doughnuts at a Krispy Kreme in Buffalo; and had one of those good, big KKD plastic bags (with plenty of room to add my one dozen Tim Hortons doughnuts).
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Taste :
I was amazed that 3 out of 4 of the Tim Hortons doughnut varieties I had bought were pretty bad.
The one that was good was the buttermilk or sour cream.
IT was delicious, tasted home-made, and was clearly better than the similar variety at KKD.
The other three all had this in common : the underlying doughnut tasted like bread (or, more specifically -- a dry roll left out too long on a table at a mediocre restaurant).
There was no greasy, juicy consistency (what people secretly want in a doughnut, I think).
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"Shelf life" (at home) analysis :
Almost every time I buy doughnuts (which is less than once a month), the doughnuts are not all eaten until at least 24 or 48 hours after purchase.
ALL brands of doughnuts get more icky as they "age."
But -- the Tim Hortons doughnuts became particularly disgusting.
The chocolate topping melted off of the glazed with chocolate topping ones, and dripped through a hole in the corner of the box !
(Luckily, I had kept all Tim Hortons and KKD doughnuts in the KKD plastic bag).
If anyone is wondering if the coefficient of "drip" for the Tim Hortons doughnuts is different from the normal KKD experience ...
My answer is a resounding YES.
For this particular "round" of doughnuts, I had some KKD glazed with chocolate topping ones still uneaten at the point when the Tim Hortons ones had done their drip thing.
The KKD ones were fine.
(I'll never know if the Tim Hortons glazed with maple topping ones would have dripped too, because those were all eaten quickly (on the day of purchase)).
And furthermore (regarding the drip factor) (as it relates to the quality of the Tim Hortons cardboard box) -- by the time the Tim Hortons doughnuts were in drip "mode," the box was so saturated and soggy and saggy that you could not even lift it (the box) up with one hand, because it would droop and bend too much).
This does not happen with KKD boxes (although, this is probably an unfair comparison, due to the relative lack of dripping or melting).
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I talked to some friends of mine who are originally from Canada.
They told me that the big attraction of Tim Hortons is not the taste and quality of the doughnuts, but the fact that a Tim Hortons is a sort of cozy "gathering place," where you can hang out and "gab" for an hour or two.
(This, I believe, is the secret behind Starbucks). (By the way, I have still never been to a Starbucks).
Jon. |
